Causes, prevention and methods of dealing with red ants at home

Little red ants are uninvited guests in people's homes. They are perhaps the most famous household pest of all existing insect species. They carry various dangerous viruses and infections. They settle in the house in entire colonies, led by one or several queens.

Ants choose apartments and houses for their homes because they can easily and quickly find food there. Usually their food is ordinary food waste. The source of food can be the kitchen table, sink, floor, trash can.

Ants make their nests in places inaccessible to humans. These can be interfloor ceilings, baseboards, free spaces between the wall and wallpaper or tiles. Ants can live outside the apartment, and only come there for food.

There is no point in getting rid of house ants by killing individual individuals. Usually in open areas in an apartment you can find working ants looking for food and delivering it to their queen. Killing them does not bring any benefit to humans and does not cause any harm to the ant colony. We must immediately look for and destroy the nest.

Getting rid of ants is quite difficult and there are reasons for this. Here are just a few of them:

1. Ants themselves are quite tenacious insects, especially queens. They are even able to develop immunity to certain types of poison.
2. Ants reproduce quite quickly.
3. Ants, sensing the danger of being in a habitable place, move to another.
4. A person can only see a small part of the insects scurrying around the apartment. The main colony of ants is usually located in a secluded place.
5. Simply by killing individual ants, you cannot destroy the entire colony that has settled in an apartment. It is necessary to use serious methods of getting rid of pests.

To get rid of red ants, you need to use a good insect pest control product. At the same time, you should not neglect the rules for its use. If the house is multi-story, then you will need to agree with the neighbors so that they also take part in the destruction of ants. This must be done because insects can crawl to them, and after some time they will return again.

Fighting methods

There are several methods to combat red ants. All of them can be divided into several groups.

1. Special gels for killing ants.
2. Various aerosols.
3. Powder or dust and chalk for pests.
4. Simple destruction of an ant nest.
5. Folk remedies against house ants.
6. Call a pest control specialist to your home.

Each of these methods has both its pros and cons. To more quickly and effectively combat an ant infestation, it is necessary to use several methods simultaneously.

Special gels

The action of the gels is aimed at attracting ants. At the same time, they, as a rule, eat the gel or take pieces of it to the nest to feed the queen and the rest of their relatives. Gels begin their destructive effect only after a certain time.However, it is precisely thanks to this feature that you can get rid of ants not only in your apartment, but also from your neighbors in the house. Due to its viscous consistency, the gel can be applied even to inclined surfaces.

Aerosols

Aerosols are one of the most effective means of combating red ants. When sprayed, the aerosol spreads throughout the room and insects in this case cannot avoid contact with the poison. It also easily penetrates into those places where pests accumulate, where it is impossible to apply other means of control or for the apartment owner to penetrate there.

When using aerosols, you must follow a number of simple rules.

• First of all, you need to prepare the room itself for aerosol treatment. To do this, you need to clear the room of household members and pets. Move all furniture away from the walls and remove everything from them.
• Then thoroughly spray the aerosol over all surfaces in the house.
• After completion of work, entering the premises is strictly prohibited. This can only be done in a few hours.
• And finally, you will definitely need to do wet cleaning in the apartment.

Dusts and crayons

This is perhaps the most famous way to eliminate pests in the house. Using crayons, stripes are drawn in places where ants accumulate, as well as on their paths. And the powder is simply poured onto these same places. Chalks are very good for keeping unwanted pests out of your home. The main advantage of such means of control compared to other types is their availability and low cost.

Special ant traps

A trap is a small container with bait placed there. The principle of action is very similar to gels. Only worker ants fall into the trap, and they eat the bait.If such ants get into their nest within 24 hours, they will be able to infect the rest of the ants along with the queen with poison. Only in this case can you destroy all the ants in the house.

There are also electric ant traps. But they hardly help at all in getting rid of red ants. The main advantage of all traps is that they do not cause any harm to humans. They can even be installed in the kitchen.

Folk remedies for fighting red house ants

Folk remedies are divided into two types: to repel ants and to destroy them. Repellents include sunflower oil, turpentine, garlic, and kerosene. Any of these products are left on ant paths, and also placed near food.

Destructive agents include brewer's or ordinary yeast, boric acid. Based on all these remedies, there are a lot of folk recipes for various mixtures that really help in the complete destruction of red ants.

If possible, you can also simply physically destroy the ant nest. If none of the methods helps in the fight against insects or you simply don’t want to do it yourself, then in this case you need to call the employees of a company that specializes in the fight against various household pests.

Preventing the appearance of house ants

But it is better, after all, to prevent the appearance of red ants in the apartment, and not to fight them. There are several rules to help prevent the appearance of ants in the house.

1. You must not leave unwashed dishes on the table or in the sink.
2. It is necessary to carry out wet cleaning of the premises more often.
3. Remove trash from the apartment in a timely manner.
4. Sometimes you need to wash the floors by adding ammonia and laundry soap to the water.
5. Ants cannot tolerate the smell of sunflower oil and kerosene. Therefore, these products can be placed in small quantities in areas where house ants may appear.

Dealing with an infestation of red ants is quite a difficult task. But if you work hard, following all the rules of the fight and using several methods at once, you can achieve the desired result and get rid of ants in the house forever.