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Ants invade house


How Do Ants Get Inside Homes? | Control Ant Infestations

Ants inside your home or apartment can be a seasonal or year-round problem. Many ant species build their nests outdoors, and become a nuisance when they forage for food inside your home. Once they discover a good food source, they may continue to come inside, collect their food and leave to take the food back to their outdoor colony. However, other ant species enter the interior of the building, build their nest inside and become permanent indoor residents. Some of the more common ant species that may invade and choose to reside inside are pavement ants, carpenter ants, odorous house ants, thief ants, acrobat ants and pharaoh ants. Any of these ants can be challenging to control, but the pharaoh ant is known as one of the most, if not the most, difficult indoor ant to control. Unless you live in one of the southern states, outside and inside ants are usually a problem during the warmer spring, summer and fall months than during the winter.

Inside ants may be found near their food sources, moisture and in hidden, protected places like wall voids, under appliances, behind window frames and beneath floors. Ants are commensal pests, meaning they like to live close to people and eat some of the same things we do – sweets, meats, starches and liquids. It isn’t surprising that they like to take up residence inside our homes, apartments and office buildings?

How does the homeowner or building manager control ants? Most homeowners and building managers agree that ant control one of their most worrisome problems because ants are frequently encountered and persistent. There perception that there isn’t a single practice or strategy to control all ant infestations is entirely correct. Prevention and control activities often differ with various ant species, ant nest locations and the ant’s preferred foods. As with most other pest problems, using a complete, integrated pest management program works best. Some important components of a successful ant control program are:

When using ant control products, keep these things in mind:

Why tiny ants have invaded your house, and what to do about it

It’s nigh on impossible to calculate with accuracy how many ants are on Earth, but estimates put the number at about ten billion billion. And sometimes, it can feel like a good proportion of those ants are marching through our homes.

Ants usually come indoors in search of food or nesting habitat. Even small amounts of food, like pet food crumbs, can attract hordes of industrious ants.

Ants are one of Earth’s most successful animals, and comprise more than 13,000 species. They live almost everywhere except Antarctica, the high Arctic and a small number of islands.

Read more: Six amazing facts you need to know about ants

Despite ants’ ubiquity, people can still be surprised, or even horrified, to see a line of ants crawling along their kitchen bench. So should you get out the insecticide, or learn to live with them?

What are ants doing in my house?

Ants are part of nature’s cleaning crew: they efficiently find and remove food left around the house. The problem is, sometimes humans don’t want their help.

You’ve probably noticed ants more commonly come indoors in summer - that’s largely because most insects are more active in the warmer months.

Ants occasionally come inside in search of water, particularly during dry periods. In this case you may see them in bathrooms or other humid parts of the house.

Heavy rains can also cause ant nests to flood and force them to relocate to nearby buildings, such as your house.

Ants more commonly come indoors in the warmer months. Shutterstock

Masters of cooperation

Ants are social animals and live in colonies with hundreds, or even millions, of others. They have tiny brains – in many cases smaller than a grain of sand. So how are they so clever at getting into our homes and finding our food? Because they are masters of cooperation.

Read more: Here's what that house proud mouse was doing – plus five other animals who take cleaning seriously

Consider the way some ants march in a line towards that drop of honey on your kitchen bench. When worker ants of some species find a tasty piece of food, they respond by placing a tiny droplet of pheromone on the ground. They continue to leave a trail of pheromones all the way back to the nest.

Only one ant needs to find the food and lay a trail. Once that happens, hundreds of others can follow the trail to the food source.

How do I get rid of ants?

The first step to dealing with ants in your house is ensuring they don’t have access to food. Seal all food in airtight containers, clean behind the fridge and in the toaster, do not leave pet food out longer than necessary, ensure your bins are tightly sealed, and generally make sure there is no food around to entice ants (I know, easier said than done).

If you’ve seen ants marching in a line, try wiping down the surface with vinegar or bleach to disrupt the chemical trail.

