Some household pests are nuisances, while others can cause damage to your home!
Sugar ants can cause damage to your home by contaminating food, spreading disease, and causing structural damage. Most importantly, sugar ant bites can cause damage to you!
In this article, we’ll tell you everything you should know about biting sugar ants and how to care for any injuries.
Will a Sugar Ant Bite or Sting?
Ants are one-of-a-kind insects. Instead of just biting or stinging their prey, some ants can utilize both defensive strategies to incapacitate their next meal or ward off intruders entering their nests. Sugar ants, however, are quite passive compared to many other species of ant.
Some ant-related injuries concern their painful stings, which can leave behind tiny itchy welts on your skin. Ant species like fire ants will regularly sting their victims and inject venom.
While all ants in the United States cannot sting, most can only bite and spray a painful acid. Unlike fire ants, sugar ants lack a stinger, so they cannot attack their prey by biting down and stinging. Instead, sugar ants use their large, sharp mandibles to latch onto your skin.
Sugar ants are relatively small, with workers typically measuring between 2.4 and 3.3 mm long. Their large mandibles make up for their size, allowing them to deliver a painful bite if they feel threatened.
While most sugar ant bites are not dangerous, they can cause slight swelling and redness around the wound site. In some rare cases, an allergic reaction to venom or acid can occur, resulting in hives, difficulty breathing, or swelling of the lips and tongue.
If you experience any of these symptoms after being bitten by a sugar ant, call 911 or visit the nearest emergency room immediately.
Treating a Sugar Ant Bite
Although sugar ants can’t sting you, their bites can be quite painful. These ants don’t swarm and attack as rapidly as fire ants would, but it’s still possible to get a minor injury if you come across a sugar ant colony in your house.
Clean the site with soap and water as soon as a sugar ant bites you. Sugar ants, unlike other biting insects, aren’t capable of transmitting disease through bites, but it’s still important to keep the wounds clean.
Washing the bitten areas helps to remove any venom and prevent infection. Even though the bites will start itching, try not to scratch your skin! The wounds need time to heal properly, and if you keep irritating them it could make the healing process take longer or increase your chances of getting an infection. To minimize the swelling, apply a cold compress or ice pack to the bite.
If the bites are too painful to touch, you may use an over-the-counter antihistamine lotion to relieve the pain. After a few days, you should notice a decline in swelling and rednesses.
Complications from Sugar Ant Bite
Bites from ant colonies are usually nothing more than garden-variety insect bites. The majority of ant encounters should not result in any long-term side effects, and the wounds generally heal after a week.
However, those allergic to formic acid or other venom components may experience debilitating symptoms after a few bites.
Allergic reactions may cause extreme swelling or difficulty breathing. Younger children are more susceptible to adverse reactions, so always keep an eye on children that have existing insect allergies.
If you have trouble breathing or experience facial swelling, see a doctor or the emergency department immediately to avoid a potentially deadly allergic reaction. Over-the-counter medicine might assist with some of the side effects but always talk to your doctor.
Avoiding Sugar Ant Bites
So, is there a way to prevent getting bitten? Sugar ants typically inhabit areas with high sugar content, so keeping food properly sealed and off the floor will help to keep them away.
Vacuuming regularly will also pick up any crumbs or sweet residue that these ants may be attracted to. Inspect your home for any cracks or holes where these pests could enter and seal them shut with caulking.
Avoid approaching or interacting with the colony if you find sugar ants inside or outside your home. While they aren’t as aggressive as fire ants, they will still attack anything threatening their colony.
Sugar ants will only bite you if you mishandle them or invade their territory. The ants are most often found in your kitchen, bathrooms, and near water heaters.
The most effective way to avoid sugar ant bites altogether is to get rid of the pests in your home. Not only will you save yourself from the pain, but you’ll also spare yourself the headache (and potential cost) of dealing with extensive damage they could do to your house.
Ants may enter your house through tiny holes or gaps on the outside of your home’s exterior walls. The ants can begin gnawing on wooden beams or support inside to create indoor nests once they gain access to your property’s interior foundation.
Unlike termites, sugar ants cannot cause significant damage, but they can still be a nuisance.
An excellent way to keep pests away is by removing their food and water sources. Sugar ants, for example, don’t consume the wood they tunnel through and need other nutrients to survive – many of which can be found in your kitchen!
To keep these ants out of your kitchen, dining room, and other eating areas, clean them regularly. To keep your home neat, clean up any cooking spills and dispose of garbage regularly.
When to Contact a Pest Control Agency
Are you still struggling with sugar ants and wanting to avoid further home damage? Look no further! Recon Pest Services offers trained technicians who can handle insect infestations like sugar ants.
We understand how much your home means to you and only want the best for it. Unfortunately, store-bought sugar ant repellents and pesticides aren’t always successful in getting rid of pests. They can also often hide away in places that are difficult to reach.
If you’re having trouble handling these pests alone, give us a call! Contact us today to learn more about our services or schedule a sugar ant treatment!
