Ant budding is a bit like opening up a new franchise location instead of creating a new business. Basically, a team of worker ants escorts the pregnant queen to a new site. When her brood starts growing, the colony already has those mature workers. It’s a “bud” of a colony rather than starting from scratch.
Ants practice budding when the current location feels threatened, or when things are going well and they want to branch out. Unfortunately, the Low Country area of South Carolina is home to pharaoh ants and other species and spread this way.
Why Ant Budding Can Be Difficult to Stop
Pest control for budding colonies can be trickier than dealing with ants who breed by swarming. That’s when a queen ant mates with winged reproductive ants and then starts a brand new colony on her own.
Budding ants can be slippery to catch—once you attack the colony, a queen and some workers can flee and start over. In fact, standard ant control methods can motivate ants to bud several new colonies!
What Kinds of Ants Practice Colony Budding?
Pharaoh ants, also known as sugar ants, are most famous for budding. They’re also somewhat common in South Carolina. Our Hilton Head ant control team also sees occasional cases of ghost ants, which typically migrate from Florida. Another budding ant species is the Argentine ant, which has been found in South Carolina as well.
Hilton Head Ant Control for Fast-Spreading Pests
A difficult pest problem like ant budding needs a multi-pronged approach to eliminate the queens and colonies so the budding cycle stops in its tracks.
At Island Pest Control, all our technicians are state-licensed and trained in pest management at the university level.
Stop scratching your head (and those annoying ant bites) wondering why ant colonies keep popping up around your property. Contact us today to schedule a free 58-point inspection for Hilton Head ant control.