Read more: Zombie ants: meet the parasitic fungi that take control of living insects

Prevent ants from entering your home in the first place by sealing up cracks and holes in walls. This will also prevent them from nesting inside wall cavities.

If all else fails, insecticidal baits can be used to control ant numbers. But before you take that route, ask yourself whether the ants are actually a problem (more on that later).

Insecticides may harm other insects

If your ant problem has got out of hand, contact a pest control professional rather than attempting to deploy a bug bomb or similar insect spray yourself.

DIY methods rarely work because ants mostly live in protected spaces (such as underground or in walls). You might kill a few worker ants, but probably won’t harm the colony.

Wiping a surface with vinegar can disrupt the chemical trail ants use to march in a line. Shutterstock

If you (or a professional) do use insecticides, avoid using them outdoors and look for ones specifically designed for ants. Most insecticides are broad spectrum chemicals that can kill other types of insects. This includes insects beneficial in your home and garden, such as ladybirds, mantises and parasitoid wasps.

It may take a while for the ant colony to die, especially if it is large. Some species distribute themselves among several nests which makes them much harder to eradicate.

Ants fight back

In most ant species, the queen is the only individual who can produce new workers. So to destroy the colony, you need to kill the queen.

But some species, such as the rock ant (Temnothorax albipennis), have evolved an ingenious way to protect the queen and her larvae from poisoned food.

Read more: These ants have evolved a complex system of battlefield triage and rescue

Some worker ants stay in the colony and receive new food from forager ants – storing the food in their abdomen and regurgitating it when their nestmates are hungry. Since these “storage ants” collect and mix food from many workers, they help ensure that incoming poisons are diluted before they reach the queen. They also act as poison testers: if the food is toxic, they die before they can pass it on to the queen.

We need ants

Remember that ants can be beneficial predators – I’ve seen ants attack and kill cockroach nymphs. Ants also play an important role in spreading the seeds of native plants, and of removing waste from our environment.

Ants are a normal and important part of our urban ecosystems. So if we want to protect our precious biodiversity, this may mean tolerating our tiny neighbours - even when they seem intent on taking over our kitchen or ruining our picnic.

No one wants ants ruining their food. But if you have a small number of ants wandering around the house, is that really a big deal?

Read more: Curious Kids: do ants have blood?

How to get rid of ants in the house: 15 effective remedies

If ants have settled in an apartment or a private house, they will penetrate into every corner. Let's figure out why this happens, whether boric acid helps and what means are actually effective. An extremely small size saves insects from prying eyes - only 2 mm.

Why do ants settle in the house?

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Domestic ants are of two types - pharaoh ants and thieves (brownies). The former cannot exist without a person and live only in residential premises. The latter are adapted to life both with people and without them. They usually live in basements, periodically stealing food from apartments.

The main reason for their appearance is the lack of cleanliness of the premises. Leftover food and crumbs attract insects. After all, they need only one thing from people - food. But even in the cleanest apartment, ants can start if you leave food in accessible places. nine0003

The arrival of insects is also possible from neighbors who have begun to fight against them. And often the ants are carried by the person himself - on things, building materials, furniture.

Signs of the appearance of ants in the apartment

Ants make paths from the food source to the nest. If you look closely, you can see them on the walls, cabinets, table.

If you have insects, then it is enough to leave a piece of food in an accessible place - in a couple of hours it will be covered with ants.

Photo: Salmen Bejaoui/Unsplash

To fight them, you need to find a nest, because getting rid of worker ants is nothing more than a temporary measure. The uterus will quickly create new ones.

Domestic ants love warmth and humidity, so they live in apartments close to water and food. For example, behind a cabinet by the sink in the kitchen, behind a baseboard in the bathroom, or behind a tile.

