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If you’re seeing ants in your house, you might be wondering where they’re coming from and how they got in.
The average ant colony, depending on the species, can have between 20,000 to 100,000 ants. Once a colony reaches its full size, the ants will break off and continue to outwardly expand with more and more satellite colonies.
When you see a couple of lone ants roaming around, those are usually the forager ants scouting for food. If they find any food nearby, they’ll call in the rest of their friends. This results in the streamlined “highway” of ants that you usually see when there’s a large number of ants entering your house.
In this article (and video), pest expert Kevin Carrillo from MMPC explains:
Where the Ants in Your House Are Coming From
The main ant colonies themselves can sometimes be as far away as your backyard or underneath a tree outside on the sidewalk. However, there might be satellite colonies right below your feet, between the flooring and the substrate of the floor.
They could also be inside your wall cavities — if you have highly insulated walls, ants can build colonies within the insulation. Ants can even hollow out the bricks on the outside of your building and be within the envelope of the building and the bricks.
Where the ants are actually located is most likely within 50 feet of where you’re seeing them. And it’s going to be somewhere that’s contained, such as:
- Walls
- Floors
- Ceilings
- Soil (Outside)
Ants are natural tunnellers and often many of these areas inside your house might be sealed with silicone. Silicone is a soft, rubbery material that ants can chew right through.
If you have silicone sealants around your pipes or running along your baseboard where the floor and the wall meet, these are all areas that ants will chew through. This gives them a direct line of access from wherever their colony is nearby to where your food is.
Video: How Do You Find Where Ants Are Entering Your House?
Kevin Carrillo is a pest control specialist and a senior project manager at MMPC, as well as a contributor to wikiHow.
Based in Long Island City, MMPC provides reliable and eco-friendly pest solutions for clients of all sizes in and around the Tri-State Area. With over 25 years of experience, MMPC is one of NYC’s highest-rated pest control companies.
If you need help with ants or other pests, call (212) 219-8218 or click the button below to contact us today!