Maryland Ants: A Control Resource

At a glance..

This guide will teach you about the two different types of Maryland ants that can cause significant damage to your home. This guide also includes how to control pesky nuisance dwelling ants that can raid your food storage and pantry.

The details..

Ants are a common household pest that can be difficult to manage without proper knowledge. This book provides an overview of the different species of ants found in Maryland homes with a focus on two species: carpenter ants and pharaoh ants. Carpenter ants can cause structural damage while pharaoh ants require more specialized control methods due to their tiny size.

The book explains the anatomy of an ant including its three body regions (head, thorax, abdomen), elbowed antennae, gaster attached by a narrow waist consisting of one or two small segments. The author also describes the three distinct castes - queen male worker- which make up colonies where they live together as societies.

To help readers manage ant infestations at home effectively, this guide recommends storing food in tight containers or refrigerating it since most indoor infestations occur due to food odors attracting outdoor colonies inside. Ants often search for sweets or grease as food but will feed on other foods such as meats dairy products pastries fruits animal fats vegetable oils dead/live insects if available.

The author suggests using traps containing poison baits before resorting to insecticides applied directly into homes' interiors carefully following manufacturers' directions when necessary; however larger house pests like carpenter may need twice the number required for smaller ones like Pharaoh's so patience is key here.