The state of Missouri (US) belongs to the red ants in the summertime. They are everywhere.
They congregate around my back door or get into the detached garage, it bothers me. In the lawn I don't much mind.
I've been using Diazenon powder to control 'em. It kills many but doesn't repel 'em. They keep coming back.
Anything on the market that effectively repels red ants but won't cause serious problems for pets, etc?
Thx, Will
How about a pet anteater?
Chuckle...
For OP, I find the Amdro (or is it "n"; I can _never_ remember) ant killer effective in the "don't need applicator license" aisle.
Diazinon is no longer available at all in the US afaik and hasn't been for several years (pushing 10 now???).
The Amdro bait is pretty effective at actually being carried into the hills and eliminating colonies which is the key to control in areas. It also does deter them from areas in which there is some scattered it seems--I notice on sidewalks particularly if there's a den started in a crack they'll continue to congregate at the entrance until they're done in but they avoid the former trail areas it's scattered around like the plague. But, they're conditioned to clean the debris from around the den and the workers will carry it out and around and in a day or so a small den will almost always be eliminated completely. Sometimes a really large den may come back to small activity in a week or so, but a second application will then get the newcomers. Speaking of which, I noted while mowing around the equipment lot yesterday a couple big 'uns I need to go get...
:-) I wonder how far they can swim? Maybe the OP needs a moat around their property.
I've been usingthese guys for a couple years now and I'm happy with them.
I had a friend with ants in her garage who didn't want to use poisons because of her cats. I suggested sprinkling dried chrysanthemum petals. Apparently they contain natural pyrethrum which kill insects but are harmless to pets. She bought some from a website and it worked.
Paul
If they will eat Amdro it works fairly well but if it has been used much around your area they will not eat it anymore. Othhene powder will work too (black can at the home store) In either case, follow the label directions.
For the other poster, yes they swim. In fact, if you have a flood, stay away from any floating mass of stuff you see on the top of the water. It may be an island of ants (the whole colony). They will swarm on anything they bump into and that many ants can easily kill you.
I've never heard of a product that repels ants, and the best way is to remove food/water sources. The best all-around product I have used for ants is bait composed of sugar and boric acid...there are lots of brand names and it takes only small amounts. If there is a particular entry point, leave bait next to the trail. Whether up north or in Florida, they seem most invasive in the spring....usually gone in a day or two. Storing sweets or greasy stuff openly is an invitation to ants and when the ants come in it's usally a reminder to do a thorough cleaning...greasy stove, spills, crumbs, pet food available, etc.
I would never use an all-over insecticide to try to eradicate ants from a yard...they have beneficial purposes outdoors and they belong there.
We began using Amdro when my husband was the handyman for our condo...lots of outdoor work and loads of fire ants. Amdro sprinkled lightly along paved areas (patios, pavers, sidewalk, seawall, etc) would eliminate them for about a year. At least to the extent we didn't get swarmed when we worked on sprinklers. It's pretty interesting to watch them try the bait and then tell their friends :o) Should be applied when a couple of days of dry weather is expected and gently so as not to disturb the nest. I've never tried it for other varieties of ants. The label directs that it should be broadcast on an entire lawn, but that was never necessary for us.
snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote: ...
I've never seen that after 10 years or so...but that, of course, is application as noted above on specific colonies/hills, not broadcast over an entire area. That would, over time if continued, undoubtedly breed either avoidance and/or resistance. Not a smart thing to do...
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Have you tried Raid Ant and Roach killer? Find the next and smoke bomb it.
Nor I if you use fresh Amdro. But I have seen them completely ignore Amdro that has been opened and sitting for a year or two. Evidently it loses its attractiveness to them.
KC
KC wrote: ...
Wouldn't know; it never lasts that long... :)
I'm sure whatever is the bait portion would loses it's volatile components. I don't know about its toxicity degradation w/ time.
Unless that goes away, it seems to me that since they pick the granules up and transport them away from the nest openings as debris when it's scattered it would still be of some benefit even if they don't glom onto it. Watching, it seems to me that that's sufficient contact to kill, the only real need for the bait on a den is to get some carried inside to the tenders and particularly, hopefully, to the queen to end that particular colony permanently.
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_Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth_ Found at a farmer supply store. It is NOT the same as DE used for pool filters.
When ants walk on the tiny fossils it cuts the exoskeleton and they dehydrate.
see also "Diatomaceous Earth - Organic pest control"
It happens eventually. When I first moved to Florida in the early 80s Amdro was the go to solution for fire ants. The extension service even sold it at a reduced price but eventually it just stopped working.
For that matter, I have not seen a sugar eating ant around here in 10 years. You can leave a sugar cube on the counter for months and they won't touch it. I worked my way through all the proteins baiting them with each thing they were eating until they simply ran out of things in my house that they would eat so they don't come in anymore.
Ants have not been here for a million years by being dumb.
I recommend highly Googling "Leiningen vs The Ants". It's a short story of one mans encounter with army ants. Its the first item that comes up. Once you start to read it it will be hard to stop.
Joe G
I have a package of Amdro that is probably 5 or 6 years old. Use it about once a year now, works great. I no longer treat our condo yard, but just patios and walkway nearest to us. Seems to be the custom for fire ants here to move into the building in the spring...one neighbor said she had them coming from her kitchen drain, but they probably were going TO it, which one nasty infestation was doing in my condo. We are ground floor with slider right next to kitchen, so if any food is stored on counters, they will find it. Most people I know in Fl. keep all that stuff...bread, cake...in the fridge. We have also had long dry spells in Florida, and lots of pests will move indoors just looking for water.
They love Publix coffee cake, bread, butter :o)
"Wilfred Xavier Pickles" wrote
Yup. Good old fashioned southern treatment. Works great and won't harm pets, kids, environment etc.
On a dry day, put a handful of dry grits (can even be instant) on every mound, also around the house. They eat it, it swells in their stomachs where they can't expand, and kills them. They will carry it into the mound and feed the whole pile including the queen.
Will break down into basic organic material of no harm to the grass (in fact, in time it's a weak fertilizer that will help build topsoil though you won't use enough to notice that). When it rains, after all is dry, reapply for a bit until all ants are gone. Once no more signs, occasionally treat perimeter of yard.
Do the bait thing. Take some of that coffee cake and mush it up with boric acid about 12-15 parts cake to one part boric acid. (a little water helps that process) then put the goo in bottle caps around where the ants are walking. After a while the ants that eat cake will be gone. They may come back eating something else but eventually they will be gone if you keep baiting what they are eating. I had that experience with doughnuts. Pretty nasty when you realize that doughnut you are eating is full of ants.
Mine got so selective they would only eat dog food the dog had chewed on. Guess what my last bait was made from ;-)
Agree.
But no self-respecting southern ant would eat instant grits ;)
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