What Is the Difference Between Ants and Termites?
While both ants and termites are social insects, dividing their workloads into divisions of labor, termites do not have the same “waist” that an ant does, and appears to have a head with a much longer body, whereas an ant has a clearly distinguishable head, abdomen and thorax due to their narrow waist. Being able to identify a termite from an ant could mean the difference in several hundreds of dollars, since termites are active often long before they are properly identified. That’s why they’re often called “the silent destroyers.”
Ants and termites both have two pairs of wings, but ants have two sizes of wings while termites are the same size. Termites have straight antennae whereas ants have forked or bent antennae. Beyond their body shape and wing size, the third difference is in their behavior. While both live in colonies, the damage that termites can inflict on your home is much more significant than compared to ants.
This University recommends you contact a professional if you’re unable to identify which insect has taken up residence in your home.
What Kind of Damage Do Ants and Termites Cause?
Ants can chew through electrical wires, insulation, or drywall, but are often found in areas where moisture and a steady food source are present. Termites can rapidly destroy beams, floors or other structural damage since they eat the wood supporting your home’s structures, making termite control a necessity.
How Do I Get Rid of Ants and Termites?
Reaching out to a professional is a great first step if DIY methods have not worked or you do not want to try to exterminate them yourself. For termites, we offer two nationally recognized brands of treatment:
Sentricon is one of the termite control systems exterminator Kansas City Milberger uses.
The benefits of using Sentricon include:
- Uses active ingredients only when termites are present
- Can detect termites before they enter structure
- No drilling to the structure required
- Eliminates entire termite colony
Termidor® termiticide/insecticide is a professional termite defense product effective on native subterranean termites, Formosan termites, and drywood termites. It utilizes an advanced nonrepellent, or “undetectable,” liquid technology that termites cannot see, smell, taste, or avoid. Instead, they contact, ingest, and share Termidor, completely unaware that doing so will inevitably kill them.