Ant control in Clarksville, Tennessee

How to recognise them

UT Extension gives the basics: elbowed antennae and a thin waist with one or two bumps. Workers have no wings. Winged ants are the ones starting new colonies, and they get mistaken for termites.

• Small ants in a line along a counter, baseboard or window sill. Odorous house ants and Argentine ants fall in this group, and both go after sweets.
• Larger dark ants wandering singly, often at night. These may be carpenter ants.
• Coarse sawdust below a window, door frame or porch post, which can point to a carpenter ant nest in the wood.

Why they show up here

Ants are after food and water, and rain or dry spells push colonies to look indoors. Mulch and shrubs against a foundation give them cover, and branches touching the roof give carpenter ants a bridge. Carpenter ants favor wood that is already damp, such as a leaky window frame or a wet porch post, so finding them can also mean finding a moisture problem.

What an ant visit usually involves

1. Identifying the ant

   Baits that work for one species can be ignored by another, so this comes first.

2. Following the trails

   The person checks outdoors as well as in, looking for nests in mulch, wall voids and damp wood.

3. Treating and advising

   Often slow-acting baits, sometimes outdoor treatment, plus advice on the moisture or landscaping that attracted them.

When to call

Call if a trail keeps coming back after you have cleaned up and removed the food. Call sooner if you find large ants with sawdust, because carpenter ants can tunnel into structural wood.

Some prevention helps either way. UT Extension suggests trimming branches back from the house, and it helps to store food tightly and fix leaks.

Ant questions