How To Get Rid Of Ants In Your New Jersey Kitchen

Ants are pesky little critters. They invade your garden and home and trample on your sanity. These everyday household pests can go anywhere they want due to their small size. Did you know that ant infestations are on the rise in this country?

A study conducted by the National Pest Management Association has now named them the most prevalent nuisance in America. However, when it comes to your New Jersey kitchen, you will stop at nothing to protect it. Ants are foraging insects, so they love to get into your food supply.

With the cost of groceries being so high these days, you can’t afford to lose one box of cereal. Before treating these pests effectively, it helps to know the lifecycle of these tiny workers.

Source: https://extension.umn.edu/insects-infest-homes/ants

Understanding the Ant’s Lifecycle

Ants are one of the critters that go through the complete state of metamorphosis. There are four stages that they pass through, which include egg, larva, pupa, and finally, they become an adult. Ants come from eggs, as they’re not born through live births.

The eggs are a pale white color, soft to the touch, and have an oval shape. Chances are you won’t ever see one of these eggs, as they’re so tiny that it takes a keen eye to catch one. If you sharpen a pencil to a fine point, the end of that point would be equivalent to the size.

The ant can lay up to 800 eggs each day, which is a shocking number. Since the average house ant lives for around 2-3 years, there’s quite a bit of egg laying going on. While there’s undoubtedly working hard to reproduce, not all these eggs will mature to adulthood.

Source: https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef603

•From Egg to Larva

Eggs are a delicacy to other ants, so many get eaten when they lack proper nourishment. Once the eggs reach maturity, which is about 100-120 days, the tiny larva will emerge. At this stage, the ant has no legs or eyes, so they’re very worm-like.

Larvae like to eat a lot, so the job of the worker ants is to ensure there’s plenty of food for them to devour. During this phase, they will grow rapidly too. In between each growth period, the ant will molt. Once the larva has reached a sufficient size, they go through the metamorphoses stage to turn into a pupa.

•Becoming a Pupa

The pupa rests for the next part of their journey. Though they look like adult ants, their antennae and legs are smashed against their body. They also don’t have the traditional brown or black color you would expect, as they start out white.

The pupae get to work right away. They must spin a cocoon to help protect themselves. Some don’t choose to make a protective barrier and prefer to be uncovered.

After several weeks, the pupa emerges from the cocoon as an adult. They still aren’t the color you would expect, but they will darken as they age. This critter won’t grow any larger when they leave the cocoon, as their exoskeletons are fixed.

•Reaching Ant Adulthood

They will receive a classification in the nest as an adult, and they will either be a queen, worker, or a male. The queen is determined by how much she was fed as a larva. She will have an increased size, which is much needed as she will need to lay many eggs in her lifetime.

Did you know that the queen can lay up to one-million eggs before she passes? She will emerge with wings, which will help her to fly to find a mate. Once she has made her nuptial flight, she tears her wings off to settle down and get to work. Unlike the other ants, the queen can live for decades.

The worker ants are also females, but they didn’t have the privilege of getting much food as larva. They can’t reproduce and must take care of the other ants. Think of them as the Cinderella of the nest, as they clean and gather food for the others.

The workers don’t have a long lifespan and will only make it a few months. The males, however, also have wings. They need these to help in their nuptial flights. They have one purpose in life, and that’s to mate. Once they’ve bred, they perish. Their lifespan is a mere month.

•What Ants Do You See In Your New Jersey Home?

Now, what about those ants in your New Jersey kitchen? You’re likely seeing the workers. The queen won’t leave the nest unless she is mating, as she’s busy laying eggs and taking care of business. The males may fly through on their way to mate, but they will die soon after. Those pesky workers give you fits, as they need food to take back to the nest.

They have a pretty significant responsibility, primarily since they must feed the massive amount of pupa the queen lays. Since you understand what’s going on in the nest, it might help you in the battle of these critters.

Source: https://citybugs.tamu.edu/factsheets/household/ants-house/ent-2013/

All Natural Treatments

Most people want to try to take care of their ant issues without professional help. Since ants love to forge in your food, there are a few things that you can use to your advantage. Here are some all-natural treatments that may prove beneficial.

