The problem of red apartment ants arises in large metropolitan areas and small villages, sometimes insects become a disaster that cannot pass on their own, a systematic and persistent struggle is required. To successfully get rid of petty evil spirits, there are many modern means and folk methods.
The appearance of insects in the apartment
Small ants appear in apartments with the onset of spring and warming. They thoroughly inhabit secret cracks in building structures, in places of delamination of finishing materials, they live behind baseboards and door or window frames. Some groups set up an anthill outside the apartment, and they treat the human dwelling as a source of food, choosing the path along which they go to the "dining room".
Ants are ready to travel considerable distances to obtain food. They prefer carbohydrate and protein foods, a person leaves such waste in his home in the form of crumbs, pieces of fallen food, waste in the trash can. In nature, ants are usually called indefatigable workers, but in an apartment or house they create a lot of trouble for the family living there. In addition to carrying the infection, they simply psychologically cause a feeling of discomfort when a person realizes that they live together in the same area with insects, so they need to get rid of them.
Red ants
They moved to our continent in the cracks of the holds of ships, which at that time were engaged in active trade in sweet goods, sugar, fabrics and various types of trees. All of this served as food and settlement for ant colonies that needed to survive a long journey. The dispersal of ants around the world has led to the fact that today they live on all continents , except for permafrost conditions.
Modern species of ants are classified as unpretentious insect species that can withstand quite large temperature drops. There are about 10 thousand species in the classification, but red house ants cause trouble in apartments or private houses. The colony includes males, females, workers, pupae, and larvae. Above all this social diversity is the uterus - the leader of the anthill, giving birth to offspring.
To eliminate the anthill, it is very important to get rid of the queen , if this cannot be done, then the destruction of ants does not give a lasting effect, they replenish and are born again and again. Males with females and the uterus represent the ant elite, which does not work, but lives at the expense of other people's labor, namely workers. These same workers carry pupae from place to place when the colony is relocated. They cannot produce offspring, but if you get rid of these workers, it will undermine the usual colonial life and serve as a pretext for the destruction of insects.
The life of an ant
The uterus, which is fertilized, is two or one and a half times larger than the working ant (3 mm), its color is darker than that of other individuals. Working ants scurry over and over again to get food or build structures, and the uterus does not leave the nest at all, in which it is constantly and feeds on the food brought. A red ant cannot bite a person, since his jaws are not designed for strong work.
The individuals received their name for red ants solely because of their color. Yellow ants live only in apartments and are not found in nature. Colonies develop only in warm seasons, since in cold frosts individuals die overnight, but in an apartment or a warm house, such anthills can develop constantly . Insects are common throughout world and represent the class of the most numerous representatives of the category of domestic pests.
Insect harm
In terms of the speed of the spread of infection, ants can be equated with cockroaches, which spread the infection and serve as distributors of diseases:
- Their path is difficult to trace, but it is assumed that before getting into the sugar bowl, the individuals visited a neighbor in a trash can, then walked along the sewer mains;
- penetrating into the holes of household appliances, insects, due to their small size, can cause short circuits of wires and contacts;
- a redhead attack is dangerous because it can harm young children, get into the respiratory tract, lead to coughing or difficulty breathing, in addition, ants cause an allergic reaction in some babies;
- if an ant, who loves the smell of the human body, crawls over the wound in a dream, this can lead to irritation or re-infection;
- the psychological aspect concerns the aesthetic perception of a clean kitchen space, if hordes of ants are observed in the area of the food temple, this leads to moral discomfort for all family members and guests of the house.
You have to be fair and dwell on a small positive aspect of the presence of ants in the house. Insects feed on spiders, moths, bedbugs and fleas , but for the sake of such a ghostly cleansing from other parasites, it makes no sense to endure ants in an apartment, it is better to get rid of both in one fell swoop.
How to get rid of ants?
There are many tips from craftsmen or pest controllers using modern means on how to get rid of ginger ants in an apartment. This difficult struggle requires perseverance to overcome difficulties. The destruction of insects is carried out using several traditional methods:
- The device of barriers for the penetration of insects into the apartment area;
- Scaring off individuals by means of repellents;
- Killing of ants that have penetrated into the territory of the dwelling.
The first two methods are used in the case of an anthill location outside the apartment, barriers are created to scare off ants. And also their beaten paths and paths are eliminated and unacceptable conditions are built for their spread towards human habitation. But for complete destruction, care should be taken to remove the queen ant from the colony .
How to block the way for ants?
