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Ants may look like harmless little creatures when we see them out and about. However, fire ants, also known as red ants, have become a common problem in the southern United States. They are not a native species in North America but they have managed to thrive here because of the warm climate and the lack of natural predators.

Fire ants favor the southern states because they tend to thrive in warm, sunny conditions. They prefer dry, open areas such as lawns or fields and tend to stay away from shady places such as woods. Over time, their soil mounds can grow to over 2 feet in diameter and up to a foot high and they are usually in the shape of a dome. Colonies like this can contain several hundred thousand ants, including at least one queen. Often, if mounds remain undetected, the fire ant colony can multiply at a rapid pace. If this happens, the colony may send out a new queen to begin another mound nearby. By doing this, they are able to expand the colony at an even quicker rate.

Fire ants can most often be identified by the dull color of their body which varies from reddish brown to reddish black. They also have a stinger through which they inject their venom after they have bitten into their prey. It is important to be cautious if you think you may be encountering fire ants because their stings are painful to most people and can actually be fatal to some. If you have been stung reactions can range from milder ones such as painful red bumps to more severe ones such as sweating, nausea or excessive itching. If you do experience a severe reaction, it is best to contact a medical professional.

If you think you might have a fire ant problem in or around your home in the greater Los Angeles area, you should contact Accuracy Plus Pest Control at (888) 675-0258. We can provide a free inspection and get you on the path to being pest free today!

Ants are a common insect that can be seen just about everywhere you go. There are many different kinds of ants around and many people do not distinguish between the different types. Ants may be common, but they are known for damaging many structures and their presence is never a good thing. Seeing ants is a sign that the infestation has already occurred and it is now time to seek out some pest control through a professional.

We have all been there, we are in the middle of a picnic and the ants just invite themselves to the party. Well, it goes without saying that ants can harm more than just your picnic, especially if you have more types of ants around than just your average black ants. In most cases, you will not have just basic black ants because at the moment there are almost 12,000 different types of ants in the world. Getting rid of ants and implementing a form of ant control requires that a pest control company comes in and evaluates what type of residential pest control that you will need to rid your residence of the pests.

The type of damage that ants can do depends on what type of ants they are. Carpenter ants can damage the structure of your house as they damage the wood. The type of damage is done by the ants eating wood that they come in contact with. Fire ants are known for their painful stinging. The pain is often associated with biting, but it is widely known that the ants do not bite, they sting. These stings can cause major health problems, especially for animals or small children if they are not taken care of properly.

Orange County ant pest control is a service offered by many exterminators. There are companies that focus on Orange County residential pest control service for those who find themselves over run with any variety of ants. Trying to battle the ants on your own will not do much good. To get your ant population under control and start implementing some residential pest control, call your local professional today.

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Visit our site for more valuable information or give us a call at 888-675-0258.

Los Angeles residential exterminators are often called in for ant removal. Pest extermination in Los Angeles tends to stay busy with the over 20 species of ants that can invade your home. Even though ants are not dangerous pests, they are still irritating and unpleasant to live with. After all, no one wants to share their home with insects! Therefore, Los Angeles residential exterminators should be contacted in order to deal with a large ant infestation. Although ants are pests and ant removal is a necessity, ants are also very fascinating creatures:

• Ants are extremely social creatures. They live in colonies ranging from a few dozen to a few million. For this reason, pest extermination in Los Angeles is often sought to deal with the staggering numbers.
• Ants communicate through use of pheromones, and it’s been found that, unlike other creatures, ants living in one country are actually able to communicate with ants from another country when placed together. This gives ants the ability to work together like perhaps no other creature can, besides humans.
• Parallels are often drawn between ant and human colonies. Like humans, ants have an organized division of labor and the ability to solve complex problems. Because of this, ant removal can be particularly difficult.
• Los Angeles residential exterminators tend to deal with the more invasive species of ants, such as fire ants. Pest extermination in Los Angeles is important when it comes to fire ants. These ants can sting humans and pets and damage gardens. They are also particularly drawn to electrical equipment and can cause electrical shorts.
• Queen ants can live for up to thirty years.
• Except for Antarctica, ants are present on every other continent. Los Angeles residential exterminators are certainly not the only pest control services dealing with ants!

If you’re seeking pest extermination in Los Angeles, contact Accuracy Plus at 888-675-0258. We offer free evaluations and eco-friendly solutions for ant removal.

Fire ants are not only a huge home and garden pest, they can be very painful if they bite you. For this reason, people take all kinds of different fire ant control measures trying to get rid of them. And while there are many home remedies available, most of them are exactly what you should not be doing for fire ant control in Orange County.

Grits

Many people think that placing grits on top and around the ant’s mound will be enough fire ant control. The idea behind it is that the fire ants will eat the grits and that when they do, the grits will expand in the stomach and the ants will literally explode. In fact, this is not at all the case. Grits will not kill fire ants; all they will do is give the fire ants something to eat, and a reason to stick around!

