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About Us
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"Cardboarding" Effect seen in Moisture Ant Nests
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Introduction
Moisture ants (sometimes called Cornfield
Ants
or Lasius Ants
are often seen during reproductive swarming in late summer
and early autumn. Swarming occurs for about 2 to 7 days. Winged females,
winged males, and nonwinged attending workers are seen at that time and can
cause great concern for the homeowner.
The winged females are 5/16 inch long, full-bodied and honey
coloured. Winged males are 1/8 inch long, slender and black. The workers are
1/8 inch long and reddish in colour. As the reproductives prepare to fly
away to mate and establish new colonies many workers attend them. The flight
may occur at the nesting site or the ants may walk a distance before flying.
Winged ants are attracted to light and may be found at windows or skylights.
These ants nest in damp areas, usually in rotting wood. The
appearance of the nest is similar to cardboard, and is made of the rotten
materials where they live. They
often nest under concrete slabs and find their way into buildings through
cracks in the concrete during the mating period. They feed on dead and live
insects and plant sap. They will care for aphids and feed on the excreted
honeydew. Occasionally they enter the houses looking for sweet foods.
Moisture ants do no cause structural damage or attack
people, pets or fabrics. They will hollow out severely rotted wood but do
not create any damage beyond what was already caused by the rot.
Control
Control measures vary depending on the circumstances but
include correcting moisture problems, removing rotten wood, sealing cracks
and holes and treating with appropriate pesticides.
Colonies can be eliminated when the nest site is located but
spraying ant trails or flight sites will only provide temporary reductions
in their numbers.
To see some of the application and control equipment and materials we use to
manage insect and bug pests click here
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If you need service
for controlling a Moisture Ant infestation, call
us now.
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Thanks for visiting http://www.pestvictoria.com
PES Professional Ecological Services Ltd.
98-B Burnside Road West, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
V9A 1B5
Phone: (250) 383-2445
Fax: (250) 383-6775
e-mail: pestvictoria@shawbiz.ca
We provide professional integrated pest
management (IPM) services, a high-tech form of pest control. We are called
professional pest managers, not exterminators or fumigators. We provide
pest management, not extermination or fumigation. Excluding pests before they
cause a pest offence is a good example of IPM at work.
If You Need Professional
Services from Your Pest Control and
Pest
Management Experts,
for pests in Greater Victoria, British Columbia (B.C. or BC), Canada
Contact Us Now!
© Copyright PES Professional Ecological Services Ltd.
February 2002
contact webmaster at: pestvictoria@shawbiz.ca
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