How dangerous are house ants
There are cases when house ants attacked helpless babies and sleeping adults. Ants can climb into the ears, nose and mouth to pinch pieces of skin epithelium. They can crawl under gypsum bandages of patients, open pustules. They do not feel their bites, but the ants, crawling over the refuse and sewage, carry on themselves the infection and the eggs of worms on us and our products. Because of their omnivore, they damage clothes, shoes, insulation of electrical appliances. Can even disable the computer.
The former inhabitants of the Egyptian pyramids and in our time prefer high-rise buildings. They prefer warm places with high humidity - bathrooms, kitchens, toilets. In search of food, ants travel from floor to floor, so the pace of their resettlement is very high. Fighting house ants is not easy, because this kind of ants lives in families of up to 1 million individuals! No wonder that the red-haired little fidget remains the most common species among his arthropods.
Methods of struggle
The most effective ways to deal with ants are to destroy their nests. True, it is almost impossible to do this because of its inaccessibility. It is necessary to fight red house ants with the help of insecticidal food baits. This method is based on the fact that the house "working" ants carry food into the nest, where the larvae are fed by the liquid that they regurgitate. From poisoned baits, females stop laying eggs. The number of "workers" decreases, they stop caring for their offspring. The colony of ants is decreasing and its degeneration is complete.
To combat the ants, bait based on borax (tetraborate salt) is prepared. This colorless crystalline substance is low-toxic for humans and animals. But it's poisonous for house ants. The borax can be replaced with boric acid. Cook the bait in enameled glassware or glass containers. Plastic is not good.
Liquid baits. 1 teaspoon of borax is dissolved in 100 ml of heated water (up to 60 degrees). Then add 5 teaspoons of sugar. The solution is cooled, 1 tea-I spoon of jam or honey is added. Then it is mixed. The bait is poured into flat containers and placed on the ant trails. The apartment will need about 15 pieces. You can use the bait for three weeks.
Thick bait. Mix 2 tablespoons of water, 4 teaspoons of glycerin, 1 teaspoon of borax or boric acid, 2 teaspoons of jam or honey and 3 tablespoons of sugar. This mixture is heated with continuous stirring on low heat until the components are completely dissolved. In this case, the bait does not spoil for several months.
Dry bait . One part of the dehydrated borax is mixed with nine parts of powdered sugar or granulated sugar, ground in a mortar. The dry bait is scattered where the ants crawl. You can grind 1 egg yolk, hard-boiled with 5 g of borax instead of sugar. This bait can be laid out for a long time, until all of it is carried away by the ants.
Meat baits . 2 teaspoons of borax are mixed with half a glass of minced pork. Spices, garlic, salt should not be contained in it! Lay out the meat bait for the house ants in the way of their movement. The amount of boric acid or borax should not be increased in the formulation. Otherwise, "working" ants will die before they bring the bait to the nest.
Lures with sodium fluoride . Take half a gram of sodium fluoride, 10 g of honey, 30 g of sugar and dissolved in 75 ml of water. The bait is poured over small containers and placed on the ant trails.
Ordinary yeast . Also are an effective means for the destruction of house ants. Prepare a yeast (water) thick paste, mixed with jam, syrup or honey. Ants eat bait and die from rupture of the digestive system by gases released during yeast fermentation.
Precautionary measures
Children should not touch the poisoned bait, after washing thoroughly wash the dishes. Lures do not give instant disposal of ants, since with their help only a part of the "working" ants that bring food to the nest is destroyed. Applying poisoned lures systematically for 2 - 2, 5 months, you can exterminate all the house ants in the premises infected by them.
To close the way to ants in your home, you need to fill up all the cracks between the walls. To do this, use sulfur, chopped charcoal, putty. Putty is prepared from a mixture of 2 parts of rye flour and 1 part of lime with the addition of linseed oil or linseed oil.
Also effective are deterrents and contact insecticides applied to walls, floors, furniture legs. If ants have settled in the house, hurry to treat their tracks with repellents containing dimethyl phthalate (DMF) or diethyltoluamide (DETA). Read the composition on the package. The processing of ant "roads" is carried out twice at intervals of 3 to 4 days. Often, after repellents, ants leave the house forever. To protect the ants from infants, it is also possible to tie up the legs of the beds with gauze bandages soaked in repellent.
One of the effective ways to combat house ants is plain sunflower oil. To protect food from the encroachment of ants, the edge of the containers in which the dishes are stored is lubricated with oil. House ants also scare away the smell of wormwood, hazel leaves, elderberry, tomatoes, garlic, cloves, wild mint. We hope that these tips will help to cope with annoying red neighbors. Have a good hunting!