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How to Get Rid of Ants
When I spray the ants, they just move. How can I kill them?
ANSWER:
When an ant colony can't be located, use a poison bait. The
toxicant is passed throughout the colony, killing the queen and all worker ants.
Do carpenter ants eat wood?
ANSWER:
No. Carpenter ants will tunnel into wood, usually soft decaying
wood to make their nests.
I have a large carpenter ant, but both ends of its body are black, and the middle is red or orange. What kind of ant is this?
ANSWER:
Sounds like Florida carpenter ants. They are just a different
color than regular carpenter ants. Use the same treatment you would
for regular carpenter ants.
Over this past weekend I noticed that my yard had hundreds of what appeared to be dark-colored, white-winged ants coming out of the ground and flying away. Most of the ant holes had lots of smaller ants without wings around them. It has been wet for about a week now and Saturday was a very humid and sunny day. After it rained that night, these insects were gone and I haven't seen a one since. Does this sound like ants? My home is being treated by a termite service with a Sentracon System and has been under treatment over the last 6 months. Any answers you can provide, or products you could recommend would be a great help. Thanks in advance.
ANSWER:
Summertime is when ants swarm. Termites are more likely to swarm
in the spring. Max Force Granulars sprinkled around the ant holes will control
them.
I have been sprinkling Ortho Orthene fire ant killer on the mounds in my yard, and although it seems to work, for every mound I destroy, two or three new mounds appear somewhere else in the yard. It is a constant battle that I seem to be losing.
What I'm wondering is whether the ant poisons you distribute (e.g., Maxforce Granular have any salient advantage over the Orthene.
ANSWER:
For individual mound treatment there is no advantage. However,
with broadcast application, mounds on nearby property will be killed. This
should slow the intrusion into your yard.
What is an effective ant bait against carpenter ants?
ER: Maxforce Carpenter Ant Gel t, has been proven to be a favorite, working all season long for the carpenter ants.
Are these carpenter ants?
We have large red ants that have a black "node"
as its rear section. We just see a few around the bathtub faucet several times a
week.
ANSWER:
In the south (USA), there is a carpenter ant that is red and
black. Most areas of the country have solid black carpenter ants. All carpenter
ants are large --1/4 inch or larger.
Most of the time ant baits like Advance or Maxforce Granular baits work, but sometimes sporadically against carpenter ants.
The best solution, however is to find the colony and destroy it(if finding the colony is available).
This is usually done with a residual, crack and crevice aerosols like sprayed directly into the nest or a dust such as:
Delta Dust, dusted into the nest using a duster such as a the Bellows 8 Oz. Duster
For more information go to Carpenter ants .
ANSWER:
The green ones may be aphids, which provide secretions that are a
delicacy to many ants. You are correct about the symbiosis. These guys work very
well together. The aphids provide food for the ants, the ants provide protection
for the aphids. Spray the plants with a solution of flea shampoo. The pyrethrum
(in the flea shampoo) and soap work wonders on aphids.
I have what looks like flying ants. They were all over the place. What confused me was that there were some smaller and larger ones with no wings and they were orange in color. The ones with the wings were black and the ones without the wings were orange. Is this common?
ANSWER:
The winged ants are reproductive forms of the ants and often look
very different from the rest of the workers. My guess is that these are from the
same colony. I would sprinkle Max Force Ant Granulars around the area
to eliminate the colony.
I have a type of flying ant with a three-part body, black and red-black about 1/4 inch long. Are these a type of carpenter ant or termite? I am new to Florida and don't know the insects.
ANSWER:
They are Florida Carpenter Ants. Once a year each colony will
produce winged adults to start new colonies. Dusting the attic is very effective
for Florida Carpenter Ants.
The recommended products are Dustin Mizer, a crank
type duster to cover attics well, and a dust called Delta
Dust.
The dust will last for 6 months to a year. One pound of dust
will cover 1,000 sq. ft.
I have a few questions regarding carpenter ants. I believe we have a nest inside the house in the basement. Will they nest in the insulation? Should I pull out the insulation to locate the nest, or should I be able to see a nest? The basement is not finished.
ANSWER:
Carpenter ants can and do nest in insulation. You may have to pull out the insulation to find them.
I would try spraying the entire perimeter with:
Demon or Master line
We have a small problem in our vegetable garden. We have little red ants by the thousands. They have eaten the tops of the carrots, but have done nothing else. I don't want them to eat our vegetable next season. What should we do?
ANSWER:
I would spread some Maxforce Granulars around the
garden.
The ants should eat it and carry it to the nest where it will kill
the entire colony.
You can use Ant cafes-bait
stations or Ant No More Bait Stations to
hold the bait inside a container if you wish.
We have very small ants attacking the plants and eating holes in the leaves
in our garden.
We live in northern Ohio and wonder what to put on to
discourage the ants that will still allow us to eat the vegetables; that is, if
the ants leave us any to eat.
This is our first attempt at gardening and we
aren't winning this battle with the ants.
Thanks for any suggestions.
ANSWER:
Finding the Ant colony in the soil and drenching it with a liquid insecticide
would be the best approach.
If you are dealing with leaf cutter ants, this
is the only effective method, because they won't eat ant baits.
