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Ants have been invading Lancaster County homes in full force this year. Exterminators are receiving multiple calls a day — twice as many as last year in some cases.
At Raifsniders Exterminating in Mountville, 60 percent of the calls are about ants, with one species outranking the rest.
"What we've seen in the last two or three years is odorous house ants," Lee Manuel, an exterminator from Raifsniders, said.
In Lancaster County, there are three main species of ants: pavement ants, which many people call "typical" ants; carpenter ants; and odorous house ants, which have been taking over for the past decade.
To the average homeowner, an odorous house ant looks exactly like a pavement ant. The only way to determine which is which is by squishing them.
"If you smash (an odorous ant) with your finger, it smells like citrus," Tele-Pest inspector Josh Alexander said. "It's a very distinct odor."
The Ant Institute's Web site says the smell resembles a rotten coconut. But some exterminators and entomologists see — or smell -— it differently.
Manuel said the smell vaguely resembles urine.Entomologist Robert Hickman, however, thinks the scent is closer to Pine Sol.
In any case, odorous house ants are almost impossible to control, Hickman said, proving a formidable opponent to any do-it-yourself homeowner.
"If you take a species of carpenter ants, you have one queen in a colony. If you kill that queen, you destroy that colony," said Hickman, a technical/development specialist for BASF Corp.
"Odorous house ants have multiple queens," he said. "You could have literally tens of thousands of ants in a so-called colony with thousands of queens."
With their massive numbers, odorous house ants form what experts call super-colonies.
"They appear in any area of the home, looking for food, water and shelter," Manuel said. "It doesn't take much."
With so many ants, it's almost impossible to trace every entry point in the house, making it even harder for homeowners to control the pest.
The ever-faithful ant spray? Forget it. An aerosol spray "will kill what it hits, but may also be a repellent," Hickman said. "It will cause budding to occur."
(2)Budding, Dominion Pest Control owner Greg Pettis said, is a self-defense mechanism used by odorous ants.
"When a certain number of workers do not return, a queen will split the colony in two," Pettis said. "Now you have two colonies coming after you."
"It just exacerbates the problem," Hickman said.
Sonic devices, which emit sound waves to repel ants, also are useless.
"It's never been proven to work by any university," Hickman said.
The only things that work, the exterminators said, are baits, which come in granular, liquid and gel forms.
However, most homeowners use the baits incorrectly by placing them inside their homes. Ants are attracted to the bait and therefore drawn into the house, not away from it.
Even when placed outside, the baits are only effective when used in combination with professional products.
"They are very, very difficult to control," Pettis said. "Most (homeowners) do not get victory and end up calling a professional."
Pros use nonrepellent products that ants carry back with them to the nest. Instead of killing the ants immediately, the products work like a virus, infecting the entire colony.
"The ants people see on their counters become our agents of death," Pettis said. "They get the virus, go home and kill off everybody else."
While a do-it-yourselfer at heart, Hickman agrees that getting rid of the pests is a professional's job. The products they use "are really just light-years ahead of what the homeowners have available to them," he said.
Even though ant-removal products on the market are mostly ineffective, there are several steps homeowners can take to prevent invasions.
"One thing (homeowners) can do is reduce the habitat directly around their homes," Hickman said.
One reason ants are becoming greater pests is the trend toward more landscaping, Hickman said. In the 1950s, yards were bare around homes, he said, but now "we have luxurious forests right next to the house."
Keeping shrubs and trees trimmed 6 to 12 inches away from the house eliminates "bridges" the ants can cross. Using decorative foams and papers to separate mulch from foundations is another solution.
Homeowners also should eliminate sources of food and water. Picking up pet food and removing a bird bath or leaky pipe can make a huge difference.
If there are cracks around windows or doors, especially near the kitchen, a little bit of caulk can go a long way.
For a temporary fix, homeowners can use soap and water to wipe up an ant trail, removing the pheromones ants leave to locate food sources.
However, to get rid of the problem for good, professional intervention is the best bet.
"Don't try to go to the store and do it yourself, Manuel said. "Save yourself some money and call a professional."
Treatments typically cost $150 to $300. Before getting "the works" done, homeowners should have their homes inspected so the correct species is targeted.
"Inspections are free from most anybody," Alexander said. "Get someone you can trust to come and identify the problem."
E-mail: stephweaver@lnpnews.com
