Sugar ants are a small type of ant that feeds on sugar and sweets. When you find them, it will almost always be in the proximity of your favorite snacks. These little ants enter the home through open windows and doors or cracks in the foundation of your home. Controlling them, in most cases, is a matter of getting rid of their food sources. However, they can get out of hand. Here’s what to do when you start seeing sugar ants: 

Identify the Ants

The first step to getting rid of sugar ants is making sure that you do, in fact, have sugar ants. Sugar ants are small black or brown ants that are less than 1/12” long. Their front legs are lighter than their back legs, and their antennae don’t have clubs. The thorax is uneven, and the abdomen has an irregular shape. 

Clean Up

Whether or not you have sugar ants, cleaning up food messes can help eliminate your pest problem. It’s important to take care of any spilled food or liquid right when the spill occurs. Even water can attract certain insects. By cleaning up your small messes, you’re taking away the reason these pests are attracted to your home. 

Next, make sure all your food is sealed, especially the sweet, sugary food you find in boxes. If you have a sugar ant problem, you may want to consider transferring food from bags and boxes to plastic or glass containers. 

Find the Source

You can often track the source of an ant infestation by following the trails. Trace the trail they leave behind back to the colony. If you can’t easily track it yourself, carefully place pieces of flour, sugar or breadcrumbs where the ants have been and observe the tracks the ants make. This will lead you to the colony, where the ants have built their home. 

Place Ant Baits

Once you find the source of the infestation, you should be able to place ant baits containing borax or boric acid near the site and get rid of the ants. Once you’re confident they’re gone, you can vacuum up the remaining ants and seal up the entry points that led them inside. 

When to Call the Pros

When sugar ants get out of control, or if you don’t find them until you have multiple colonies around, it’s time to call the pros. A professional pest control company can help you find all the entry points, seal them up, and eliminate the infestation from your home. 

If your ant problem is out of control, the Pro-Staff ant control experts in Des Moines can help. Call us at 515-279-7378 or contact us online.