London ant control, extermination, prevention and removal

Do you have a problem with ants at your London home or business?
If you’re looking for an ant removal service in London to address a problem with ant infestation, or you want to stop ants from entering your home or business, we can help.

Bypest is the leading London provider in the assessment, treatment and prevention of ants in both homes and businesses.

We can visit your premises and advise you on the best way of dealing with ants, including the removal or destruction of ants’ nests. Our ant removal and prevention services cover all areas of London and the M25 area.

We will respond to your call within just two hours – 24/7, 365 days a year.

Try our postal code checker to see if your area is covered.

To discuss your ant problem and how we can help you with it, call now on free phone 0800 082 0203 or direct dial 0203 189 2240

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Below is some helpful information on the most common types of Ants that you may be having problems with.

Black Garden Ant
Lasius niger

Description of Appearance.

Workers are 3 - 5mm long.
Queens are 12 - 15mm long.
The ants can be a dark brown-black colour.
The ants have elbowed antennae, large head, slender thorax, characteristic waist and long legs for rapid walking.

Lifecycle

Eggs: queen ants hibernate over winter months in garden soil. Ants’ eggs are laid in late spring.
Larva: ant larvae hatch 3-4 weeks later and feed on nourishing secretions from the queen's salivary glands.
Pupae: these develop in less than 2 weeks and are guarded by the worker ants.
Adult ants continue caring for the larvae, nest building and foraging for food. The queens are winged at first and can live for several years.

Habits & Behaviour

Worker ants follow well defined trails around food sources. Dieting on sweet and high protein foods.
Mating between queen ants and fertile male ants (flying ants) takes place mid to late summer. Male ants perish after mating.
Ants’ nests are often outdoors in soil and below paving slabs on the sunny side of buildings. Ants’ nests can be identified by finely powdered soil around exit holes.

Important

Do not leave open food around in gardens or in places where you have seen ants in the past.
Do not leave ant infestations untreated as they do swarm and form other colonies around buildings.
Small ant colonies can continue to grow throughout the winter months so it is best to catch infestations early.

Pharaoh's Ant
Monomorium pharaonis

Description of Appearance

Pharaoh's Ant workers are 1.5–2mm long, straw yellow with a darker head and abdomen.
Pharaoh's Ant queens are 4–5mm long, dark red in colour with wings (soon lost).
The ants have elbowed antennae, large head, noticeable black eyes and twin bulges on the waist section.

Lifecycle

Eggs: laid by the queens within the nest and hatch in around 1 - 2 weeks.
Larva: legless Pharaoh's Ant grubs are fed by workers in nests. They are full grown in 3–4 weeks. .
Pupae: these develop in about 2 weeks guarded by workers in the nests.
Adult Pharaoh's Ants live for around 10–12 weeks. Each colony has several queens, which can live up to 10 months.
As they are tropical in origin, Pharaoh's Ants need a minimum temperature of 18ºC to breed, with 30ºC being the optimum.

Habits & Behaviour

Pharaoh's Ant nests are deep in cavities of heated buildings. Being a tropical ant they are use to humid conditions.
Foods that are high in protein are taken back to the Pharaoh's Ant nests. These include meat, fats, blood and dead insects.
When a food source is found, the information is communicated to other ants using a chemical (pheromone) trail. Long narrow trails of ants can be seen to and from the food source.
New colonies are often formed through nests that have been disturbed. They can range from a few dozen to 50,000 individuals.

Important

When treating Pharaohs ant it is very important to treat adjoining buildings and not just the infested areas.
They have the ability to chew through materials and can spread diseases carrying organisms from dirty and unsavoury situations to clean food.