Gasoline

One of the most intense ways that people choose to deal with fire ant control is gasoline. They believe that pouring gasoline over the mound will send toxins throughout the colony, thereby killing the ants. However, this isn’t the case. Fire ants live in deep tunnels in the ground, and they are pretty fast. Once the gasoline has been poured, fire ants will simply burrow deeper into their tunnels and will remain unharmed. Also, because pouring gasoline onto the ground is so bad for the environment, this is actually illegal fire ant control in Orange County.

Boiling Water

Just like gasoline, many people think that pouring boiling water over a fire ant mound will be enough to kill any of the ants. Again though, the fire ants will just burrow deeper into their tunnels, or move away from the mound altogether. Once the area becomes cool again, they’ll simply build another mound and continue living there. Also, even though boiling water may not be as harmful to the environment as gasoline is, this will still kill any plants or vegetation that are also in the area.

If you have a fire ant problem, you can be guaranteed that these fire ant control measures will be nothing but a waste of time. Fire ants are notorious for being extremely hard to deal with on your own. When you need something that will get those nasty, biting ants out of your home or yard, call a professional in fire ant control in Orange County. They’ll be able to provide fire ant control that will actually be effective!

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Call us at 888-675-0258 for more valuable information.

If you’ve seen ants marching through your kitchen, or see them going up and down your hallway walls, your first thought was most likely to get rid of them as fast as you can. But, you don’t really need to panic. While ants are definitely irritating, they’re not really dangerous, or even a major threat to your home. But that also doesn’t mean that you can forget about them completely and hope that they go away on their own. You will have to take some measures to help you in getting rid of ants; and if the problem does get out of hand, you may even have to call in professional Los Angeles ant control.

If you have an ant problem in only one area of your home, or there aren’t many ants to contend with, you can try getting rid of the ants on your own. There are many different sprays, drops, traps, and bait that you can use to get rid of ants in your home, and many of them are very effective. Of course, if the ants bite or sting at all, you’re probably going to want to call in Los Angeles ant control as soon as you can, no matter how few ants are present. No one wants to live with pests constantly biting them, and no one should have to.

Of course, if you have an ant problem that’s already out of control, you’ll definitely want to call in Los Angeles ant control. Although these critters aren’t dangerous, as long as they’re not stinging, they can be really annoying and they can get into just about everything, mostly all of your food! When you think the ant population is getting a bit out of control, it’s time to call someone in.

Another time to call in Los Angeles ant control might be if you have a recurring ant problem that seems to happen the same time every year. If this is the case, you’ll want to call in Los Angeles ant control as they can determine where the ants are coming from, and why they’re attracted to your home at particular times of the year.

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Call us at 888-675-0258 for more valuable information.

Chances are that you’ve never found an ant hill in your home. But you’ve probably found a lot outside of it! These hills can be as small as a golf ball, or they can be as large as a few softballs piled on top of each other – and there can be a lot of them! It’s usually the sheer number that appear alone that make people want to get rid of ant hills, and there are a couple of different ways that you can try.

If the ant hill is on a surface that is soft, such as grass or turf, you can use ant stakes to get rid of ants and the hills they create so quickly. These stakes can be placed directly through the ant hill and within the stake there is poison. The ants not only ingest this poison but they also take it back to their colony and feed it to the queen! So you won’t just get rid of ants that you can see but the entire colony, making sure that you never have to deal with the problem again! Ant stakes are not only very effective at getting rid of ants but they’re also one of the most environmentally-friendly ways you can get rid of ants too. Because they don’t have any toxic chemicals polluting the air, only the ants are harmed during the process.

There is another way to get rid of ant hills, but it’s not nearly as effective: this is using boiling water. Boiling water has been used as a way to get rid of ant hills for a long time, especially when the ant hill is on a very hard surface. But there are a few things to remember when using this method to get rid of ant hills. The first is that it’s the temperature of the water and not the water itself that will kill the ants. Ants will not drown in the water so it’s important to make sure that the water is extremely hot.

Also, it’s important to remember to use a lot of water, about three gallons. Ant hills are complex structures that grow even more complex when they reach deep into the ground, which they all do. Because of this, if you use just one or two cups of boiling water, it won’t be enough to reach far down into the colony and kill all of the ants. And if you don’t get them all, that ant hill will just reappear almost as quickly as you took it down!

Ant hills aren’t really a huge deal to have around your home, but they can be a bit of a nuisance. Try either one of these ways and you’ll be walking on smooth surfaces outside your home again in no time!

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Visit our site for more valuable information or give us a call at 888-675-0258.

Fire ants can be a real hazard to your yard, and to the bare feet and ankles of anyone who walks in it. The bite of a fire ant is incredibly painful and they can cause a great deal of damage to flowers, vegetables, and grass. But you don’t want to be spraying all kinds of chemicals and toxins all over your yard either. Here are 5 eco-friendly ways to get rid of fire ants!

Boiling Water

Pouring boiling water over any ant mound will do the trick in eliminating them, and the case is no different for fire ants. Boiling water will kill most of the ants in the colony but most critically, will kill the queen, which will eventually kill off the members of the colony that manage to survive the steam treatment. It’s important when you pour boiling water over the nest of fire ants that you don’t disturb it in any way. This will only alert them to the fact that there’s danger nearby and not only will you get bitten, but the fire ants will also be likely to skitter away before you can do much harm to them.

