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House Ant Control
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How to safely control ant pests -
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Summary:
Certain ants commonly invade homes looking for food
and water. These ants are generally small
and can be a nuisance but cause little damage. Use
sanitation and insecticidal baits to keep them under
control. Don't use aerosol ("spray can")
insecticides.
Jack
DeAngelis, PhD
OSU Ext.
Entomologist (ret.)
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House infesting nuisance ants
There are a few species of small brown
ants that commonly invade homes. These house-infesting
ants include odorous house ant [image], Argentine ant [image],and
pharaoh ant and a few others. These small ants
are difficult for homeowners to tell apart but
fortunately exact
identification is not necessary for effective
control. The good news is household nuisance ants
generally do not cause damage and pose no particular
health risk.
All ants live in colonies dominated by
an egg-laying queen and worker ants (females) forage
outside the colony for food. Typically, ants are
attracted to a variety of food types including
carbohydrates (sugars), proteins (meats), fats and
oils. Colonies, or "nests", are located in protected
places in walls, under floors, under cabinets, and
such and individual colonies can be quite large with thousands
of ants.
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Worker ants feeding on liquid
ant bait. Ants consume the bait and take
it back to their nest where it disrupts the
colony. Photo by E.A. DeAngelis.
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House ant control
Your first step should be sanitation.
Clean up crumbs, cooking oil, and all sources of
water. This alone will go a long way toward
reducing ant problems by depriving foraging ants
of food and water. Also, patch holes around pipes
and wires that pass into the living space. Ants
use these "highways" to gain entry from colonies
located in walls, the crawlspace, and so forth.
Next, use ant bait to
suppress or eliminate colonies. Do not use
conventional aerosol insecticides as these
can be messy and ineffective. Insecticidal sprays
can actually make matters worse by causing
colonies to disperse and by blocking access to
bait placements.
Effective ant baits are available
commercially as liquids, gels and granules,
liquid baits can even be homemade (see Using
Homemade Ant Baits). Place liquid and gel
baits near ant activity and trails, granular baits
can be used outside around the perimeter of
structures and in similar places (see below).
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Baits work better than sprays
Baits work much better than conventional
insecticides because of the unique way worker ants
feed the colony, including the queen. When a foraging
worker locates food she returns to the colony and
recruits other workers to the food source. The
recruited workers collect food (see photo above) in a
special pouch called a crop and return to the colony
where they feed other ants, a process called
"trophallaxis". Because of this behavior the most
effective baits are slow acting, giving the worker
time to get back to the nest and pass the poisoned
bait to other colony members, and eventually the
queen. Conventional insecticides disrupt this behavior
and can render baits ineffective.
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Many small infestations can be
controlled with inexpensive liquid baits that are
available commercially and can even be homemade. Larger,
difficult-to-control infestations should be treated
with granular baits on the outside and gel baits
inside homes. Granular baits
can be used to treat large outdoor areas such as the
perimeter of a building. Gel baits can be used indoors
as spot treatments. See the package instructions that
come with each product for use details.
Every situation will be a little
different but if you notice ants outside that seem to
be moving toward the house then treating the outside
perimeter with a granular bait such as Advance
Granular or Maxforce Granular may be needed. These
baits can also be used for general ant control
outdoors. If you've tried liquid bait indoors and
still have a problem then gel baits like Maxforce Gel,
Advion Gel or Optigard Gel may be the answer. Each gel
has a different active ingredient and food component
so a little experimentation on your part may be needed.
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Control
of Common Nuisance House Ants With Baits
(1)
Place baits near ant activity, do not
contaminate area with insecticide. You can
initially place a plain, sugary bait (no
insecticide) to train workers to the placement.
If ants appear to be feeding on bait, as in
photo above, replace plain bait with one laced
with insecticide. For small infestations
use ready-made, or home-made, liquid boric acid
baits. But, for large, stubborn infestations
use commercial gel or granular baits, both are
available here
(DoMyOwnPestControl.com).
(2)
Replace individual stations when they are
exhausted or completely consumed.
(3)
Within a week the number of ants should be
significantly lower.
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Jack DeAngelis, PhD,
 , email:
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