Weather can have a dramatic influence on the number and kinds of pests that enter a structure. Extreme heat and dry weather in the summer can result in ants seeking sources of water and cooler environments indoors. In the winter, some pests seek warm structures to overwinter. Rainy springtime weather is no different. Warmer temperatures and wet weather can cause pests to move from outdoors to indoors.
During the winter months many outdoor insect invaders, including ants, spend much of the winter in sheltered locations under rocks, logs, under mulch and in soil. Spending the winter underneath insulated items or below the frost line in the soil allows individuals as well as entire colonies to survive cold temperatures. When the weather warms and spring showers begin, resulting in saturated soil, many of these pests are forced out of their hiding places in search of drier places to nest. Ants are especially likely to enter homes following heavy rain.
In addition to seeking higher ground, ants may be forced indoors to forage for food when the sweet secretions of honeydew-producing insects like aphids have washed away during heavy rain. Honeydew is an important food for many ant species. Without their primary food source present outdoors, ants may come indoors in search of food.
Having ants in your home is no picnic (see what we did there?). Contact us if you find ants seeking shelter in your home.