If you notice the appearance of red ants in your house - urgently look for a way to get rid of them as soon as possible.
These insects, despite their external harmlessness, can cause you a lot of problems.
They can be found in food, under the baseboard, floors and generally anywhere, and their bite is not only painful, but can also cause an allergic reaction, especially in children and some adults with sensitive skin.
Let's see why they appear, how to find them and get rid once and for all.
Red ants: causes
Red ants, like their other brethren, lead a kind of social life, that is, they prefer to gather in large colonies, most of which can number hundreds of thousands and even millions of insects. In each such colony, a uterus is always present, the main task of which is egg laying. The rest of the settlement is made up of working ants, who regularly work for the benefit of this very female and emerging larvae.
Of course, when a large ant colony appears in a person’s housing, it becomes a big problem. But, before determining what to do and how to get rid of them, it is logical to understand the basic behavioral principles of these insects.
As already mentioned, working red insects are constantly looking for food for the uterus and larvae, and for this they are able to cover significant distances. In addition, ants can build a kind of hive in order to further increase the population. Despite the fact that basically these red insects prefer to build their settlements on the street, there are times when they begin to appear in the apartments and houses of a person.
What is the reason for this? First of all, this suggests that the ants came here for a reason, which means that there is something to eat and feel quite comfortable. Therefore, if food residues (bread crumbs, etc.) on your table or floor are not uncommon in your home, do not be surprised at the appearance of unwanted guests at home. Moreover, if there is always enough food for insects in your house, they will begin to settle in very quickly, and after a short period of time there will be so many red ants that it will be very difficult to deal with it.
But for what reason do they arise in the house and where do they come from? The thing is that a certain part of insects can "visit" your home in search of food, even if their colony is on the street. In addition, a person can bring red insects, for example, in a grocery bag brought from a place in which there were already ants.
Why is it so difficult to get rid of red ants?
We will analyze the main reasons why difficulties arise in the fight against these insects:
1) ants are sufficiently tenacious, especially the queen, in addition, they have the ability to develop immunity to certain types of poison;
2) insects can reproduce very quickly;
3) if the ants feel danger, they can find a new place of deployment;
4) we can observe only 10% of individuals that get food for the rest, most of them are well hidden from us;
5) if you manually kill and poison 25-30 insects, the anthill will lose a little from this. Therefore, to breed red ants, you need to come up with more serious methods.
How to deal with this unpleasant invasion in your apartment? Let's look at the most common ways to deal with red ants.
Red ants in an apartment - how to get rid of using chemistry
As we said above, to begin with, search for the main dislocation of ants, that is, their nests with a female and larvae. The ant queen never leaves the nest, as it is not able to search for food on its own, because working insects always successfully cope with this task. Therefore, to destroy the entire colony, the most effective means is the destruction of the female. To do this, it is necessary to infect the worker ants with poison, and they themselves will infect the female and the larvae.
It is not an easy task to independently find the location of the nest, because it can be located anywhere - under the baseboard, floor, and in other places inaccessible to humans. Therefore, the female and the entire nest can be destroyed only through working individuals. The most effective remedy is boric acid or chemical poison with a concentration of not more than 2%. If the concentration is higher, the working ant may die before it reaches its nest.
The use of toxic chemicals is one of the most effective ways to kill insects. The right drugs are sold in almost all household goods stores. Moreover, their cost can vary significantly. But do not forget that the chemical side also has a negative side - toxicity. Therefore, before starting the chemical cleaning of the premises from insects, first remove them from children, people aged and pets. It is also worth remembering safety measures, such as glasses, a respirator, a bathrobe and rubber gloves. Closely monitor the dose and frequency of treatment. For example, some chemicals can only be used outdoors.
Most experts advise using different versions of toxic drugs from different manufacturers in the complex, since red insects tend to quickly adapt to the same type of pesticides.
The most popular chemical remedies for ginger ants are:
insecticidal aerosols - "Raptor", "Raid;
pencils and gels containing poison - "Raptor", "Pinetrum" "Global" and others;
traps - "Combat SuperAttack", "Raptor", "Thunder".
Along with chemicals, they are also very popular. ultrasonic repellers. However, they are not as effective as the same chemicals, despite the fact that in advertising, manufacturers convince people of their great effectiveness.
Undoubtedly, the ultrasound produced by such a device affects insects, however, the operating area of the device is not too large, so you should not hope for an early disposal of unpleasant guests.
Red ants in an apartment - how to get rid with the help of folk remedies
If you notice uninvited guests in your home, the first thing you should do is spring cleaning. To get started, put all the food in airtight containers, thoroughly wipe all the furniture, especially the kitchen, on which food residues or stains may remain. Then you need to prepare one of the most favorite products of red ants - sugar or jam. In order to get rid of uninvited guests forever, you need to dilute a tablespoon of jam in a glass of water and add a small “gift” for ants - boric acid. Mix all the contents well and place them in the places where the ants appear most often. After a few days, the rows of red insects will noticeably order or they will disappear altogether.
However, red insects love not only sweets. Ants also really like to feast on meat, so it can also be used effectively in the fight against insects. To do this, roll a few balls of minced meat and fill them with boric acid. Then gently fold them into paper, and lay out the paper "surprises" in places where ants are most often. If there is no boric acid on the farm, you can use it together. baker's yeast.
Do not forget that insects drag food into the nest along the same path. Therefore, it will be very effective to spread baby powder with talcum powder or garlic juice along this path. This method will not kill ants, but it very well leads them astray. This will lead to the fact that the working individuals will not bring food to the nest, and the uterus with larvae will die, and behind them the whole anthill.
Red ants in an apartment - how to get rid forever
So, we are summing up what needs to be done so that ants never appear again in our home.
1) do not leave dirty dishes on the table at night;
2) keep your floors and furniture clean;
3) the ants have a very developed sense of smell; therefore, remove the trash bin, dishes in the sink, and so on in time;
4) occasionally rinse floors with a small amount of ammonia and laundry soap;
5) insects do not like the smell of sunflower oil and kerosene.
That's all the recommendations for ridding your house of red ants. And remember that it is much easier to prevent the appearance of insects at home than to get rid of them later.
