Question
I have an indoor ant problem. They are tiny, reddish, with a long petiole before a heart-shaped abdomen. They especially like grease and meat. Raid has been somewhat effective, but new colonies show up in odd rooms (I am in an upstairs condo). Yesterday a new colony found my leopard gecko, and attacked her. Her toes were targeted especially, but when I found her the wounds didn't seem too bad, but she must have been stung a lot since she went lethargic and died later in the day. Most websites recommend identifying the species before trying to control them but I haven't been successful in finding a good identification guide. From what I can tell, they aren't sugar, carpenter, grease, white-footed, or other common indoor ants. Any suggestions?
Answer(s)
Hi Pamela,
Pear-shaped abdomen, huh? Those could be acrobat ants... It would be ideal
if you could capture some, put them in alcohol, and send to the lab for
identification. If not, you hinted that they liked proteinaceous foods
(grease and meat). This could be used against them in the form of
proteinaceous baits (MaxForce, etc.). They do make different formulations
of baits, and some work better than others. The key to baits is that
worker ants must pick it up and take it back to the nest to share, hopefully
feeding some to the queen. Baits are designed to be slow-acting as to
exploit ants social feeding behaviors and may take a few days to weeks to be
effective. Raid only kills workers, and will have no effect against ant
colonies, unless you spray the nest and queen directly.
Here is a link to pictures of acrobat ants:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/36399/bgimage
Please let me know what you would like to do.
Answer(s)
Hi Pamela,
Heart-shaped abdomen, huh? Those could be acrobat ants... It would be ideal
if you could capture some, put them in alcohol, and send to the lab for
identification. If not, you hinted that they liked proteinaceous foods
(grease and meat). This could be used against them in the form of
proteinaceous baits (MaxForce, etc.). They do make different formulations
of baits, and some work better than others. The key to baits is that
worker ants must pick it up and take it back to the nest to share, hopefully
feeding some to the queen. Baits are designed to be slow-acting as to
exploit ants social feeding behaviors and may take a few days to weeks to be
effective. Raid only kills workers, and will have no effect against ant
colonies, unless you spray the nest and queen directly.
Here is a link to pictures of acrobat ants:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/36399/bgimage
Please let me know what you would like to do.
Other Questions In This Topic
- Every spring I get larger black ants coming into my house mostly in the kitchen. I also see them outside the house and climbing around the base structure. I have determined that they are not termites. I tried using a bate last year but unlike all of the smaller colonies of ants that I gave the bate to (which I haven't seen in the house only in the driveway and sidewalks) which immediately started loading it up to take back to the nest, these ants weren't interested. Is there a reason? What kind of ant might they be and therefore what kind of bate do I need to use?
- We have ants inside and outside of our house. Twice a year, we have flying ants in the basement of our house. In our garden and strawberry patch, we have big aggresive ants that make it difficult to enjoy our strawberries. What is the best way to get rid of the ants in these places? Is is ok to poison them around the strawberries? What about in the house?
- My raspberries and red and very sweet and now I have found thread-like worms on the fruit (about 2-4 in a bowl) when washing. What are they and how do I treat the fruits? They are black or grayish and threadlike and about 1/ to 2/3 of an inch long.
- I have tons of ants outside my house. When I am weeding I run into them. I have put down some diazion and they are still there always in the same spots. Is there anything I can use outside to get rid of them permentaly. If I don't keep the diazion granules in my cracks in my garage they are always there to. I just want them gone.
- Is there any evidence of free run chickens significantly controlling flies from horse manure? I have neighbors who rely solely on a single hen and rooster to control flies for their two horses in a paddock, not a pasture. No other form of control is used. While chickens may, in fact control insects, I suspect the only real way to control insects (particularly flies) is to routinely (daily or weekly) police the manure and dispose of it. Is there any literature on the subject?
- Do spiders eat earwigs?
- I have an infestation of giant willow aphids. How do I get rid of them? What damage will they do?
- We have a scorpion that just came up on our patio when our sprinklers came on. Is it normal to find a scorpion in Herriman? I have never heard of them here. It seems to be all white and very mean as it came after the people sitting on the patio rather than going away from them. We now have it in a bottle. This concerns me as I have a two year old and a baby who play out side. How do I keep them out of my yard?
