How To Get Rid Of Red Ants In Reno

One thing that we could all do without in the "Biggest Little City in the World" is the red ants. These ants inflict their victims with painful stings causing blisters on the skin. If you get too many stings, you may have your day ruined by a trip to the hospital's emergency room. 

You need a Reno pest control service like Celtic Pest Control if red ants are on your property. Our highly trained professionals will destroy the red ants on your property before they cause you any more harm. 

Is It Possible To Kill Red Ants And Not Hurt Earthworms?

We want red ants eliminated from our yards and gardens, but we don't want to kill the earthworms because they are necessary for the health of our plants and lawn. The tunnels earthworms create help get air and water to the plants, they add nutrients to the soil from their waste, and earthworms distribute nutrients throughout the dirt. 

The good news is that it is possible to kill red ants and not hurt earthworms. The following are natural ways to kill red ants without harming earthworms:

• Cornmeal: Ants will eat cornmeal, but they cannot digest it, and, as a result, they die of starvation - even though they are full of cornmeal! This method will not destroy the red ant colony but reduces the red ants and does not kill earthworms.
• Borax And Jelly: Red ants are attracted to sweets and will go for this deadly treat. Mix equal parts of the borax and jelly (or anything sweet) and place the mixture in a bowl. The concoction is attractive to the ants and will kill them, but the earthworms will leave it alone. 

Although these methods will reduce the red ant infestation in your yard and garden without harming the earthworm population, they will not eliminate the source of the problem. 

No Ant Mounds, No Problems?

When most people think of red ants, they think of fire ants. These reddish-brown ants build large mounds at the entrances of their nests. If what appears to be a dirt pile against your home's foundation, at the base of trees, next to the sides of sidewalks, underneath lawn mulch, inside of rotten logs, or on your lawn, you have a fire ant mound in your yard. 

Often confused with the red fire ant, another red ant that stings and creates a mound is the red harvester ant. Because red harvester ants collect grass seeds and store them in their nests, there is a lack of vegetation ranging from three to six feet around their nests. 

The absence of mounds does not mean a lack of red ants because other stinging red ants don't build above-the-ground nests. For example, the red velvet ant is a wasp that looks like an ant. This "red ant" overtakes bumblebee nests as a residence. Another ant that can be reddish is the carpenter ant. This ant does not build mounds; instead, it makes its home in rotting wood. If you don't have heaps of finely granulated dirt in your yard but see a reddish ant, you may have carpenter ants slowly destroying the wood in your home. 

Treating Large Yards For Red Ants

If you see dirt mounds in your yard, you have red ants in the yard. You can distinguish between the types of red ants by the vegetation surrounding their nests. For instance, there is no vegetation within several feet of a red harvester nest; but the foliage is not disturbed around a fire ant mound.

Large yards can be home to enormous populations of red ants. For example, fire ants build up to 40 mounds per acre; each fire ant hill in your yard may contain nearly 100,000 ants. So, one acre of land could be home to four million fire ants! 

Treating a large yard will require multiple applications to destroy the red ants in the yard and the nests. Since red ants in your yard can inflict painful and dangerous stings, utilizing the services of the best fire ant killer for your Reno home, Celtic Pest Control, is the safest and best way to treat a large yard for red ants.

Professional Ant Control For Your Reno Property

No matter the species of red ant, the best course of action to avoid fire ant bite allergic reactions is to allow the team at Celtic Pest Control to solve your red ant problem. Our experts can identify the type of red ant present at your Reno home and provide the appropriate treatment. Reach out to us today; let us start ending the red ant infestation at your home.