1. Coffee Grounds

Who would think something as fragrant as coffee grounds would be an effective ant killer? Interestingly, coffee grounds have been used for years to detour ants and other insects. Ants come from the outside to the inside, so this method gets them at the source.

Simply sprinkle the ground around the outside of your doors and plants, and it will repel them. Ants hate the feel of the grounds on their feet, so they will avoid the area.

2. Borax

Chances are that you probably have some borax around your home. It’s used for cleaning and laundry care but is also a lethal chemical to ants. Make a paste using borax, sugar, and water. Use a paper plate and put the concoction in the middle of the plate. After a few hours, you will see ants floating dead in the mixture.

Some will perish immediately, while others will take the poison back and feed it to the colony. The borax wreaks havoc on their digestive system, so it’s an effective killer.

3. Citrus Fruits

Citrus fruits are full of natural acids that work great for your body, but the ant doesn’t fare well. The smell also helps to throw them off their scent tracks, and they will be discouraged from entering your home. Just squeeze some orange, lemon, and lime juice into a spray bottle, and you should spray it liberally around the entryways.

4. White Vinegar

The smell of vinegar is pungent, but it’s great to help control ants. All you need is a spray bottle to mix a three-fourths cup of vinegar with one-fourth a cup of water. The purpose of this spray is to help the ants lose their scent trail. They need these tracking abilities to help them get back to their colony. So, when you throw them off the track, they won’t return home to feed the others.

Source: https://www2.palomar.edu/users/warmstrong/AntDaleyRanch6.htm

Being Proactive when Dealing with Ants

When faced with an ant issue, they seem to be everywhere you turn. There will be a full-scale invasion of your home, and there’s not an area safe. If you want your New Jersey kitchen to be ant-free, you need to be proactive. Here are five things that you can do to keep ants at bay.

1. Keep Everything Covered

Invest in some plastic containers with locking lids. This is the best way to keep ants from getting into your food supply. Open cereal boxes are a welcome attraction for a hungry critter, and they’re not the safest way to store your breakfast goods. Not only are air-tight containers suitable for keeping pests at bay, but your food will last longer.

2. Get Rid of Any Water Leaks in Your Kitchen

This one may come as a complete shock to you, but your leaky pipes can also attract ants. Ants need food for sure, but they also need water. They will be drawn to areas where they can rehydrate, like other pests.

Those leaking pipes can cause mold and bacteria and be the main attraction for insects, so take care of it as soon as possible. The house ant isn’t the only ant you need to worry about, as the carpenter ant will also love that rotting wood that lurks nearby.

3. Keep Your Kitchen’s Counters, Tables, and Floors Clean

It would help if you immediately cleaned up the kitchen after any cooking. Those counters, tabletops, and floors must be free of food debris. If you have a toddler in a highchair, clean that highchair and wipe down the underside. The sweet smell of jelly, baby food, or just about anything can attract them to your home.

4. Check Your Kitchen’s Entry Points

You need to think like an ant to help keep them at bay. So, it would help if you look at the caulking around windows and doors and check for any cracks in the foundation. If something as small as an ant can fit into any gaps, you need to seal them off. If you remove the entry point, they won’t be as likely to enter your abode.

5. Take Trash Out of Your Kitchen and Keep it Covered

It does no good to clean your entire kitchen if the trash is exposed with food in it. Make sure to keep your trash covered to prevent an ant infestation. Additionally, take out your kitchen trash often. The garbage outside your home should also be in enclosed containers so that nothing can get inside.

Knowing When to Call in the Experts to get rid of Ants in Your Kitchen

While some great ideas might be beneficial in this article, sometimes nothing you do seems to help. It’s not always as easy to get rid of these pesky critters as you hope. If you have an infestation that seems to be persistent and growing, you need the professional assistance of an exterminator company.

Our professionals are thoroughly trained and know more than just about spraying a pesticide to kill. They know how to identify the type of ant you’re dealing with, as they know there are 12,000 species on record. They will uncover how they’re getting into your home and what you can do to eliminate this issue for good.

Buying things over-the-counter works well for some people, but there are other situations where you need something more potent. The pesticides trained professionals use are more effective, which means you get relief faster.

Don’t keep throwing your money down the drain with gimmicks and tricks that aren’t working. When your New Jersey kitchen is being attacked, you need to call out the pros to help.