Ghost ants get their name from their pale legs, abdomen, and antennae. Curiously, their heads and thoraxes are still black. This at least makes them easy to identify from other ants. These ants aren’t dangerous, but they can infest an area and significantly damage a garden. They’re also happy to raid your cupboard. This makes ghost ants removal and ant pest control necessities.
Ghost Ant Behavior
Ghost ants behave fairly typically for ants. They’re not native to Florida. They’re actually from the tropics, but they’ve come into the state by stowing away in shipments. They can live outside or inside in Florida – further north, they can only survive in well-heated structures like greenhouses.
Ghost ants removal is necessary even when outside because they farm aphids. They protect these little insects because aphids produce honeydew. To produce that honeydew, aphids will feast on your plants. Ants that farm aphids are incredibly crafty. They’ll move the aphid eggs to their own colony and then carry the aphids out to particular plants. For all intents and purposes, ghost ants and other ants like carpenter ants have domesticated aphids.
Ghost Ant Pest Control
Ant pest control won’t just protect your garden. You also need to get rid of ants because ghost ants will often find a way into the home, or they’ll colonize right beside it. This allows them access to sweets inside the home. They’ll find anything with sugar in it and raid it.
A basic but effective form of ghost ant prevention is to make sure there’s a dry zone of several inches around the foundation of your home. Make sure mulch is outside this zone and clear standing water from it. It creates a barrier that many pests, including ghost ants, won’t want to cross.
If ant prevention fails and you need ant pest control, we provide low impact pest control that can eliminate ant colonies with no additional risk for the environment – including your children and pets. With a dedicated approach, we can locate colonies, target their queen, and effect ghost ants removal.