Identification changes the treatment
Pavement ants, carpenter ants, and fire ants respond to completely different bait formulations. A general-purpose spray applied to the wrong species can trigger budding, where a single colony splits into several.
Residual chemistry and desert conditions
Tucson's UV exposure and surface temperatures degrade consumer-grade actives within days. Professional formulations use microencapsulation and non-repellent chemistry designed to persist and transfer through the colony.
Placement beats volume
Effective control is about wall voids, weep screeds, plumbing penetrations, and harborage — not the volume of product sprayed along a baseboard. Most DIY effort is applied where pests travel occasionally rather than where they live.
The economics
A recurring plan in Tucson typically costs less per month than repeated hardware store purchases, and it includes free re-service. The difference is that one approach ends the problem and the other manages the symptom.