How Do Ants Find Food in Your Home?

Ants may be known for their strength, but their sense of smell is very impressive, too. In fact, if ants were the size of dogs, they could sniff out drugs or find little Timmy down the well in a fraction of the time that it takes even the best canine.

These small insects are able to find food quickly because their antennae are able to act as odor receptors and detect pheromones that point them in the right direction. Once a worker ant scout has located food, they’ll leave behind their own pheromone trail for their buddies to follow.

Ants Are Drawn to Food Very Quickly

The speed at which ants can be drawn to food that’s been left out is absolutely amazing. Let me tell you a little story. A friend of mine lived in an apartment that was having ant problems. There was a colony outside, and the ants were crawling inside the walls.

My friend stopped by her local taco joint and picked up some nachos. Brought them back home. She ate about half of them because it was a huge plate.

Then, set it up on the shelf above her desk. Less than 15 minutes later, she looked up to see a horde of hundreds of ants covering every inch of her nachos.

Suffice it to say, these pests are fast.

How to Prevent Ants in Your Home

We hope you’ve learned a little bit about how ants find food, but we know that’s not the important thing here. You want to know how to keep them out of your home because, even though ants don’t carry disease, they can be a real nuisance. So, without further ado, here are a few ways to prevent ants:

Keep Your Kitchen Clean

The most obvious way to prevent ants from getting into your home is to keep your kitchen clean. After all, that’s where most of them congregate.

Yes, they can be found in your living room, bathroom, and other areas. But your kitchen is destination uno. Keep. It. Clean.

Store Food in Containers

Leaving out leftovers is a terrible idea. Even if the ants aren’t as quick as they were with my friend, they’ll eventually seek out your food and tell all their buddies about it. You can help prevent that by storing your food in plastic containers. When you have smelly trash, take it out right away.

Use Some Ant Bait Traps

Ant bait traps are your friend. They work by attracting the ants into the trap, where they’ll find a bit of poisonous food waiting for them. They take the food back to the termite colony, and the poison spreads throughout. This is effective, but it can be time-consuming.

Seal Up Cracks and Gaps

Ants are very small, so they’re able to slip through the smallest of cracks and gaps. The most common place this will happen is around the edges of your doors and windows. You might not be able to stop all of them because ants are very tiny, but you can seal most problem areas with caulk or weather-stripping.

Call a Pest Control Expert

If you have an ant infestation or simply don’t want to deal with the little critters, call a pest control expert. The truth is that ants can come back over and over again until the colony is destroyed. An exterminator will seek out the colony and take care of it once and for all.

Contact ProHealth Pest Control for Professional Ant Control Services

Now that you know the answer to the question, “How do ants find food?” it’s important to know who to call if you have an infestation. ProHealth Pest Control will work tirelessly to get rid of every single ant inside or outside your home.

If you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment, call (727) 308-3470 today.