The North American variety of the Sugar Ant is common in homes around the four-state area. Unfortunately, these pesky insects are notoriously difficult to eradicate. They adapt quickly, building large nests inside, outside, and even below your home's foundation.

Fortunately, sugar ant behavior is well understood. They are known for building shallow nests in surface soils beneath objects. The problem is not the size of the nests but the colony—a collaborative network of nests working together with many queens.

Luckily for homeowners, it only takes a bit of applied knowledge and discipline to take back control of your home. The path to a home free of sugar ants begins with crushing and obstructing their access to food and water.

Know the Signs of Sugar Ants

Do you frequently find them in your pantry, near your pet's food, the laundry, or outside by your air conditioner? Unfortunately, once you find a sugar ant in your home, it isn't long before you find more. However, knowing what to look for helps prevent a large-scale infestation.

Sugar ants are foragers and gatherers. The reason; all living things need food and water to survive. Since they are indiscriminate eaters, you need to be conscious of where you keep finding sugar ants in your home.

1. Food

Unfortunately, for the sugar ant and its colony, the crumbs on your kitchen floor are easy to access. So, to combat the sugar ants foraging efforts, you clean and remove their food source.

But since sugar ants are not picky eaters, they love one tidbit more than others—foods high in sucrose, also known as table sugar. Sugar ants love sugar so much they frequent your high sucrose foods 20% more than foods high in fructose, like honey and jam.

2. Smell

Oddly, their name is more related to the odor they emit than the food they love. Although, there are many reports of sugar ants smelling like rotting coconuts or blue cheese.

So if you think you smell blue cheese, rotting coconuts, or perhaps even some cleaning supplies, chances are sugar ants have invaded your home.

3. Visual Inspection Inside and Outside Your Home

An infestation of sugar ants can occur anywhere inside or outside your home. So be sure to check all points where water enters your home, gets used, or collects and pools.

When you're checking around the outside of your home, look for ant activity around loose objects, like woodpiles or logs. Also, check for signs of ants building around the foundation of your home. Sugar ants like to be close to their food source and where better than beneath your home or inside your walls.

Reach Out to An Exterminator

Sugar ants are no laughing matter, no matter how sweet their name, but preventative measures are the first step to keeping your home impenetrable. So with a bit of discipline and teamwork, Bug-A-Way can work with you to make sure you never have to deal with the tiny but mighty sugar ant.

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