This is a new series of articles I’m introducing and I’m hoping you’ll enjoy them. The idea is to read the short account below and see if you can figure out the problem in true detective style. They’ll be hints along the way in the form of links and pictures and at the end of the article click the final link to submit your answer and see if you truly are a super sleuth. Enjoy!
Tim the Bug Man is at a brand new clients home where he knows they’ve just fired the last exterminator because they couldn’t get rid of the problem ants that have been plaguing them for months. It’s imperative he gets the identification right because he knows, the wrong ID will mean the wrong treatment and ineffective treatment which will get him kicked to the curb as well.
He remembered to bring his magnifying glass but it’s not real powerful. He finds a dead specimen and sees the ant has two nodes and is yellowish in color. The weak glass doesn’t show much else but there seems to be a single thick hair at the end of the abdomen. Hmmm not much help so he continues to look. Tim baited a couple of spots in the beginning of his visit using Terro to see if he could bring anything out but doesn’t find anything yet.
Tim questions the homeowner and they report they have sprayed Raid and the like but only in a pinch. Baits just haven’t seemed to work and spray treatments have been futile. They do see them outside on the walls but most often around the stove area and on the pets food. Tim pulls out the refrigerator and does find large number of dead ones in the corner. He can’t see much with his magnifier because they’re all curled up and nothing is specific except the nodes. Tim also notices some activity at his bait placement but it’s just a couple ants and a few are larger than the others. Something just didn’t seem right to Tim about it but that’s when the impatient homeowner piped in;
“That’s not many ants at all” the homeowner says with disappointment in her voice, “I’m afraid you’re having the same results as my last guy, maybe this won’t work out either.”
Tim, the pest detective confidentially stands up and declares, “I know what you’re problem is and now I know how to treat it, we’ll have you ant free in know time.”
Do you know what Tim knows? Click this link and see if you are a PEST DETECTIVE.
