If you have ants in your home, it is likely that they are no longer coming from outside, but have set up permanent residence inside your house. Here is what you need to know about ant infestations and how to get rid of them.
There are several species of ant. Normal ant infestations can be temporarily taken care of by cleaning up the food source in the home, and poisoning the ant colony with a pesticide.
This does not mean you have gotten rid of them for good, however. According to recent studies, pesticides, traps and baits are not the best way to keep ants from coming into your home. The Argentine ant, for example, is an aggressive ant that has spread into Northern and Southern California. It routinely invades homes and pesticides do not stop it. A 2001 study by Deborah M. Gordon at Stanford University, says use of pesticides, baits and traps, harms humans more than ants, and does not change the behavior of Argentine ants.
Gordon and other scientists recommend taking the following steps to keep ants out:
- Plug up any holes or cracks in your home where ants can get inside. Check the outside perimeter of your house for places that ants can slip through. Reinforce window and door seals, and cracks in walls. Make it more difficult for them to get in the house.
- Remove scents and food sources. Don’t leave counters sticky, water puddling on the floor or left overs out. Clean with warm water and vinegar or Windex to remove scents that might attract ants.
- Reinforce food containers. If you keep your food in bags or boxes that are partially opened, you are making an inviting meal for ants. Seal everything in containers with tight-fitting lids. Make sure there isn’t anything on the outside for ants to eat. An ant colony will invade for one cereal grain.
- Protect pet food. If you leave dry or canned food out for your pet, build a mote around it by setting it on a saucer with soapy water so ants can’t get to it. Don’t leave food in bags bought from the store, buy containers with tight-fitting lids to keep it in.
- Kill scouts. If you see a lone ant on your kitchen counter, it is scouting for food and water. If you let it, it will go back to the colony with news about that little spill under your coffee-maker. Kill it, and wipe the area with a disinfectant.
- Clean up existing ant trails. Use Windex to wipe up any existing ants starting from the food source, all the way back to the spot they came in. Clean up whatever they were into and seal off the entry point.
If you follow these six steps, you should be able to get and keep ants out of your home.
