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Why are ants in my house


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?

Why Do I Suddenly Have Ants in My House?

It’s always a shocking situation when you wake up in the morning to find your kitchen or entire house overrun with ants. Especially if you’ve lived in the same house for decades and have never had an issue in the past. Ants are a very troublesome pest in Australia. Only a handful can be enough to completely infest your kitchen and getting rid of them is not an easy task. But why does this happen in the first place? Below we look at some common reasons why this might happen.

 

Food Source

Ants explore mainly to try and find sources of food. Whenever there’s a sudden ant infestation, the most likely cause of it is that there’s food somewhere in your house for them. Most ants are opportunistic feeders; they’ll eat just about anything. But they usually prefer sweets. Ants are attracted to a wide variety of food sources that you might have, including:

Once they find out where these food sources are, colonies can form long trails of thousands of ants to link the colony to these food sources. They create a chemical trail using their pheromones to leave a scent signature for other ants. Until this trail is broken, they’ll keep on coming.

 

Water Source

Access to water is a critical part of any colony’s survival. Even a small pool of water can quench an ant’s thirst for a long time. The more reliable the water source, the closer the colony will want to keep to your kitchen.

Ensure you clean up all water spills quickly and completely. You should also check common high-moisture areas regularly such as underneath sinks, refrigerators, windows and doors to ensure you don’t provide an oasis waiting for these pesky invaders.

 

Weather

Several studies have suggested there is a link between ant infestations and the weather. Infestations appear to be more likely during periods where there has been heavy rainfall or dry, hot, drought-like conditions. Why this is the case isn’t as well understood. The most likely explanation is that they are either avoiding cold, wet conditions or have found a source of water in your home during dry, hotter times.

Ants are generally relatively dormant during winter and in colder conditions, while becoming more active during the warmer months of October to March. In cooler parts of Australia, such as Victoria, it’s more common for ant infestations to occur during the colder months as ants opt to concentrate their nests indoors.

 

Pest Control Services in Queensland

If you have an ant infestation or any other pest problem on your property in Brisbane, Redland Bay, Ipswich or Logan, call the team at Critters Pest Management. We use the latest tools and treatments to quickly eliminate ants and other pests from your home or business. Our range of pest control services include getting rid of ants as well as termite inspections, termite treatments and termite barriers.

Call our friendly professionals today on 1300 186 255 to make a booking or contact us online.

 

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?

www.adv.rbc.ru

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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

Midges

Flies

Fleas

Moles

Moths 9003

0000 causes of appearance, how to get rid of it, photo Russian farmer

Who does not refuse to be next to a person?

The most common household pests are black, red or yellow ants. They choose warm rooms with high humidity. Voracious insects are found in boxes with cereals, behind baseboards, under a sink or bathtub between tiles lagging behind the wall . There you can also find settlements of small red pest ants.

Interesting! Under the influence of food and room temperature, the color and size of insects change. So red ants can turn yellow, and black ants can turn brown. As a rule, domestic ants are smaller than wild ones.

Inhabitants of warm latitudes are annoyed by pharaoh ants, who build their nests in old boxes, under furniture or linoleum . Their main habitat requirement is high humidity and temperature.

House ants, photo below:

Small ants in the apartment: causes of appearance

They build nests near food sources. In our articles you can read about the structure of the nest and how the uterus of ants looks like.

As they breed, the colonizers visit apartments, getting inside through the joints of wall panels or ventilation holes. Often ants in the house appear due to the owners themselves or their pets on clothes, wool, shoes .

Uninvited guests linger where you can profit and safely disguise the nest. They are very attracted to crumbs rolled under furniture, particles of dry pet food, garbage bags standing on the floor, boxes with open sweets.

The bathroom is the ideal place for to live: it is humid and warm. Often, food particles left by children are found between the piles of rugs. From under a secluded bath, unwanted neighbors raid food, partially moving into the kitchen.

Interesting! There is an opinion that sweet shower gels, fragrances, organic scrubs are very attractive to ants.

Wintering

Central or stove heating relieves domestic ants of the need to prepare for the coming winter, go deep underground and hibernate.

Some wild ants are also not averse to settling down near a year-round source of heat and food during the cold season, for example, in the entrance or on the floor of a wooden house.

At the same time, it is highly likely that the insects will not want to leave the nest they have inhabited during the winter, but will try to expand their habitat indoors.

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