We have all experienced ants in our home at one point or another and to say the least, it’s a complete nuisance. There is almost nothing worse than going downstairs in the middle of the night, only to find hundreds of ants crawling around your kitchen floor. This can be quite worrying and will often make us ask the question, why are these ants entering my home?
Food Foraging – This is probably the number one reason why you have ants in your home. We often think that the ants are present because our home is untidy or dirty but this isn’t actually the case. If you have ants in your home the most likely option is that you have left food out such as sweets, fatty foods etc. so make sure to always store away your food.
Water Foraging – When ants are having a hard time finding sources of water they may enter your home in order to look for a source. This isn’t really preventable but proper steps can be taken to rid the ants.
Living Quarters – The ants present in your home may be using it as a place to colonize, this does happen but it is quite rare. As many ant species need moisture to properly build their nesting sites they will not do this in dry housing structures. So it is possible that your house could be damp or even have a decaying structure. Structure colonization is species dependant.
Flooding – After heavy rain the ants nesting site may become flooded. This will result in them temporarily occupying somewhere like your home. Even though it is only temporary it can be very annoying, however you can take the necessary steps to rid the ants from your home.
So to conclude, there are four main reasons why ants may be dwelling in your home. Many of the reasons are nothing to worry about but if ants are present in your home you may want to check for damp or weakening structures as this is definitely something to be concerned about.