Ant Eggs Found in The Dirt in Sea Girt, NJ
Today, while performing a routine home protection servicing for a homeowner in Sea Girt, NJ, I came across an exceptionally large ant colony in the backyard. As often happens, during these periodic “check-ups” where we perform preventative treatments and inspect the premises for signs of infestation activity, I found an insect problem that the homeowner was unaware of. Early identification allows us to deal with the problem before matters get worse. Often, it's only a matter of time before foraging ants enter the home through gaps and cracks in the foundation or along window sills.
As shown in the video, the anthills we see on the soil surface are truly just the tip of the iceberg. Anthills form when ants are excavating their underground colonies. They deposit the fine piles of extra soil in a single spot at the entrances of their subterranean dwellings. Below the anthill, underneath the surface, there’s a whole lot of ant activity going on. How deep do ants nests go? It all depends on the type of ant, but there some deep excavating species of ants that can build nests a few yards deep!
To show how these little buggers breed and expand their colonies, I pulled out a cluster of crabgrass right next to the ant hill. As you can see, there were ant eggs stuck on the grassroots. The biology and behavioral patterns of the ants, at least for me, is interesting. What these insects lack in size, they make up for in industriousness. These guys don’t know the meaning of a vacation! In ant colonies, the queens run the show. They lay the fertilized eggs that become either workers or other queens. It’s a pure caste system where your fate is predetermined from the moment you are born. A single queen will lay anywhere from five to forty eggs daily. The female workers are the nannies of the colony, caring for all of the eggs, larvae, and pupae.
The liquid application that I apply seeps into the ground, killing not only the queen and worker ants, but also and just as important, all of those eggs that are anxiously waiting to hatch. Controlling and eliminating the eggs will ensure a drastic and immediate reduction in the ant population on your property since it ensures that there are no future generations of these insects. It’s not every day that we actually get to see ant eggs, but when we do, it’s worth sharing.