Pest Control 101: Learn More About Winged Ants and Termites

According to Myrtle Beach pest control professionals, they have often received calls on termite infestation and when they arrive to the house, they realize the pests they are dealing with are winged ants. This is why many Myrtle Beach homeowners are indeed confused between these two common household pests.

In this article, pest control professionals share information about winged ants and termites to help homeowners differentiate and easily identify them.

Basic differences between winged ants and termites

Pest control professionals say you can easily tell winged ants and termites Myrtle Beach apart by looking at three parts of their bodies.

Waist – The waist of ants is nipped in while the waist of termites is straight.
Antennae – The antennae of ants are bent while those of termites are straight.
Wings – The wings of ants are composed of long front wings and short back wings. All four wings of termites have the same size.

Basic pest control to prevent winged ants and termites from damaging your home

These pests come out during springtime like all other types of household pests. They make their presence known to you and the rest of your family when they are swarming, which is when they are mating and looking for an area to live in.

Listed below are some basic tips to ensure these pests will not be damaging your home.

Pest control specialists advice on inspecting for signs of leaks on your roof, gutters, and outside pipes. These leaks become their water source. Make sure there are no leaks outside your house so they don’t have anywhere to drink in. Repair any leaks in the roof at once.
Know what they are looking for in their new home and remove these from your house. Termites love dead wood, like your firewood, so don’t store them outside. They also love the gaps between mulch, plantings, siding, and foundation. These are their ideal places to live in so make sure you don’t make these easily available to them.
Because termites love wood, try not to store wood and wooden items in your attic. Look for other storing places for your wood items. Otherwise, dispose of them properly.
These pests also need moisture to survive so make sure your crawl spaces are properly ventilated to decrease, if not completely remove, moisture.
Direct water away from your home by installing downspouts. Water coming into your home can increase the level of moisture; thus, making your home the ideal place for termites and ants to develop.

Tips on Termite Control in Myrtle Beach

The number concern among homeowners in Myrtle Beach is termite control. Regardless of their preventive efforts and no matter how clean and organized they maintain their homes, destructive termites still find their way inside their houses. Despite the numerous times they get rid of these pests, they always come back to do more damage to many homes.

According to industry experts, this may be due to some homeowners’ habits and way of living. There are some things that these homeowners do on a regular basis that attract termites and make it easy for them to enter their houses. Often times these homeowners are not aware that they are actually inviting termites into their homes.

Below are several basic termite control steps to stop termites from getting into and coming back to you homes?

Digging in the yard near your home’s foundation

There are lots of reasons why you need to dig through your yard. For one thing, it is a part of your landscaping and gardening tasks. Another reason might be that you need to repair a leaking pipe that happens to be lying under your yard soil. Obviously, you cannot postpone or completely stop doing these important tasks.

What you should remember, however, is to avoid digging within a couple of days after your pest control company has treated your soil with liquid termiticide. This is one of the most effective methods of preventing and killing termites and the solution should stay in the soil for a couple of days without any disturbance. Aside from rendering the termiticide ineffective, digging through your soil makes it easy for termites to find a path away from the liquid solution towards the inside of your house.

Using too much mulch

Termites love mulch. In fact, it is one of their food sources as it is made from soft wood-like pine. If you continue adding mulch near your home, termites will have no problem getting inside your home. They will use the mulch as a bridge to gain entrance to your home.

Leaving dead trees in the yard

Dead trees serve as a great food source for your termites. Leaving them in your yard for a long time will surely attract termites. When they are finished with the tree they will then use it as a launch pad to attack your home.

The next time you cut or trim your trees or remove dead trees in your garden, properly dispose of them at once.

Storing firewood near your home

Firewood is another great food source for termites. If you have to store firewood make sure you place it away from your house. You can store it inside your shed that is built away from your home. It would be difficult to prevent termites from eating away your firewood. But a fairly easy termite control practice to prevent termites from transferring from the firewood to your home is to store the firewood away from your home.

Do It Yourself

There are many ways to prevent termites from entering your home and completely getting rid of them. Some of these preventive measures can be done on your own. With the easy and instant accessibility of DIY prevention, you can quickly take care of your termite problem.

However many pest control experts in Myrtle Beach agree that termite control is a serious task that should only be done by trained and skilled professionals. You might need chemicals to treat and resolve your termite problem. And if you do not know how to properly and effectively handle these chemicals, you might put you and your family’s health at risk.

Thus, it is extremely important to hire professionals like Zap Pest Control Inc., which is knowledgeable and skilled in handling pests and termites.

Installing wooden additions to your home without properly treating them

If you have recently installed a new wooden fence to keep your dogs inside your yard or extended your wooden deck, be sure to have them treated by your pest control company. This is to ensure that these new wooden materials will not attract termites into your home. If you do not want to go through the process of treating your wooden additions, you can use wooden materials that are already treated. These termite-proof materials are available in many local hardware stores.

Allowing a portion of your porch to touch soil

Another important thing you should keep in mind when dealing with termites is that when a wooden part of your home – such as your deck or porch – comes into contact with soil, you are inviting those termites into your home. Remember that termites use soil to travel to and enter your home. You need to do something about that portion of your porch or deck that is touching soil. You can either treat the soil or treat that portion of your porch or deck. If unsure, seek advice and recommendations from professionals.