Fire Ant Control & Treatment in Lake Nona, FL
A fire ant infestation can occur in your yard, beneath your home’s foundation, and even make its way into your home itself. Fire ant bites and stings are painful and injurious to people, pets, livestock, and property, so those with a fire ant problem in Lake Nona, FL, should seek control and treatment measures from Fire Ant Control, LLC before the problem grows even worse.
The Key to Effective Population Control – Understanding the Life Cycle
The beginning of an imported red fire ant colony occurs when a male and female ant mate. This species of ant can mate mid-flight, after which the male dies, and the female falls to the ground, loses her wings, and digs a tunnel to lay her eggs and establish her colony.
The queen is the leader of the colony and can lay up to 1,500 eggs per day that hatch after 20-25 days and live from 30-180 days as adult worker ants. One colony can have more than one queen, and over time, ant populations can grow exponentially.
A colony with one queen may have a population of 7 million per acre, and with multiple queens, a colony may have 40 million fire ants per acre.
The Fire Ant Nest
Imported red fire ants build complex nests of tunnels underground with mounds on the surface for exiting and entrance. The mounds are flat and round and made from loose soil. They are easy to miss unless looking specifically for them. Ants like to infest bales of hay, piles of laundry, A/C units, and other warm or moist areas.
Fire ant populations will grow continuously with no obvious issues above ground. You may not even realize you have a problem until the first attack occurs, but you will know when it does! Accidentally disturbing a mound will cause hundreds of imported red fire ants to swarm up from the nest and attack in a coordinated blitz of stings and bites.
Treating the Mound vs. Treating the Colony
Some methods of fire ant control address the individual mounds, attempting to eradicate ants one living ant at a time. This method is ineffective because the ants will simply move to another area on the property (or nearby) without any damage to the subterranean network of tunnels.
Controlling the population rather than the mounds is a more effective method of fire ant control. Fire Ant Control LLC’s granular bait appeals to the worker ant who finds it and carries it down into the colony where the queen can enjoy it too. She then becomes sterile, unable to lay eggs. With no new ants hatching, the colony’s population goes down to zero as the living ants die. Our bait works so well that we guarantee 85-95% fire ant free property for four months following treatment.
Fire Ant Control, LLC, is fully licensed and insured. Our methods and products are authorized for use on all sorts of properties, including those with animals and people. Private property applications do not require a re-entry period of time, allowing you to return immediately after we’re done.
Call (239) 312-8200 to speak with our customer service team to learn more about how Fire Ant Control, LLC, operates, to schedule a service, or to get a free estimate. Regardless of the size of your property in Lake Nona, FL, we can help get your fire ant problem under control with effective treatment.