Complete sealing of the dwelling cannot be performed, but the main ways in this direction should be taken. The cracks are closed using a cement-sand mortar or a modern repair mixture in a dry form. Silicone is used as a putty to seal the baseboard slots, the holes for entering communications, and some slots are sealed with ordinary tape . Such work is carried out at the stage of repair in the kitchen, or all furniture is moved away for high-quality processing of the room to eliminate ant trails.
Remove products
The so-called prevention can be attributed to a good effective method, when the products are carefully cleaned in the apartment, and perfect cleanliness is created. The procedure is that after cooking, all surfaces are treated, garbage is removed, the buckets are closed with a lid, the dishes are wiped dry, and the sealing gaskets are changed in time in the refrigerator.
Installation of barriers
The method of setting up obstacles is gaining a well-deserved rating. The barriers are made of materials that insects cannot overcome. These are substances that cause insects to lose their orientation or make them get stuck in them, making it impossible for further movement. A continuous line is made of harmful material on the ant path about 15 cm wide. To stop insects, use:
- chalk, coal powder;
- hot, pungent peppers;
- turmeric or cinnamon;
- petrolatum;
- talcum powder or baby powder;
- mint or orange peel, laurel, parsley;
- cloves, anise oil, or drops.
Ants usually walk along the same path and several unsuccessful attempts to eat make them leave their homes and look for other ways to find food.
Trap device
The effect of such attractive and disastrous surprises is that insects that go to tasty baits are trapped in a viscous substance that allows them to get rid of. They work in a manner similar to standard fly tape. It can also be used as a barrier in the path of ants in an apartment. Thick honey, jam, and other sticky foods that attract insects are good traps. On the way to these substances, a water barrier is placed, where ants get and die when they try to get to the sweet bait.
Ant Control Principles
In order to prevent the spread and breeding of red evil spirits in the dwelling, they follow certain rules at the first signs of infection of the area:
- The appearance of the first single insects in the apartment means that the colony of red ants, located not far from the dwelling, sends out working scouts to recognize the situation. This is a signal that the apartment needs to be cleaned up so that uninvited guests cannot find anything attractive in it.
- You don't need to get rid of these domestic insects with anti-mice or cockroaches, many of them don't work at all against ginger ants. There are special chemicals for these parasites.
- Getting rid of red ants by analogy with cockroaches should be done in conjunction with neighbors, and even more preferably in conjunction with the processing of the basement by special services.
- To process the apartment, they take such substances that not only rid the workers of food collectors, but also poison the uterus in the ant colony. Strong doses will poison only scurrying insects, and a weaker solution will allow it to be carried to the uterus and the destruction of the anthill will not be long in coming.
- You can try to trace the path of red ants and find the queen, but this is quite difficult, since it can be under floorboards, parquet or in a completely different room.
Chemicals for getting rid of ants
The most common substances are:
- original means "Kombat";
- spray "Raid" for treatment of all paths of movement of red insects, gaps between the wall and platbands, baseboards, corners, cracks in plaster and tiled masonry, other visible depressions suitable for accumulation of domestic ants;
- "Raid" traps, containing attractive capsules with a toxic substance inside, which are carried by domestic insects to their nest and infect most of the inhabitants, and most importantly - the uterus;
- Dohlox is intended to get rid of ants and cockroaches at the same time;
- "Raptor" gel has a long-lasting effect, relieves of red domestic ants and cockroaches, its action is based on the fact that insects, having swallowed the poison, subsequently infect their relatives in the colony. The advantage of this type of treatment is that the gel is in a wet state for a long time, which is why its activity stretches up to six months;
- "Frontline" spray helps in all cases of its use, is distinguished by a high price, it is offered for sale in pharmacies for animals;
- the chemical agent "Regent" is intended to get rid of ants, cockroaches and the Colorado potato beetle, for each of these cases a solution of different consistency is produced, the composition is indicated in the instructions.
Similar effective methods of influence
A well-known economical and budgetary remedy is the use for getting rid of domestic insects, including ants, a pencil based on dust , which includes the standard "Mashenka" crayon. With this pencil, continuous lines are drawn in places where ants pass to get rid of them, a circle is drawn around the trash can, and lines are drawn on the inner doors of the cabinets.
Another remedy is the Petrium powder. It contains a component made from chamomile herb. This drug causes muscle paralysis in domestic ants, but does not work in humans, so it is safe to use.
Boric acid has a similar effect . It is prepared as a delicious bait to get rid of insects. They boil potatoes, add boiled egg yolk, sugar, boric acid powder and roll up small balls, place them at the permanent place of stay or the passage of insects. After two to three days, it is recommended to moisten the bait with water, as it dries out and ceases to attract red ants.
In conclusion, it should be said that getting rid of ants is sometimes protracted. Hard work will end in success if the owners have patience.
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