Lots of people will use the name sugar ant to describe any small ant that is attracted to sweets but sugar ants are actually an ant species called Camponotus consobrinus; also known as banded sugar ants. As their more informal name implies they like to eat sweets, sugary foods. These little pests will invade kitchen cabinets and crawl all over your foods. Once they find a food source, they will take it back to the nest. The food will be eaten by the queen and all the other ants. This will provide the nourishment to keep producing more sugar ants. Within the colony, they may differ in size depending on the role they play. Workers are usually orange brownish in color and the soldier ants are a little bigger and can be completely black. They are probably the most simple-minded of any ant species but it’s not a simple task in getting rid of them.

Where Do Sugar Ants Live

Sugar ants can bite but it won’t hurt like the bite of a fire ant. They are omnivores and will eat nectar, plants, other insects and dead animals. Sugar ants are nocturnal, but if the day is damp and very warm, you might see them out and about during daylight hours. The best environment for sugar ants are areas that are moist, dark and damp. You will most likely find them in urban areas, forests, and woodlands. The nest can be found in old wood near twigs from trees, bushes, and shrubs, under rocks and deep in the soil. The nest will look like a tiny volcano. During summer, they can be found foraging under house lights at night. Inside your home, you’ll find them in areas where conditions are just right such as bathrooms, kitchens and laundry rooms. When sugar ants find a reliable source of food inside your home, they can become a nuisance. Sugar ants are attracted to spills, stains and leftover food remnants such as dirty dishes in your sink and trash cans. To help get rid of sugar ants, it is important to clean up these conditions. Workers are seen at dusk moving along marked trails in search of food, and they return to their nests at dawn.

How Do You Prevent Sugar Ants in Your House

Older homes will attract sugar ants more than newer residences because they have more cracks to gain access. But new homes can have pest entry points too so it is important to seal all the ways ants can get inside! You can try some natural remedies to repel them from your home too. If you can find where ants are coming in, you can first try and wash the trail away with warm soapy water. If the trail gets disturbed, they will be confused and could stay away. Coffee grounds can work because they hate the smell and there is an acid in coffee that will burn them. Washing areas they frequent with vinegar can also be effective in keeping them away. Baby powder can work because they dislike powdery substances and strong smells. Drawing chalk lines around any entry point to your home will help too because they do not like walking through it. If you find the nest you can pour boiling, salty water right over the nest to destroy it. You can also flood the nest with a garden hose or try pouring bleach on the anthill to kill the ant colony. Baking soda can be effective or some brewed coffee.

Ant Control

Ants are difficult to treat as each species is different and proper identification is necessary to achieve complete extermination. Sugar ant nests can be particularly hard to locate due to sugar ants nocturnal behaviors. It’s best to call a professional pest control company such as Rentokil for our expertise. We can identify the species of ants plaguing your property and customize a plan of action to eliminate them.