How to get rid of ants with folk remedies

Since ants are extremely prolific and almost invisible, it is very difficult to get rid of them. But pest control methods exist. nine0003

Boric acid

It is mixed with sweet, adding a little water. This mixture is left in different places in the kitchen. Worker ants carry the infection to the uterus and larvae, boric acid destroys the digestive system of insects from the inside. You can also use mashed potatoes or egg yolks. The principle is the same - boric acid is added. The resulting poison is rolled into balls and placed in places of frequent accumulation of insects. Sometimes borax is used instead of acid - the method of application and effectiveness are similar. nine0003

Vinegar

To recognize food paths, ants secrete certain pheromones when creating them. If the paths, and preferably all surfaces, are smeared with a solution of vinegar and water, then the ants lose their bearings. For convenience, you can use a spray bottle, and uninvited guests will leave in search of a more comfortable home. Ideally, you need to process the nest. Then you can use vinegar essence with a little water. The resulting mixture is poured over the nest itself, this will destroy the uterus and larvae. For effectiveness, the procedure is best repeated after a few days. nine0003

Ammonium chloride

Its pungent odor also disorientates the ants. Used like vinegar.

Soap

It will help bring down the smells of pheromones. Mix a solution of soap and water in a spray bottle. The resulting mixture is sprayed with places of accumulation of ants.

Essential oils

Ants cannot stand strong odors. Therefore, essential oils of cloves, lavender, cinnamon, wormwood, and pine needles can help in the fight against them. They are impregnated with pieces of cloth or cotton balls and placed in insect habitats and on trodden paths. nine0003

Dried fragrant plants

Aromas of chamomile, mint, bay leaf, and parsley are also unpleasant for ants. Bags of herbs are laid out wherever they can appear. Lemon zest may help too.

Soda

Once in the body, it reacts with acid, as a result, the ant dies. It remains to force the ants to eat a very unpleasant product. To do this, soda is mixed with sugar and a little water is added. The resulting solution is left in all places accessible to insects. nine0003

Hot pepper

Burning seasoning scares off uninvited guests. Pepper is scattered on ant trails and in the habitat of the colony.

Boiling water

Hot water will also help to kill insects. However, here the efficiency will be zero if you do not pour boiling water over the nest itself, namely the ant queen.

Garlic

They wipe all surfaces and ant paths. The procedure must be repeated regularly, as the smell quickly disappears. nine0003

Photo: hybridnighthawk/Pexels

Anticides

Traps

They contain a strong poison inside. In this case, the insect is lured by an appetizing aroma. Falling into such a trap, the ant is smeared in a poisonous mixture and carries it on itself directly to the nest. This method is the safest for both people and pets.

Gels

The agent is applied to surfaces where insects are most active. The gel attracts with the smell of food, and the ants carry the prey to the nest, killing not only their fellows, but also the queen. nine0003

Crayons

With crayons, they limit the territory for access by drawing certain boundaries. Crossing them, the ants are also poisoned and already infected return to the nest, bringing death to others.

Aerosols

Quite effective, but the agent must be sprayed directly into the center of the colony. Otherwise, the toxic substance will not help.

Powders

Like most products, they infect directly the food processors. A poisoned ant carries the infection to others, which leads to the destruction of the colony. nine0003

Expert's comment

Petr Fisenko, Disinfector Specialist of the Dez_Hunter Disinfection Service:

— It is quite easy to distinguish domestic ants from street ants not only by their small size (about 2 mm), but also by their red color. In addition, they crawl very slowly.

