Ants need three things: water, food, and shelter. In Los Angeles, water is the underrated one as summer heat and drought drive Argentine ants indoors toward sinks and bathrooms.
You’ve likely heard about how ants tend to come inside after the rain. But what may surprise you is that the opposite extreme can also push ants indoors: drought. In fact, in Los Angeles, drought is one of the most underrated reasons that Argentine ants go indoors. They need water just like people do.
Argentine ants are the small brown ants responsible for the overwhelming majority of LA household invasions. They nest in shallow soil, mulch, and ground dampened by irrigation. When temperatures spike and the ground dries, that’s hard to come by. So you find them by the kitchen sink or dishwasher.
As hinted at earlier, though, drought isn’t the only water problem that can send ants inside. Floods can too. Their nests are shallow and LA tends to dump a lot of rain at once. That means ants can find themselves with no home in a hurry, which sends them to your house.
When they aren't running from floods or droughts, ants come inside for food. Your house can be spotless and still draw a crowd. A tiny film of grease behind the stove or a few crumbs under the toaster is all they need to thrive. It’s very hard to eliminate every single source of food ants can consume.
With Argentine ants, spraying visible ants doesn’t do very much. Better is to erase trails with soapy water and use baits so foragers can carry slow-acting material back to queens. When the queen is knocked down, the colony itself collapses. Once this happens, seal up gaps around windows, doors, and pipes or cables. Pull mulch and vegetation back from the foundation as well.
If ants come back into your house every time the weather changes, Mosquito Squad of Los Angeles can help. Mosquito Squad's home and yard coverage treats the ant colonies outside and the entry points they use. This will help you protect your home through both the dry months and the wet ones.
