Milwaukee Pest Control for Carpenter Ants and Other Ant Species

3 Signs
Carpenter Ants
Ant Identification

Signs You May Have an Ant Infestation:

Overrun exposed food – Food you may have dropped on the floor can attract pests. Ants overrun exposed food in a house they’ve infested.
Seeing stray ants around the house – An ant infestation generally shows itself with individual ants wandering around unconventional places, like the bedroom or bathroom.
Ant nests outside – Ants usually won’t nest inside your house, but rather outside in close proximity to your house. Ant nests are often just mounds of dirt with ants milling around it.

If you see any of the above signs of ants in your home, you need to call the pest control professionals at Ehlers right away! You don’t have to put up with the nuisance of ants anymore when you use our environmentally-friendly extermination services.

Carpenter Ant Infestation

Carpenter ants pose a prevalent pest control problem, especially in aging older homes with rotting wood. Carpenter ants require moist areas to survive since they colonize in dead tree limbs, tree stumps, and other outdoor wood environments.

The carpenter ant is one of the largest ant species in North America, growing up to 5/8” in length. The two common carpenter ant species have dark black bodies with bent antennae, though other minor carpenter ants species can vary between black, reddish, yellowish, and even dark brown.

How to Tell if Your Home is Infested with Carpenter Ants

While their natural nesting sites are tree trunks/limbs or downed trees, carpenter ants are also prone to invading buildings and homes in search of new territory. Carpenter ants usually enter homes, businesses, and buildings during the warmer months of the year when they are more active and usually nest in wood porch structures, windows frames, door frames, and wood easily accessible from the soil that retains moisture. Their large, black bodies make them easier to notice, but as this species usually sends out lone explorers, it can be difficult to judge the scale of the infestation.

The easiest way to ascertain whether or not you have a carpenter ant infestation is the presence of large, flying insects swarming around windows during the spring months. Adult carpenter ants will leave the nest during these times to find new territory and find new colonies. If there is a nest indoors, it’s difficult to miss clouds of flying ants. Another obvious sign is wood dust and small piles of wood shavings located close to older, damp wood.

If you see carpenter ants in your home or business during the late winter and early spring, it may be a sign that the nest is located somewhere within the building. If you begin noticing carpenter ants in the later spring and throughout the summer, it’s likely that the nest is outside and they’re simply coming inside for food. Carpenter ants aren’t able to damage the structural integrity of the areas they infest, but they can cause a lot of other expensive damage.

Carpenter Ant Extermination Services in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha

Carpenter ant extermination is one of the most common pest control services we provide. Controlling or eliminating carpenter ants is very difficult without the right training and equipment. The issue? You have to wipe out the entire nest. Just killing off the ones out scouting for food doesn't address the real problem: there are hundreds more ants somewhere in your home.

For best results getting rid of a carpenter ant infestation, you really need to bring in experienced pest control professionals. The Ehlers Pest management ant control specialists have extensive experience in pet-friendly carpenter ant extermination and removal. We have successfully wiped out carpenter ant infestations in hundreds of homes throughout Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha counties.

Big-Headed Ants

Big headed ant extermination in Milwaukee, WI As their name suggests, big-headed ants are easily identified by their large heads—often larger than their thorax. Although the major workers of this species have large heads, the minor workers are smaller and have normally proportioned heads. Big-headed ants are commonly found under logs, large rocks and concrete slabs, but they will occasionally nest in rotted or termite-damaged wood. When indoors, they often nest in the soil of potted plants.

The good news is this species is quite rare in Wisconsin and does not sting or bite humans. If you suspect you may have an infestation of big-headed ants, our pest control experts will be able to identify the ants in question and devise an effective treatment plan based on the severity of infestation.

Crazy Ants

Crazy ant extermination in Milwaukee, WI Although crazy ants are most common in the Gulf Coast states, our Milwaukee-based pest management company receives a steady flow of desperate customers needing help with crazy ant control in Racine, Milwaukee, Bayside, Shorewood and other towns throughout Southeast Wisconsin. Crazy ants get their name from the way they move, lurching right and left with no apparent reason to their movements, but it could just as well come from the way they drive homeowners crazy.

Appearance and Characteristics of Crazy Ants: Black, 1/8 inch long, and long legs and antennae.
Where They Come From: Piles of outdoor materials like lumber, mulch, firewood, or beneath loose tree bark, inside walls, beneath carpeting, in potted plants, and in cozy nook or cranny.
Problems They Cause: They get into electronic equipment like televisions, stereo receivers, microwave ovens and computers causing short circuits which have ruined laptops and appliances.

Crazy ant control is considerably more challenging than other insect control due to their tendency for nesting indoors and out, in dry and moist habitats, and the sheer volume of their colonies. Regularly scheduled ant control treatment and services are the only solution. With regular pesticide application, Ehlers ant control experts can successfully eliminate crazy ant infestations and prevent the establishment of new crazy ant colonies.

Pavement Ants

Pavement ant control is one of Ehlers’ most common pest control problems in Wisconsin. Pavement ants are brown and grow up to 1/8 inch long. They nest in the soil surrounding driveways, patios, sidewalks, hollow block walls, and other concrete slabs. Our pest control professionals utilize several methods for pavement ant control including ant bait and spot and perimeter treatments.

Pharaoh Ants

Pharaoh ant extermination in Milwaukee, WI Ehlers Pest Management provides pharaoh ant control throughout Racine and Kenosha counties. The Pharaoh ant is yellow and grows up to 1/8 inch long. While preferring to nest in damp bathrooms and kitchens, Pharaoh ants will nest in any suitable nook, wall, furniture, or curtain rod or under roof shingles.When Pharaoh ants are killed by do-it-yourself pest control methods, the colony splits into multiple colonies to ensure their survival. The ant control experts at Ehlers prevent infestations from spreading and eliminate colonies with technologically advanced pest control treatments.

Thief Ants

Thief ant extermination near Milwaukee, WI We are experiencing an increased demand for thief ant control throughout southeast Wisconsin. Thief ants are one of the smallest ant species. They are golden-yellow to dark brown in color and less than 1/16 inches long. In the home, thief ants are detectable by the trails they travel in when foraging for food and water. They nest in wall and baseboard crevices, cabinet nooks and under countertops. Outdoors, thief ants are extremely difficult to detect, burrowing beneath the surface of rotted soil and wood. While locating the source is half the battle for successful ant control, Ehlers pest control pros can utilize a variety of methods and products to solve the problem.

For more identification tips, check out our pest identifcation guide.

Your Neighbors are Protected by Ehlers Pest Management

Don’t take our word for it, your neighbors in Milwaukee, Glendale, Franklin, and other surrounding counties have relied on our expertise to maintain a healthier, cleaner, and safer home or business. Find out what they have to say!