Ants can be seen most often in food - especially next to sweets, near a sugar bowl, an open jar of jam, a vase with sweets. Individuals that crawl around the house are ordinary workers, running around in search of food. The main danger is the uterus, which is much larger than the others, with wings - it is she who breeds the colony. Therefore, it is important not only to find the nest of ants in the house, but also to destroy their queen. Otherwise, insects will appear in the house again. nine0003

There are many recipes for solutions and baits containing boric acid. Indeed, it is detrimental to ants - after entering the stomach of an insect (this is a prerequisite), the granules cause paralysis of the nervous system and the ant dies. But it will take a long time to bring out the entire colony along with the queen. Also, when working with boric acid, it is necessary to follow the precautionary rules: place the bait out of the reach of children and pets, do not leave in the open access products through which infected insects can move. nine0003

Table vinegar will not kill ants, it will only scare them away. If you treat the places of their accumulation with a solution of 9% vinegar, then its pungent smell will interrupt the sense of smell of insects - they will not be able to find their way to food, they will begin to starve and leave their homes.

It is absolutely useless to fight ants with boiling water, shampoo solutions, kerosene emulsion, ultrasonic repellents. Maximum - pests will leave the apartment for a while, but then they will return again according to the "food" memory.

Many household chemicals for ant control are now available: insecticidal gels, aerosols, traps, granules. But they will only be effective if you find the nest and use them to target the colony's queen and destroy it. But independent struggle takes a lot of time and is not completely effective. nine0003

As a rule, all insects living in apartments compete with each other. For example, ants and cockroaches will not live together. Ants will drive out all other insects from their territory, attack in packs, bite and paralyze with formic acid.

It is much easier to prevent the appearance of ants than to try to eradicate them when a whole colony has already settled in the house. It is necessary to keep the kitchen clean, do not leave food, crumbs, dirty dishes, close packages of cereals and sugar, take out the garbage in a timely manner, monitor the tightness of walls and ceilings, you can periodically use folk remedies for prevention (for example, wipe the places of possible appearance with vinegar). nine0003

If several apartments are infested in a house, integrated pest management will be most effective. Here it is recommended to carry out a professional treatment of all apartments at the same time, even those that are not infected.

How to get rid of pests at home or in an apartment. RBC Real Estate guides:

Bed bugs

Cockroaches

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Fleas

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0000 How to get ants out of the house forever at home

Ants are the most numerous family of insects on the planet. These creatures work tirelessly for the benefit of the ecosystem, and besides, they bring a lot of benefits to people in their economic activities. But when ants invade a human dwelling, they turn into annoying pests.

Insects crawling in the kitchen are unpleasant and unsafe. In this article, we will talk about how to get ants out of the house at home. nine0003

Today, in every country in the world, people face the problem of how to remove ants from their homes. A dynamic lifestyle encourages ant families to constantly spread in search of new suitable habitats. Once in a person's house, these insects find there what is necessary for prosperity: warmth and food. So there is nothing surprising in the fact that some species of ants gradually became synanthropic.

An interesting fact: according to scientists, ants make up one fifth of the biomass of the entire animal world (and 80% of the biomass of insects). Their share in the total biomass exceeds the share of all vertebrates combined. These figures indicate the dominant position of ants in the world fauna. nine0003

Most often, people find houses of small red (or red) house ants called pharaoh, but sometimes they also notice black, yellow and other types of street ants.

Despite some differences, the life of ants, no matter what species they belong to, is organized according to the same laws. To understand how to bring ants home with improvised means, their biology should be taken into account. Consider the basic rules for home control of these insects.

7 rules on how to get ants out of the house permanently at home

When you see house ants, the first thought is to take a spray can of pesticide and do away with them right there. But don't rush!

If you see only one or two ants indoors, they may be scouts surveying the area. In this case, it is enough to destroy the scouts and carry out preventive work to scare away the insects and prevent the invasion. We will talk about how to scare away ants in this article. nine0003

But if you find more than one or two insects, then this is a sure sign that the ants have already made a nest somewhere nearby. Another alarming sign is the appearance of winged flying ants. This is not some special species, but only males and fertile females, which are activated for a short time during the mating period. Males live no longer than two weeks, and in fertilized females, worker ants then bite off transparent wings, and they become queens. Therefore, the appearance of ants with wings indicates that insects are going to build new nests here. nine0003

If the house already has a nest, then an aerosol can will be of little use. In this way, it will be possible to destroy only those ants that catch your eye, and this is no more than 10% of the ant family. Such losses will soon be replenished, and the procedure will have to be repeated again and again.

