Fire ants don’t send a warning. One wrong step in the backyard — near a mulch bed, along a patio edge, or in the grass by the pool — and a child or pet is in serious pain within seconds. In Land O’ Lakes, where master-planned communities like Bexley and Connerton feature heavy landscaping, irrigation systems, and conservation buffers running right up to residential lots, fire ant pressure isn’t just common. It’s constant. Getting that under control means your kids can play outside again without you scanning the lawn first.
Inside the home, it’s usually ghost ants or what most people call sugar ants — those tiny, fast-moving lines across the kitchen counter or around the bathroom sink. What most homeowners don’t realize is that spraying them with something from the hardware store often makes it worse. Ghost ants and pharaoh ants respond to repellent sprays by splitting into multiple satellite colonies and spreading to new areas of the home. This is a documented behavior called budding, and it’s exactly why the wrong treatment backfires.
When ant control in Land O’ Lakes is done right, the colony is eliminated at the source, the perimeter is treated to stop re-entry, and you’re not dealing with the same problem two weeks later. That’s the difference between a real fix and a temporary inconvenience.
Around The Clock Pest Service is a family-owned, owner-operated business serving Hernando and Pasco counties, which puts Land O’ Lakes squarely in our backyard. We’re not a regional franchise dispatching a rotating crew from Tampa. When you call, the owner answers. When you need service, the owner shows up. That’s not a pitch — it’s just how we operate.
Most quotes are handled right over the phone, so you’re not sitting through an in-home sales visit before you even know what something costs. We respond within 24 hours, seven days a week including weekends, because pest problems don’t wait until Monday. We hold a current FDACS license through 2027, carry a BBB A+ Rating, and have over 100 verified five-star Google reviews from real clients in communities just like yours — from established lakefront neighborhoods along US-41 to newer developments off SR 54.
If you’ve just moved into Angeline, Connerton, or anywhere else in Land O’ Lakes and you’re encountering Florida’s pest species for the first time, we also offer a discount specifically for new homeowners. We’d rather start the relationship right than wait for a bigger problem to bring you in.
The first thing that matters is identifying what you’re actually dealing with. Not all ants respond to the same treatment, and applying the wrong one — especially with ghost ants or pharaoh ants — can split a colony and spread the problem. So before anything gets sprayed or baited, we figure out the species. That shapes everything that follows.
For fire ants in outdoor areas — common in the mulched landscaping and moist soil that’s everywhere in communities like Bexley and Connerton — we target the colony directly, not just the visible mound. A mound is the tip of the iceberg. The colony can extend well below the surface, and disturbing it without treating it properly just causes relocation. We use products and application methods that reach the queen, because that’s the only way to actually eliminate the colony.
For indoor infestations — ghost ants in the kitchen, carpenter ants in wood-framed walls, pharaoh ants near moisture sources — we use professional-grade, non-repellent bait systems that worker ants carry back to the nest. You won’t see immediate results the same day, and that’s actually a good sign. It means the bait is being distributed through the colony rather than just killing the workers at the surface. After treatment, we establish a perimeter barrier around the foundation and entry points to prevent re-entry. For Land O’ Lakes homes that back up to conservation buffers or lake edges, that perimeter defense is especially important — because the pressure from outside never fully stops.
Ready to get started?
Every ant control service we provide starts with a species assessment, because what works on fire ants doesn’t work on ghost ants, and what works on ghost ants can make carpenter ants harder to find. In Land O’ Lakes, we regularly deal with fire ants in outdoor landscaping and mulch beds, ghost ants and pharaoh ants in kitchens and bathrooms, carpenter ants in wood-framed structures near moisture, Argentine ants trailing in from the yard, and big-headed ants nesting in the soil around foundations. Each one gets treated with the method appropriate to that species — not a one-size-fits-all spray.
Outdoor treatment covers fire ant mound treatment in Land O’ Lakes yards, including active mounds and preventive perimeter applications to stop new colonies from establishing near the home. For properties in Connerton, Angeline, and similar communities with conservation buffers adjacent to residential lots, this perimeter defense is the most important long-term protection you can have. Indoor ant baiting in Land O’ Lakes uses professional-grade, non-repellent systems that eliminate the colony from the inside out rather than just pushing it to a new location.
Because ant pressure in Land O’ Lakes is genuinely year-round — the lakes, the wetlands, the irrigation, and the warm climate don’t give colonies a reason to slow down — we offer quarterly prevention plans specifically structured for this environment. One treatment handles the immediate problem. A quarterly plan keeps it from coming back.
The most common reason is that the visible ants were treated but the colony wasn’t eliminated. What you see foraging across your counter or along your baseboard is a small fraction of the total population. The queen and the bulk of the colony are somewhere else — inside a wall void, under a slab, in the soil outside — and unless the treatment reaches them, the workers you killed will simply be replaced.
