It is never a good sign when the sight of a marching colony of ants becomes a frequent occurrence. This is more alarming if they stubbornly keep coming back despite the regular deep cleaning and do-it-yourself (DIY) pest control methods you have tried. So, how exactly can you win against these persistent pests?
Unfortunately, no ant repellent can keep ants at bay forever if your home has everything they need to survive. As such, you need to eliminate everything that may attract their attention. Below, we go over the factors that draw ants into our homes so you can start making changes.
1. Shelter
Besides food, ants will also seek a suitable shelter to grow their colony. Most species typically make their homes outside, like the underground and cracks in the sidewalk. However, if their shelter is at risk of being flushed out by flooding from hard rain during the monsoon seasons, they tend to make a beeline towards the nearest household to avoid being drowned.
That said, rain and flooding are not the only reasons they may be attracted to your home; opposite weather can also cause them to move indoors. During Singapore’s ‘dry phases’, these pesky insects will find your place more appealing as it will have more moisture than outside, often marching for your kitchen or bathroom where they can find water.
In short, cold and extreme heat sends ants searching for a better home, so you just have to understand Singapore’s climate and monitor their activity.
2. Unusual food sources and scents
Ants have an incredible sense of smell, which is why even the smallest crumb of food or the faintest appealing scent can have dozens of them scrambling about your rooms. Even if you regularly deep clean your home, there are some things that can still have them crawling about searching your home, mainly leftover organic matter like fingernail clippings, other dead insects or pests, and so on.
Scents can also attract ants into your home, namely from:
- Energy drinks, teas, and other beverages
Energy drinks may not be food in the traditional sense, but most contain plenty of sugar that can attract ants. Check to see if your energy drink cans left small rings of spillage and clean them up immediately. The same applies to teas and other beverages you may have drunk recently.
- Scented candles
Scented candles imitate many of the smells that attract ants. So if you have candles that smell like a certain type of food or seem sweet or savoury, they could find them interesting.
- Perfumes
The sweet smell of perfumes, especially the fruity-scented ones, can also cause ants to invade your vanity dresser.
- Rotting plants
Decaying plants leave a scent that attracts ants, so take care of your indoor plants or get rid of those that can no longer be saved.
3. Ant pheromones
Ants leave behind a unique scent or pheromone that other ants can smell and follow. Thus, even if you have taken DIY preventative measures recently, these pheromones may still linger about, causing new ants to wander in for a short while. If this is the case, try to find any remnants of ants marching into your room and follow their trail to see if it leads to another nest that attracts ants, like the bathroom.
Conclusion
If you are annoyed by the constant return of ants into your home, you will need to find out why they constantly keep coming back. The contents above should help you get started on the things you missed in your ant pest control efforts.
However, if the problem persists even after dealing with the issues above, it may be time to call in professional pest control services for help. Let PestClinic take charge of your ant situation, and with our veteran exterminators on the scene, you can rest assured that ants and any other pests will no longer be a concern in your home. To learn more about our excellent services, feel free to give us a call today!