Sticky Traps

There are sticky traps that are made for several pests in the yard and garden, including fire ants. Place them in the insect’s path to their food source and while they’re on their way to eat, they’ll become stuck and eventually die.

Grits

Fire ants really like grits, but once they eat them the grits expand in their stomach and cause them to explode. If you’re not in a real rush to get rid of the fire ants in your yard, grits are an inexpensive and effective option. Just spread them out on the lawn close to the nest of fire ants.

Caulking

If you think fire ants are bad outside, wait until they make their way inside your home – then you’ll know what a real problem is! Go outside and make sure that any cracks in the foundation, near windows or doors are caulked so that they are tightly sealed. This will be enough of a barrier to keep fire ants out.

Eco-Friendly Exterminators

Sometimes the nest of fire ants in your yard is small enough for you to control it yourself. But if there are several nests, or the nest is extremely large, you might need to call in a professional. Fire ants are not only painful when they bite, they can be very harmful too, especially if there are a lot of them. Call a professional that uses eco-friendly fire ant control measures and you’ll be able to enjoy your yard again in no time!

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Visit our site for more valuable information or give us a call at 888-675-0258.

If you have an ant problem in your home, there are many pesticides, insecticides, and poisons that you can put out that will get rid of the ants for you. But if you’re concerned about the toxins that are often found in many of these products, you’ll be happy to know that there are some ways to get rid of ants that are much more eco-friendly, and that will be safe for everyone in your home – with the exception of course, of those pesky ants.

The first thing you should do when looking for eco-friendly ways to get rid of ants is to find out what they’re coming in for. If you have crumbs or bits of sugar lying around, these are huge attractors for ants. Clean up any scrap food or garbage that may be lying around and the ants will stop coming as soon as their food source dries up.

The next step in your mission to get rid of ants is to find out where they’re coming in from. There are several things that you can place down in these areas to keep ants from coming in at all. Things like mint, cayenne pepper, chili powder, coffee grounds, bay leaves, and black pepper are all things that ants don’t like, so they won’t bother chomping through them to get into your home.

If you have an area in your home that will be difficult to lay these ingredients down, you can use a liquid solution to get rid of ants. Place equal amounts of apple cider vinegar and water in a spray bottle and hunt down the areas that are ant-infested. Spray wherever you see ants and this should be enough to send them scurrying the other way! And just like peppermint can be used to get rid of ants, peppermint oil can also be sprayed in areas that seem to attract ants.

If you have a real ant problem and want to go straight to the source, you’ll need to find the anthill where the ants are coming from. This can take a lot of digging but once you find it, you can simply pour boiling water over it and that will instantly kill of the ants that are in it at that time. Plus, it also wipes out the home of any returning ants, and they’ll need to find a new place to live – preferably one that’s not anywhere near your house!

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Visit our site for more valuable information or give us a call at 888-675-0258.

There are many amazing things in nature, and the case of zombie ants, and the fungus that infects them, is a prime example of this. Zombie ants are a specific type of ant, but they are not an actual species. Rather, it’s an ant that becomes infected with a certain fungus, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. This fungus infects Camponotus leonardi ants, and then makes them behave in a zombie-like behavior, taking control of the ant’s physical actions, and it seems, their thought process as well.

It begins when the fungus needs to climb down to a certain level above ground in order to have the right temperature and the right humidity to flourish. Unfortunately, the fungus doesn’t have legs to move itself down and so, needs an able body to do it for them. Along comes the Camponotus leonardi ant. This type of ant lives in the same tropical trees in the rainforest as the fungus, and is the perfect transportation vehicle for the fungus.

Once the Camponotus leonardi ant stumbles across the fungus, the fungus will then infect it with many spores. The reaction in the ant is immediate, as it then becomes a zombie ant and climbs down the tree where it will find a leaf. Once this leaf is found, the ant will bite into it so forcefully that it’s actually called a ‘death grip’ when this happens with the ant. This is perfect for the fungus, as it now has a home at the perfect temperature and the perfect level above ground. It’s not so great for the zombie ant, which dies shortly after biting the leaf. Once the fungus has access to the leaf, it will then inhabit the ant’s body and use it to spread more spores among more ants.

What’s most amazing about this is that not only does the fungus infect the ant, but it also seems to take control of its mind as well as its body. This is based on the study of zombie ants once they’ve been infected and crawl to a leaf. All of the ants, or most of them anyway, find their way to a leaf on the north side of the tree, and that’s about 25 centimeters above ground. The leaves selected also generally have 90% – 95% humidity as well as a temperature of 20 – 30 degrees Celsius.

Another unique element regarding the relationship between the Ophiocordyceps unilateralis fungus and the Camponotus leonardi ant is that this ant seems to be the only type of ant the fungus is in. Studies have also been done on the effect this fungus has on other types of ants. While the results were still somewhat detrimental to the ant, they also weren’t nearly as prosperous for the fungus.

Some things in nature are so amazing! But in some cases, it can be quite cruel at times too.

Accuracy Plus can handle all of your pest control needs, both inside and outside. Visit our site for more valuable information or give us a call at 888-675-0258.