The following principles will show you how to eradicate an ant infestation in your home and prevent it from happening again.

1. Understand how the life of ants is organized

Be prepared for the fact that it will take time for ants to disappear at home, especially small red ones, since you can completely remove them only by destroying that part of the colony that is hidden from view. nine0003

The fact is that the queen, or queen, who lays eggs in a secluded place, never leaves the nest. She eats what the worker ants who are responsible for feeding the family bring - the same ones that scurry around the kitchen and spoil food. The queen remains in place and is constantly busy producing more and more ants. The more you kill workers, the harder she will replenish their ranks.

2. Track the ant trails

When ants are in the house, the next thing to do to figure out how to get them out is to watch. Worker insects, the so-called forager ants, are busy looking for food. And as soon as the ant finds it, it drags the tidbit into the nest, leaving behind a pheromone trail along the way. In this way, he creates a chemical route for other foragers to gather more food. nine0003

3. Do not spray ants

Since your goal is to completely remove the red or other ants from the house, it is not rational to spray individual insects. Remember that the ants you see are worker foraging ants. Their job is to find food and bring it to the nest to feed the queen and other worker castes who care for the offspring.

By spraying an aerosol, you will simply kill some of the working insects, and the colony will send the next batch in their place, and you will never get to the queen. nine0003

4. Deploy poisoned baits

Instead of killing worker ants, use them! Forager ants are your guide to the family's lair. Buy ready-made bait stations or ant baits in gel form, or make your own. Lay them out along the ant trails you've tracked. The workers will find the bait, bring it to the nest and feed the queen, eventually killing her and destroying future generations.

In this effective way, you can remove ants from your home once and for all, using the means available at home. For example, boric acid. nine0003

5. Be patient

Ants will carry poisoned bait to the nest, but it will take at least 5-7 days to eliminate the colony. And in the case of pharaoh ants, which gradually form a whole network of nests with several queens in the house, complete extermination takes more than one week.

In the fight against house ants, patience and perseverance are the keys to victory. Often people do not finish the job, because they quickly give up, expecting results too soon. If you see that the ants have stolen the spread out bait, just renew it. nine0003

6. Observe the cleaning regimen

For the baits to work effectively, other food sources must be avoided, that is, cleanliness must be observed. But at the same time, it is necessary not to wash off the pheromone traces on the well-trodden ant paths, because these routes should lead the ants to the baits laid out on the way.

Until the ants have hatched, keep the house clean, taking into account the biological specifics of their behavior. Do not wash carefully the routes of their movement, on which the bait is laid out. nine0003

And when there are no ants left, do a general cleaning, and then constantly make sure that food contamination, open food and debris do not appear in the house. Where food is not available, ants are less likely to nest.

7. Block ants from entering the premises

These tiny creatures enter the premises of a private or country house through the smallest cracks. To prevent this, seal voids around window and door openings, as well as at points where electrical wiring and pipes enter the building. Tightly caulk the butt joints in the walls of a wooden house made of logs or timber, as well as in the plank floor and in the ceilings, in order to maximally block the ants' access to the living quarters. nine0003

How to get ants out of the house with folk remedies

Folk remedies are used both in the manufacture of poisoned baits and to scare away ants from the house and in the yard. Both methods allow you to deal with ants without harm to pets and people, sometimes without the use of chemicals at all. You can choose the recipe that suits you best or combine them.

How to make ant bait

The purpose of the bait is to mask the poison by mixing it with an attractive food base for ants. To make homemade bait at home as a poison, you can use a number of available means. nine0003

Borax and boric acid

These substances are relatively safe for humans and pets, but boron compounds act as a slow intestinal poison on insects. At the same time, unsuspecting foragers have time to calmly drag it into the nest and feed it to the queen and other relatives.

