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Ant Control in Murrieta & Temecula, CA
Ant problem? Ants marching through your kitchen? Frustrated by endless trails invading your home? You’re not alone.
Ant infestations are a common headache for Murrieta and Temecula Valley homeowners.
These tiny pests sneak in through cracks, forming lines across countertops and floors.
Beyond the annoyance, ants pose real risks to your health and property. They contaminate food by crawling over it and tracking in bacteria from dirty places.
Certain species can even damage your house or deliver painful stings.
Carpenter ants tunnel through wood, weakening structures, while fire ants inflict burning stings that may trigger allergic reactions. Killing a few scouts with spray won’t solve the problem – the hidden colony keeps sending more.
Don’t waste time on trial-and-error fixes. Our local ant control service targets the source of the infestation to wipe out the entire colony and keep ants out for good with our regular maintenance visits.
Ant Problem? No Problem!
Let’s Get to Work on That for You…
We’ll come over, identify the type of ants you have, and put together a plan.
Common Ant Invaders in the Inland Empire
The many types of ants we have in the Inland Empire. Which do you recognize?
Argentine Ants
Behavior
Tiny brown ants that form super-colonies with multiple queens. They’re aggressive invaders and often outcompete other ant species in the area.
Where Found
Typically outdoors in shallow soil nests, but will come inside through tiny cracks in search of food and water. In hot, dry weather, they may even nest inside walls, under carpets, or in potted plants.
Problems
Argentine ants don’t bite humans, but they overwhelm kitchens and bathrooms with huge trails of workers. They protect plant pests like aphids (for honeydew) and disrupt the local ecosystem by displacing native ants. Their large colonies make them especially hard to eliminate without professional help.
Carpenter Ants
Behavior
Tiny brown ants that form super-colonies with multiple queens. They’re aggressive invaders and often outcompete other ant species in the area.
Where Found
Typically outdoors in shallow soil nests, but will come inside through tiny cracks in search of food and water. In hot, dry weather, they may even nest inside walls, under carpets, or in potted plants.
Problems
Argentine ants don’t bite humans, but they overwhelm kitchens and bathrooms with huge trails of workers. They protect plant pests like aphids (for honeydew) and disrupt the local ecosystem by displacing native ants. Their large colonies make them <>especially hard to eliminate without professional help.
Odorous House Ants
Behavior
Smaller dark-brown ants (about 1/8 inch) that emit a rotten coconut smell when crushed. They live in large colonies with multiple queens, similar to Argentine ants.
Where Found
Versatile invaders found both outdoors and indoors in Murrieta. Outside, they nest under rocks, mulch, or pavement. Indoors, they often nest in wall voids or beneath floors, especially near kitchens and bathrooms. They frequently form trails along your baseboards and sinks in search of sweets and water.
Problems
These ants are mainly a nuisance pest. They contaminate food and can take over your kitchen, swarming any spills or crumbs. While they don’t sting or cause structural harm, their foul odor they produce (hence their name) makes an infestation very unpleasant.
Pharoah Ants
Behavior
Tiny yellowish ants (∼1/16 inch) that thrive in warm, indoor environments. Pharaoh ants are notorious for building many sub-colonies. If disturbed, they split and form new colonies, making them tough to eradicate.
Where Found
Indoors in heated buildings, nesting in walls, attics, or near appliances and pipes that give off warmth. They love kitchens & bathrooms. You won’t find Pharaoh ants outside often, they prefer to be in buildings.
Problems
Pharaoh ants eat almost anything people eat, they love fatty, greasy foods. They can spread germs by crawling over food and surfaces, making them a health concern. Their colonies have many queens & can number in the hundreds of thousands. A small problem can turn into a big infestation if not treated properly.
Patio Invasion? Ant Colonies in the Yard?
Let’s Make Your Outside Spaces Enjoyable Again!
We’ll come over, identify the type of ants you have, and put together a plan.
Red Imported Fire Ants
Behavior
Reddish-brown ants known for their aggressive swarming and painful stings. They fiercely defend their nests if disturbed. Fire ants are social and work together to overwhelm threats. You may see a swarm attack all at once.
Where Found
Primarily outdoors in yards, they build tell-tale mounds of soft soil, in sunny open areas. One yard can have multiple mounds. Although less common in Southern California, they have established pockets in the Inland Empire. If they invade a lawn, they can venture indoors searching for food.
Problems
Fire ant stings are painful and can cause burning, itching, and sometimes allergic reactions. Pets or people disturbing a nest may get stung many times. These ants can also harm gardens and turf. They reproduce quickly and have multiple queens, so fire ants are hard to eliminate without professional treatment.
Velvety Tree Ants
Behavior
Reddish-black ants with a slight velvety sheen on their abdomen. Very aggressive when their colony is threatened, velvety tree ants will bite intruders and can even inject a form of venom into the bite, causing a sharp pinch. They release a distinct odor when disturbed.
Where Found
In and around trees. They often nest in old tree trunks, rotting logs, or under bark. They can also nest in wall voids and attics, especially if tree branches touch your house (providing a highway indoors). You might spot their trails along tree branches or on the exterior of your home as they forage.
Problems
A colony can grow huge, with a single queen and thousands of workers. When they invade homes, they can bite people who get too close. The bite is painful, and although they don’t sting, the tiny dose of venom can irritate the skin. They’re also known to foul indoor areas with a musty smell if crushed in large numbers.
