April showers bring swarms of spring pests in Missouri. Among the most notorious are ants and termites, two invasive pests whose large colonies send an endless stream of invaders into your home looking for food. Once inside, ants contaminate your food, and some varieties even sting. Termites can cause extensive damage to the structural integrity of your home—termite control and damage repair costs Americans $4.5 billion a year. With so much at stake, here is why expert exterminators like McCarthy Pest & Termite Control can get you the fastest, most thorough, and most cost-effective treatment possible.
Identifying Ant and Termite Infestations
Spot a trail of ants in your kitchen? Rather than rush into a solution, it is crucial to take the time to evaluate the situation. The type of treatment you should implement will depend on the type of ant that is infesting your home, what they are feeding on, where they are entering, and the location of the nest. Do you have trails of brown ants, carpenter ants, odorous house ants, sugar ants, fire ants, or a variety? A trustworthy professional Missouri pest control service will take the time to gather this information in order to determine the most effective extermination method.
A termite infestation is harder to identify, because these pests invade through or around the foundation of your home and eat away at the structural wood from the inside out. It may take months or years before you notice the damage if you ignore the signs. One sign of a termite infestation is mud tubes around your home’s foundation—these passageways are built by worker termites to grant them safe passage from the dirt to your home’s wood. You can also check for termites by probing wood that may be affected. A professional termite control service will help you confirm the warning signs and take necessary action before it is too late.
Professional Treatment for Ants and Termites
To get rid of ants and termites in your home, you will need to destroy their colony, and most importantly, their queens. Pesticide treatments for ants include bait applications, through which workers carry poison back to the nest, and nest applications, which get directly to the source.
A professional pest control service will identify which pesticide treatment is most effective for your home and the type of ants invading it. They will also help you correct the conditions that attracted the ants in the first place. They will direct you to seal the culpable entry points and remove or manage the food source. This may mean sweeping up crumbs more frequently, always rinsing your dishes immediately after dinner, and/or storing pantry items in airtight containers.
Common termite solutions include soil treatments and baiting systems. As the former requires digging and drilling in your lawn, McCarthy Pest and Termite Control utilizes the latter, which is non-invasive. Our primary termite treatment procedure utilizes the bait set-up Sentricon®. After inspecting your home, we install small bait stations in strategic positions around the foundation. Termites feed on the bait, which contains an active ingredient that prevents them from molting. This method eradicates the entire termite colony.
Ant and Termite Control in St. Louis, Missouri
ST. LOUIS and St. Charles, Missouri are prime locations for ant and termite infestations in the spring. With over fifty years of experience, McCarthy Pest & Termite Control guarantees effective solutions to these infestations. Call today to schedule a six-point inspection and take care of your pest problem for good.