In Land O’ Lakes specifically, the issue is compounded by the environment. The community’s 100-plus lakes, wetland preserves, and the conservation buffers running alongside communities like Bexley and Connerton create a constant, external source of ant pressure. Even after a successful treatment, new foragers from outdoor colonies will test your perimeter regularly. That’s why a one-time treatment often isn’t enough here — a maintained perimeter barrier and quarterly prevention are what actually keep the problem from cycling back every few months.
“Sugar ants” is a catch-all term most Florida homeowners use for any small ant they find near food or moisture — but it doesn’t refer to a specific species. In Land O’ Lakes homes, the ants people call sugar ants are almost always ghost ants, odorous house ants, or pharaoh ants. The distinction matters more than most people realize, because each one requires a different treatment approach.
Ghost ants are the most common in this area — tiny, with a dark head and pale, nearly translucent abdomen. They’re moisture-seeking, which is why they show up in kitchens and bathrooms, and they’re particularly common in homes near lake edges and irrigation-heavy landscaping. The critical thing to know: ghost ants and pharaoh ants both exhibit budding behavior, meaning a repellent spray causes the colony to fracture and spread. If you’ve sprayed and the problem got worse or moved to a new part of the house, that’s likely what happened. The correct treatment is a non-repellent bait system that the workers carry back to the colony.
Fire ants are a genuine medical concern, not just an annoyance. A single fire ant bites to anchor itself and then stings repeatedly, injecting venom that causes an immediate burning sensation followed by itching and white pustules at the sting sites. For most people, the reaction is painful and uncomfortable. For individuals with a venom allergy — including children who may not know they’re allergic yet — fire ant stings can trigger anaphylaxis, which is a life-threatening emergency.
In Land O’ Lakes, fire ant risk increases significantly after heavy summer rains. When mounds flood during the June-through-September rainy season, colonies don’t drown — they float and relocate, often rebuilding near elevated areas close to the home: mulch beds, patio edges, and lawn borders. In communities like Connerton and Angeline, where fresh landscaping and moist soil are everywhere, new mounds can appear seemingly overnight. If you have children or pets using the yard, fire ant mound treatment in Land O’ Lakes isn’t optional — it’s a basic safety measure.
The confusion is understandable — both can swarm, both can damage wood, and both tend to show up in similar areas of the home. The easiest visual distinction is the body shape. Carpenter ants have a pinched, clearly segmented waist and bent antennae. Termites have a thick, uniform body and straight antennae. Winged versions of both species swarm after summer rains in Land O’ Lakes, which is when most homeowners first notice them and assume the worst.
The damage pattern is also different. Termites consume wood from the inside out, leaving a honeycomb structure. Carpenter ants excavate wood to build galleries but don’t eat it — they push out coarse, sawdust-like frass that you’ll often find near baseboards, window frames, or door casings. In Land O’ Lakes, where wood-frame construction is standard across master-planned communities and Florida’s summer humidity creates moisture intrusion risk, carpenter ants tend to target any wood that’s been softened by water damage first. If you’re seeing large black ants near windows, doors, or in the bathroom, it’s worth having someone identify them before assuming termites — the treatment approach is completely different.
This is one of the most common questions we get, and it’s a fair one — especially in a community like Land O’ Lakes where most households have kids, dogs, or both using the yard and the home daily. The short answer is yes, when applied correctly by a licensed technician, the products we use for ant control are safe for re-entry after standard drying or curing times, which we’ll walk you through specifically for your situation.
The longer answer is that product selection matters, and it varies based on the treatment type. Outdoor fire ant treatments, indoor baiting systems, and perimeter barrier applications all use different formulations, and a licensed FDACS-certified technician knows which products are appropriate for which situations — including homes with children, pets, and properties adjacent to the lakes and conservation areas that are part of what makes Land O’ Lakes worth living in. We don’t apply a single product everywhere and call it done. If you have specific concerns about a product or application area, ask us directly when you call — we’ll give you a straight answer.
Yes, and we put this in place specifically because of how Land O’ Lakes grows. The community has been adding thousands of new residents annually through the buildout of communities like Angeline and Connerton, and a significant portion of those buyers are relocating from states where pest pressure is seasonal and the species are far less diverse. They move in, they encounter ghost ants in the kitchen or a fire ant mound in the backyard, and they have no frame of reference for what they’re dealing with or who to call.
The new homeowner discount is our way of making it easier to get started with professional ant control before a minor problem becomes an established infestation. It applies to first-time service at a new address, and it comes with a straightforward phone consultation so you understand what you’re dealing with and what the plan is before anyone shows up. We also offer a discount for military families. If either applies to you, just mention it when you call.
Local Resources
Useful Links
Other Services we provide in Land O' Lakes
