Homeowners who have experienced an ant infestation often want to know how ants got into their home, and one way is through scent. Ants can smell food and use their sense of smell to guide them to a food source.
Along with their sense of smell, ants also use their sight and taste to locate a food source. They even use their antennas to find food and communicate with their colony. Once ants discover an abundant food source in your home, it doesn’t take long for the rest of the territory to arrive.
Another unique thing about ants is that they do not sleep for long periods. Instead, they take short naps throughout the day, lasting from a few seconds to a few minutes. This allows them to recharge and continue the task of finding food. Homeowners should understand that they can encounter ant activity all day and night because of this unique sleep schedule.
Lastly, one place homeowners might find ants in their homes is the bedroom, especially if it is connected to a bathroom. Keep reading to learn how and why ants are in bedrooms and what to do about it.
Can Ants Smell Food?
Yes, ants can smell food. They use their keen senses of smell, sight, and taste to find their next meal. They use these senses to guide them and can fit through tiny crevices to get to their food.
Along with their senses, ants also use their antennae to source food. Antennas are sensory organs with tiny hairs that help ants pick up environmental chemical cues. They have to wave their antennas to detect scent trails and food particles. Ants also use their antennas to communicate with the rest of their colony and help guide other ants to the food source.
What Attracts Ants?
Ants are attracted by several things that lead them indoors, including damp environments, food smells, crumbs, spills, and pet food.
Especially greasy, sweet, or sugary foods give off enticing scents to ants. Plus, it doesn’t take much to draw these pests in. Even tiny crumbs and spills can lure them inside your home, so wiping down your countertops daily is essential.
Ants are also drawn to moisture, so homeowners might spot them near their leaky pipes, faucets, or damp soil.
Finally, leaving out pet food is a great way to draw ants into your home. Instead of free feeding your pet, pick up their pet food bowls when it is not their meal time to avoid an ant infestation. If you find ants in your pets’ food or water bowl, empty the bowl and wash it with soap.
How Do Ants Enter Houses?
Ants can fit into tiny crevices to enter homes. For example, they often enter through cracks or gaps in your doors, windows or walls. Openings or crevices around your pipes or utility lines are also an excellent opportunity for ants to get inside.
Next, ants can crawl in through openings in your chimney or vents. Lastly, holes around your exterior doors make it easy for ants to enter your home.
Sealing up any possible entry points ants can use to enter your home is essential. Contact a pest control professional for a full home inspection to identify where and how ants may enter.
How To Get Ants Out of Your Home
You can try several methods to control an ant infestation. However, the quickest and most effective way is to contact a pest control expert to get rid of ants in the house.
First, start with prevention methods. Please keep all your food in sealed, airtight containers so ants cannot access it. Clean up spills and crumbs immediately so the food particles don’t lure the ants into your home.
Keep the lids to your garbage, and compost bins tightly so that ants can’t get inside, and eliminate any standing water sources inside or outside your home.
While these methods may decrease the number of ants in your home, they are usually not powerful enough to kill the entire population. To fully control ants, contact a pest control expert for help.
Do Ants Sleep?
Ants might seem to be constantly active, but they do need sleep. However, the way that ants sleep is different than how humans sleep. Instead of sleeping several hours at once, ants take short naps throughout the day.
Ants have a polyphasic sleep pattern, meaning they rest by dozing off for short periods on an intermittent schedule. An ant nap can last anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, and they happen frequently during the day and night.
Ants have this sleeping pattern to conserve their energy while still accomplishing their tasks. Ants have busy lives and spend most of their time foraging for food. Short naps throughout the day allow them to recharge and continue their quest.
Because of this unique sleep pattern, homeowners can have problems with ants at any time of day. They are active during the day and night, so it’s important not to assume their activity stops when the sun goes down.
Homeowners must take consistent measures to deter ants since they can infest your home at any time of the day. Keeping the house clean and sealing up entry points that ants may use to get inside is the best way to deter these pests.
Contact a pest control specialist if you already have ants inhabiting your home. Since ants are active all day and night, they can become a significant nuisance. An ant exterminator can control the colony and return your home.
What To Do About Ants in the Bedroom
Discovering ants in your bedroom is unpleasant. The best way to know how to kick ants out of your bedroom is to understand why they showed up there in the first place.
Ants are always seeking shelter and food. If you keep food in your bedroom, it becomes a welcoming habitat for ants. If your bedroom has carpet flooring, it’s easy for crumbs to get trapped and lure ants into the room.
These pests also like moist atmospheres. If your bedroom is attached to your bathroom, you will most likely see more ant activity in the bathroom. Inspect around and under your bathroom sink for ants first.
Clean up all leftover food particles to keep ants out of your bedroom. Wipe down surfaces, vacuum the floor, and clean up spills. If you eat in your bedroom, throw out leftovers and remove dishes from the room right away.
Next, check your bathroom for leaks, damp areas, or standing water. Ants are attracted to water sources, so dealing with any plumbing issues right away is essential. Do your best to maintain a dry environment in your bathroom to deter ants from setting up camp.
Inspect your bedroom’s doors, windows, walls, and baseboards for any small openings. Once you find them, seal them with caulk or weatherstripping to keep ants out.
While at-home remedies may work to an extent, the best way to get ants out of your bedroom is to contact an ant exterminator. They can identify how ants got into your bedroom and use their professional knowledge and experience to control the infestation. Afterward, they can give you advice on how to prevent ants.
ABC Can Control and Prevent Ants
Dealing with an ant problem can be highly frustrating. Instead of trying to prevent or control ants, contact ABC Home & Commercial Services. Our highly trained professionals will create a custom pest treatment plan so you don’t have to worry about any type of ants, including fire ants.