Illinois has plenty of ants to go around. When you find a tiny army invading your home, knowing a few essential ant facts – and enlisting Anderson Pest Control – will greatly help your pest control efforts. An ant colony can consist of millions of individuals that fit into one of three categories: the female workers, the male drones, and the queen. The wingless workers are responsible for all the hard labor while the male drones have only one purpose: reproduction with the queen. The powerful matriarch of the ant community is the most important ant of all – without a queen, the colony can’t survive for very long.
Why Is the Ant Queen So Important?
The queen is the only ant that is capable of laying eggs. In fact, once she is mature, she spends her whole life laying eggs to ensure that the colony survives. Some queens live for many years and produce millions of eggs. Queens are not easily replaced, and the colony is unable to reproduce without them. Due to the short lifespans of drones and workers, a colony will often die if its queen is removed or killed.
Identifying Her Royal Highness
You won’t see the queen ant strolling into your home surrounded by paparazzi. Most of the ants you actually see are female workers who are running their errands. If you happen to locate the colony, you may get lucky and spot the queen. Keep these tips in mind when looking for her.
- She is usually centrally located within the colony.
- She’s much larger than all of the surrounding workers and drones.
- She may still have her wings or wing attachment points, which appear as small bumps jutting from her body. Queens usually have wings at some point during their lifespan, but often end up shedding them.
- She’ll have a larger, thicker thorax (middle section) than the others.
Eliminating a queen ant doesn’t guarantee that the colony will die. Some ant species have multiple queens, and in rare cases, a new queen can take over. For foolproof ant control, consult an experienced professional.
Anderson Pest Solutions Can Conquer the Ant Queen
At Anderson, we have decades of training and experience that enables us to determine what type of ants are entering your Illinois home, how they got indoors, and what measures will eliminate them. We’ll oust the queen and her court so that you can enjoy an ant-free home. Contact us today for all of your residential and commercial pest control needs.