To make the bait attractive to ants, for example, use honey or jam. Mix honey with borax or boric acid in a ratio of 3: 1 and spread along the ant paths. nine0003

In addition to honey, sugar syrup, peanut butter, applesauce or any jelly are suitable as a food base (or attractant) for ants. The bait may be in the form of a thick paste or liquid aqueous solution. Moisten cotton balls with a sweet liquid with boric acid and place them on the routes of the ants.

Baking soda

Once in the body of an insect, soda disrupts its chemical balance, which leads to gradual death. To remove ants with baking soda, mix it in equal proportions with powdered sugar. nine0003

Please note that ordinary granulated sugar is not suitable for such a bait, since ants will separate sugar crystals from soda particles, so powder is used.

Sprinkle the powdered sugar and baking soda mixture in neat paths along the ant paths, lay it in the cracks of the walls and baseboards through which the insects make their paths.

If the loose bait option is not suitable for you, then add a little honey to the mixture, mix until a homogeneous thick mass and form small balls out of it. Then spread the balls on pieces of paper in places where the ants will quickly find them. nine0003

Ball bait can also be made with boric acid. And as an attractant, not only sweet foods are suitable, but, for example, minced meat or canned food for cats and dogs. Boric acid balls are also made from a mixture of mashed potatoes and egg yolk.

If you find an anthill on your territory, a quick way to destroy it is to fill it with boiling water or hot water with the addition of soda (2 tablespoons per 1.5 liters). Or sprinkle with a mixture of soda and powdered sugar. True, this method will work longer. nine0003

Yeast or starch

These substances also affect the intestinal system, killing insects from the inside. They can be used alone or combined with boric acid and borax.

Bait options:

Feverfew

This is a powder of dried Dalmatian chamomile flowers that is toxic to insects but harmless to humans and animals. Feverfew acts as a neurotoxin on ants, it gradually affects their nervous system and leads to paralysis.

Feverfew can be used as a dry bait by mixing it with flour and powdered sugar. In addition, feverfew works well as an insect repellent. To do this, the powder is applied in a thin, barely noticeable layer on the surface in the house along the paths of the ants. nine0003

If you are looking for a way to get ants out of house flowers, an aqueous suspension or infusion prepared from pyrethrum is a good solution.

To obtain an aqueous suspension, dilute 100 grams of powder in three liters of water. And to prepare the infusion, the same amount of pyrethrum is first infused in three liters of water for 12 hours, this infusion is poured into a separate container, fresh water is poured, and again infused for 12 hours. The resulting two infusions are mixed, filtered and irrigated with the stems and leaves of plants using a spray bottle. nine0003

Suitable for protecting both domestic and garden plants.

How to scare ants away from home

If a private house is built near the natural habitat of forest or garden ants, then you should not wait idly for uninvited guests. It is better to do prevention in time than to think later how to get ants out of the house in the country.

Ants are intolerant of some strong odors, try using them as a barrier to residential and non-residential areas or even a garden area. On this topic, there are a lot of folk remedies, the effectiveness of which has been tested in practice. Since it is much easier to get black ants out of the house at the initial stage of infection, then, having found insects, do not delay taking action. nine0003

Essential oils

Ants do not like the smell of essential oils such as juniper, fir, orange or eucalyptus, they will stay away from it. To repel insects, prepare a water spray with 10-20 drops of essential oil and spray it on the inside of your home.

You can also add essential oil to the water when washing the floor, or moisten pieces of cotton wool with it and lay it along the walls and on the windowsills. Clove, lavender, mint and other oils are also suitable for this. nine0003

Vinegar, ammonia, and other home remedies

Ants can be repelled indoors with ammonia, vinegar, camphor, or birch tar. After adding these products to water, wipe the floor, window sills, baseboards, furniture, or moisten pieces of cotton wool and spread around the house. Camphor oil can be dripped into the cracks of the skirting boards.