Harvester Ants
Behavior
Reddish or dark-orange ants that collect seeds and vegetation as their main food source. They’re slower-moving, often seen carrying bits of grass or seeds. Harvesters defend their nest by biting and stinging if provoked.
Where Found
Common in the arid parts of the Inland Empire, especially in yards, fields, and along sidewalks. They build flat, gravelly mounds with a cleared area around the nest entrance. You might notice small piles of seed husks near the nest. They prefer dry, open areas and generally stay outdoors (rarely entering homes).
Problems
Harvester ants can damage lawns and gardens by clearing vegetation around their nests. Their stings, while not as potent as fire ants, can be painful and cause swelling. These ants are usually more of an outdoor nuisance. You wouldn’t want them near play areas or high-traffic parts of your yard due to the risk of stings.
Pavement Ants
Behavior
Small brown or black ants that often make their homes under sidewalks, driveways, and building foundations. They get their name because you’ll often see them pushing soil up through cracks in pavement. Pavement ants are known to form long foraging trails and can engage in large “ant wars” with other colonies.
Where Found
Urban and suburban areas – under pavement, rocks, and concrete slabs. If you see fine dirt piles or sand in the cracks of your driveway or along the foundation of your house, that’s a sign of pavement ants. They can also venture indoors into kitchens, especially at night, to scavenge for crumbs.
Problems
Pavement ants are generally a nuisance pest. They can undermine concrete by excavating soil beneath, which might lead to minor settling or cracks over time. Indoors, they contaminate food left out. While they can bite, they rarely cause pain to humans. The main issue is their persistent presence and the unsightly dirt piles they leave on patios and floors.
Our Ant Control Process: 4 Steps to an Ant-Free Home
1. Thorough Inspection
Every service begins with a deep inspection of your property.
Our trained technicians examine your home from yard to attic, identifying ant trails, entry points, and nesting sites.
We don’t just glance around, we get to the root of where the ants are coming from.
This step is crucial for understanding the extent of the infestation and any conditions attracting the ants.
2. Precise Identification
Proper ant control isn’t one-size-fits-all. That’s why we identify the exact ant species invading your home.
Whether it’s Argentine ants, carpenter ants, or odorous house ants, knowing the species guides our treatment plan. Different ants have different habits and hiding spots, so our identification process pinpoints what we’re up against.
The approach that works for pavement ants might not work for Pharaoh ants.
3. Customized Treatment
Once we know the who, where, and how many, we develop a tailored treatment plan for your home.
Our team uses targeted, professional-grade products to eliminate the entire ant colony, including the queen and all satellite nests. We place baits, apply precise applications in cracks and trails, and treat colony sites directly based on what will work best for the species identified.
Our methods are powerful against ants yet applied in a way that minimizes any risk to your family and pets.
2. Ongoing Prevention
Getting rid of ants is step one; keeping them out is step two. As part of our service, we perform essential exclusion work – sealing up cracks, crevices, and other entry points that ants were using to sneak inside.
For long-term protection, you can enroll in our ongoing service plans where we return periodically to reinforce barriers and tackle any new ant activity. Our goal is not just a one-time fix, but year-round ant prevention so you can have peace of mind.
Why Choose Cal Oaks Termite?
- Over 35 years experience
- Local expertise in the Murrieta–Temecula Valley region
- Friendly, knowledgeable technicians
- Safe, effective treatments without gimmicks
- Focus on long-term prevention and colony elimination
Request Your Inspection
Call us now or use the contact form to schedule an ant inspection. Fast response, proven methods, and local service that works.
Let Cal Oaks Termite help you reclaim your home from ants.
Say Goodbye to Ant Infestations with Expert Help
Welcome to your local ant extermination specialists serving Murrieta, Temecula Valley, and the Inland Empire.
We understand how stressful it is to find ants in your pantry or along baseboards. Our team brings deep knowledge of Southern California’s ant problems and a no-nonsense approach to solve them. We don’t do gimmicks or half-measures. Just safe, effective treatments that get results.
Every home and infestation is unique, so we customize our strategy to your situation. Whether you’re dealing with persistent kitchen ants or wood-chewing carpenter ants, we have the tools and expertise to eliminate them.
Our technicians are friendly, highly trained, and focused on getting your home ant-free as quickly as possible. And as a locally owned company, we’re intimately familiar with the ant species and climate conditions in Murrieta and Temecula that lead to infestations. From blazing summer heat that drives ants indoors to seasonal swarms, we’ve seen it all and know how to combat it.
Take Back Your Home… Get Ant-Free Today!
An ant infestation can make you feel like you’re fighting a losing battle. Let us step in and handle the hard work.
With our expert ant control, you won’t have to worry about ants raiding your kitchen or crawling over your floors anymore.
Enjoy the comfort of a home without the constant trail of pests.
Ready to wipe out your ant problem for good?
Give us a call today to schedule a thorough inspection and consultation. Our team will promptly assess your situation and get to work on a solution. Prefer to reach out online? Fill out our quick contact form, and we’ll get back to you right away. Don’t wait until the ants have completely overrun your pantry – act now and reclaim your home.
We serve Murrieta, Temecula, and all surrounding communities in the Inland Empire.
No more ants. No more stress.