Around California
Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.
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Local ant information
Ant control in California
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Ants in California: what to know
Where the trail leads
Look for the rooms and outdoor areas where you regularly notice ants. Food, water, and small openings are useful things to mention when asking for help.
A useful next step
Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to know the ant species before getting in touch.
Local research
Ants in California: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which ants actually live in California, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
1998
Year red imported fire ant officially arrived in California
A relatively new arrival, so many Southern California homeowners have never dealt with stinging mounds before.
UC Statewide IPM Programas many as 40 queens
Carpenter ant queens per nest, C. vicinus
Multi-queen nests are harder to eliminate with a single treatment.
UC Statewide IPM ProgramAnt species recorded in California
- Red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) — Reddish-brown stinging ant that builds hard dome mounds up to 18–24 inches high; APHIS lists infestations in AL, AR, CA, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA and Puerto Rico.…
- Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) — The most common ant in and around California homes and one of the most common nuisance ants in the southeastern U.S.; forms huge multi-queen colonies in mulch, leaf litter and u…
- Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) — Large black or bicolored ants (1/4 to 1/2 inch) that excavate moist or decayed wood for nests rather than eating it; indoor nests are usually satellites of an outdoor parent col…
- Odorous house ant (Tapinoma sessile) — Small (1/16–1/8 inch) brown-black ant that smells like rotten coconut when crushed; found throughout North America with the widest range and greatest ecological tolerance of any…
When ants are busiest in California
Ants enter homes during dry, hot weather or flooding; treat in late winter/early spring as populations begin to grow; fire ant reproductives peak in spring (UC IPM).
The Argentine ant is the most common ant in and around California houses; Pharaoh, odorous house, thief, southern fire and pavement ants also occur (UC IPM). RIFA is found in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and, to a lesser extent, San Diego counties plus Central Valley almond groves; CDFA quarantines the entire county of Orange and parts of Los Angeles (Cerritos, Azusa) and Riverside (Moreno Valley, Indio, Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert, Bermuda Dunes, Palm Springs). UC IPM recommends baits, not sprays, and warns against outdoor pyrethroid sprays on hard surfaces.
Rules that apply in California
For context, nationally
- more than 367 million acres — Acres infested by imported fire ants. USDA APHIS
- Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Puerto Rico — States and territories with imported fire ant infestations (APHIS). USDA APHIS
Sources: UC Statewide IPM Program; Imported Fire Ants; Argentine Ants (Circular 926); Carpenter Ants; Odorous House Ant (Tapinoma sessile Say), EB1550E. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
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