By analogy with essential oils, a water spray is made from vinegar or ammonia to spray the room. If you use pungent-smelling volatiles in your home, be prepared to leave the home for a few hours to be on the safe side. nine0003

Ants are also repelled by orange peels. They can simply be laid out around the house along the walls, near the doors and on the windowsills. Or grind, make a water infusion and spray.

In addition, bay leaf decoction and tobacco infusion will help to scare away ants. To prepare the last one, insist one cigarette in a liter of water for a day (you can also drop iodine into the resulting infusion) and spray the finished product in the house.

Denatured alcohol, gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene are suitable for processing non-residential premises (basement, attic, etc.). But the use of these tools is undesirable from the point of view of fire safety, and if you do decide to use them, be extremely careful. nine0003

Ants also do not tolerate the smell of smoked meats, and for barrier protection, sawdust soaked in smoking liquid can be spread around the outer perimeter of the house and inside non-residential premises.

What plants are afraid of ants

It is believed that the aroma of some plants repels ants, and sometimes gardeners plant them on their plots specifically for this purpose.

The fact is that ants sometimes indirectly cause serious damage to cultivated plants, as they are in a symbiotic relationship with such an agricultural pest as aphids. Ants carry aphids from one plant to another and help the infestation of this pest to spread throughout the garden. In such situations, the fight against aphids has to be accompanied by the fight against ants. nine0003

However, before giving examples of plants traditionally used for organic control of ants, let's make a reservation. One gardener may swear that such and such a plant repels ants; but it doesn't really help another gardener (perhaps living in a different region) who tries the same plant but doesn't get the same results.

Remember that a particular plant may repel some types of ants, but not others. If you want to try planting for organic ant control, get ready to experiment. Do not accept anything as "gospel truth" lest you be disappointed. nine0003

However, planting is not the only way to use them. Instead, you can, for example, collect the leaves of this plant, grown elsewhere, and lay out barriers for ants from them.

The following plants are known for their repellant properties against ants:

Of course, this is not a complete list, and you may know other plants that have a similar effect. One way or another, this is an environmentally friendly method of dealing with ants, both in the house and on the site.

If home remedies don't work

You may have tried all the home remedies, but the problem has not been solved. Or you are not ready to spend time on experiments, but want to quickly and effectively get rid of ants at home. In such a situation, the best solution would be the use of chemical insecticides. nine0003

If insects have occupied the premises in large numbers and their presence cannot be tolerated, then with the help of liquid contact preparations, their numbers can be quickly reduced. And if you are lucky enough to find a nest of ants, then in this way you will immediately get rid of the entire colony.

Ants have not been shown to be resistant to any pesticides, so you can use any commercially available product, not necessarily expensive. In particular, emulsion concentrates based on cypermethrin will cope with this task: Medilis Ziper, Tsifoks, "From ants" and others. nine0003

No less effective drugs based on fenthion, chlorpyrifos, malathion - such as Medilis Super, GET, Dobrohim FOS or Dobrohim Micro.

Aerosols are much less effective than liquid preparations due to the lack of aftereffect. By killing some of the worker insects, spraying will scare away the remaining ones, and can further disperse the ants around the house. For the same reason, you should not use products in the form of powders and crayons.

The most preferred option in the fight against ants are baits in the form of gels. At first glance, their action looks slow, but in the end it turns out to be more promising, as it hits the very root of the problem. nine0003

When using gel bait, at first it may seem that there are even more ants, but don't be alarmed. Foragers who have found a tasty poison give a signal to their relatives, and all together they drag the gel into the nest. Give them time, and soon the whole family, including the uterus, will die.

In the end, I would like to remind you that you should fight ants only in those situations when they cause harm. For example, if there is a threat of ants invading the house, or their active interaction with aphids damages your garden. The unreasonable and blind destruction of these insects on the site can be counterproductive, because ants successfully destroy many types of plant pests.

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