Just had the exterminator in for professional help with pharoah ants just in the kitchen so far - 2 more visits < or more > required. Anyone with personal experience with these tiny pests - in a home - not apartment or institutional building. Tips / tricks do / don't do appreciated. I have done some internet reading on them and realize not to use spray insecticide.
Laboratory Evaluation of a Boric Acid Liquid Bait on Colonies of Tapinoma melanocephalum Argentine Ants and Pharaoh Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
I believe the bait was ground liver.
Thanks. Your link has the abstract - I'd need to pay to see the study, and then I probably wouldn't understand the scientific lingo .. But it did remind me google the 2 products that the exterminator used
- I found some additional info on those web sites :
Here's one that google found that uses boric acid :
I assumed the professional product would be restricted - but I think I can get some and do the treatments myself after the 2 additional visits by the exterminator. if necessary.
John T.
The main draw of boric acid is that it is not toxic. It dehydrates the buggers (roaches included) and doesn't poison them, so they can not get tolerant of it.
works great on ALL types ants. They walk through it and take it back to colony and it kills 'em all. Been using for pharoah and carpenter with GREAT results
The problem is they just stop eating it. I can't find a bait they will eat, commercial or home made. I don't even find much I eat that they will get in. If they would I would make bait out of it. I am spraying bifen and moving them around. I can eventually locate a nest behind a wall or something and kill it but they come back. That is also the problem with baits. You may kill that queen but the next colony knows not to eat that shit.
Ahh, but they have to walk across it and it sticks to their bellies. Boric Acid, A.K.A. Roach Proof, is wonderful for wiping out roach colonies.
And they never figure out Boric Acid as it is not poisonous. I lived in George and Texas in the 70 with the Air Force. The locals tipped me off to Roach Proof. Wipes the bastards right out.
And a few roach motels to clean up on the strays that come in from outside.
For roaches they use to mix karo as bait with boric acid. I just sprinkled it where they like to run and under refrigerators, etc..
I wonder how well coca cola mixed with boric acid would do? Ants sure love coca cola when it spills.
Not sure - but you might have some bad advice - if it's pharoah ants that you are talking about .. See below - quoted from this discussion forum :
If that isn't convincing enough, here is another study for Pharaoh ants done by the university of Purdue. This study showed about 50% worker and queen mortality by Talstar (bifen It) and 100% mortality by Termidor (Taursus Sc.)
Bifen IT is a good product, like I said, I have it on my truck and use it everyday. It works really good on lots of insects and it is very affordable. But I don't know a single pest control professional that uses it for ant control. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I might be wrong but it seems like bifen is used for termites, carpenter ants, roaches, and in agricultural .. a residual toxin .. ? rather than a bait ? John T.
If you really want to go green, get or borrow some guinea hens. They will wipe out an ant colony with ruthless abandon.
A customer on mine had some red ant foolishly try to make an ant hill on his property. When the hens discovered the colony, they ATTACKED it. Ate every single ant as fast as the popped out. When they stopped coming out, the dug up the ant hill and ate all the larva, workers, and queen(s). He said it was something to experience. He has ZERO bugs on is property by the way.
Guinea are noisy and loud. And really, really stupid. They once tried to take on my parked car. I'd look out the window and they be all puffed up screeching at the front of my car. Hysterical.
Ha ! .. we have a pair of pea-hens roaming our little rural village .. noisy things ! but the facebook people keep track of their where-abouts .. as if needed ! Oh well ... how does one cook a pea-hen ? .. recipes .. ? just kidding. John T.
They do lay eggs!
Eat the loudest ones. Use a chicken recipe!
I would be tempted to open a bottle of coke out on the dirt, let the ants come, then unleash the very gates on hell on them (pee-hens).
I usually just spray them with organic chrysanthemum spray. They all die instantly and never come back.
No experience with them but did have an ant problem that went away when we got a Termidor termite treatment. We did not have termites but a next door neighbor did. His treatment eliminated the colony but they came back in a few years and I was finding them in places a few feet from my house. I was doing DYI stuff for years but decided for peace of mind to get the perimeter treatment. It did the job on the ants too. We continue with the Terminex inspection and insurance, again just for peace of mind and we have never needed an exterminator to come and do anything in the house.
Active ingredient is likely Fipronil -
I'll keep it in mind. Thanks. John T.
I've seen it for sale on
Roaches are not really that much of an issue here. We only have the big "American" roach (palmetto bug) and they generally live outside. If you treat the ground about 10' around the house, you will never see one. If you get infested with those nasty little European or Asian roaches, you brought them in yourself. They are much harder to get rid of. As for ants. I haven't seen a sugar eating ant in 25 years. The ones we are trying to control don't really seem to be eating anything. You just see them walking around. If I could figure out what they like to eat I will bait them and that wipes them out for a while but it is just a temporary fix because the next batch won't eat that stuff anymore.
I don't use it as a bait, just a perimeter spray. I understand that is not a cure but baits stop being effective pretty quickly. I also tend not to trust northern experiences because Florida seems to have tougher ants an a shit load more varieties. My biggest mistake might have been to go after the fire ants 30 years ago because I think they may have been holding down the more invasive varieties.
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