The ants that have settled in your apartment or house are, to put it mildly, unwanted guests. And sometimes it’s very difficult to get rid of them, and all due to the fact that, when starting the fight against insects, not everyone takes into account a number of important factors that significantly affect the result. To successfully deal with uninvited guests, you need to perform several sequential actions.
A variety of methods and tools
To understand how to deal with ants, you need to learn that these are very specific representatives of the animal world, and getting rid of them is not easy. However, it is still impossible to call these insects difficult to deduce. For successful removal of ants, it is necessary to know their biological characteristics and use various effective techniques.
To date, various methods of struggle have been developed that allow achieving the desired result with minimal time and money. This is the independent use of aerosol products, powders, crayons, special traps, gel preparations, and the challenge of pest control teams.
In this case, all conditions must be carefully observed, otherwise the struggle will not give the desired result or will have a short-term effect. Further, the question of how to deal with ants will be considered in more detail.
General rules for insect control
Ants have one natural feature - it is colonial. Each colony necessarily has a nest where the uterus is located. She is also called the queen or queen, and lays eggs, from which the next generation of ants appear. The uterus is constantly near the oviposition and pupae. Workers bring here and store food here. If such a nest is discovered and destroyed, then, despite the number of ants living in it, after 10-15 days all insects will die.
In the event that the nest continues to exist, the question of how to deal with ants will arise again and again, as a new generation will constantly grow. Therefore, the elimination of insects as quickly as possible will allow the destruction of the nest. To do this, it is not necessary to detect it; modern means allow you to get rid of an ant house remotely.
How to deal with domestic ants in an apartment
If these insects wound up in a dwelling, then most likely they have several dozen nests throughout the house. Ants from one location can enter different apartments on several floors in search of food. And also in one apartment there may be representatives of various colonies.
For this reason, before starting the fight against insects, it is advisable to consider and take the following:
- Agree with neighbors on the joint processing of apartments by special means.
- Remember that insects can temporarily leave your apartment and then go back.
- When using certain products, strictly follow the instructions and carry out the treatment in the most thorough manner.
- Carefully approach the prevention of the appearance of ants in the home.
Compliance with these rules will help to get rid of insects that settled on your square meters as soon as possible.
Ways to deal with ants
And yet, how to deal with ants in an apartment using different methods and means? Absolutely all the most effective ways to combat insects living in your apartment are divided into several categories.
They include:
- The use of insecticidal gels.
- Use of aerosol products.
- Treatment with crayons and powder mixtures.
- Contacting the pest control service.
- Mechanical control of nests and insects themselves.
- The use of folk remedies.
All of the above methods have both advantages and disadvantages. Fighting ants will be effective with a reasonable and correct approach. When insect persecution in an apartment and a private house, similar methods are used, as a rule.
Insecticidal aerosols
How to deal with ants in an apartment using aerosols? Various insecticidal aerosols are very effective help in the fight against ants. One of their main advantages is that the result of their use can be seen immediately, as well as the ability to get to insects in remote places. Aerosols spread through the air, and the poison contained in them destroys insects. Aerosols require preparation to fight ants. Requires at least one day of processing the premises with this tool.
Before you start using aerosol insecticides, you need to do the following:
- From the apartment in which disinfection will be carried out, remove all people, pets.
- In the presence of aquariums or terrariums, cover them with glasses, turn off the compressors supplying oxygen, in order to avoid the ingress of particles of the aerosol mixture.
- Move the furniture in the room from the walls, remove the carpets, close the doors and windows.
After that, you can spread the aerosol over the maximum area of the entire room.
Some nuances of using insecticidal aerosols
When applying aerosols, you need to remember some features:
- A standard one-room apartment will require at least three to four spray cans.
- After you have finished the treatment, you must leave the room for a period of four to six hours.
- After this time, wet general cleaning is required. The rear walls of the furniture do not need to be washed, then the product will remain on them longer.
The fundamental difference in how to deal with the red ants in the apartment and the usual ones, using sprayers, by and large, is not. Deriving one or another type of insect, it is important to understand that aerosols can not always be quite effective. This is primarily due to the fact that the nest can be located outside the apartment, for example, in the entrance or at the neighbors.
That is why, when deciding which drugs to use, it is recommended to give preference to drugs that have a long-term effect. Even in spite of the fact that the quick effect can not be immediately noticed. In any case, after a certain period of time, the infected ants reach the nest and infect the uterus, larvae and egg laying, which will lead to the death of the entire colony.
How to deal with house ants with gels
The principle of exposure to insects such as insecticidal gels on insects is significantly different from aerosol. The former are perceived by ants as a source of nutrition, attracting all working individuals to themselves. Insects eat the gel applied to the surface, and then transfer it to the nest in order to feed the uterus and the growing larvae. The substances contained in the gel begin to act gradually, which allows the infected ant to infect the maximum number of individuals in the nest. For this reason, this tool does not give an instant result.
However, it should be noted that by applying such gels constantly, for several weeks, you can destroy not only the ants living in your apartment, but also those that live with your neighbors. There is another plus when using them - they are safe for people and animals. Manufacturers use natural bitterness in their composition. If a child or pet accidentally tries to eat such a drug, he will feel a bitter aftertaste and spit it out. Ants will not feel absolutely nothing and deliver poison to the "heart" of their colony.
Powder Ant Bred
Various dusts and the so-called crayons, as well as their Chinese counterparts, are quite widespread in Russia. These funds are one of the most popular due to their effectiveness. Often they are referred to as folk remedies for combating yellow ants and cockroaches, although in terms of their composition they are the same synthetic preparations as gels and aerosols.
How to deal with ants in the house using insecticidal (dust) powders and crayons? The methods of controlling insects with the help of these drugs are very simple and unpretentious. It is necessary to scatter the powder over the territory in which the ants appear most often. If crayon is used, then strips are applied to the same places. The advantage of crayons is that, unlike powders, they can be applied not only to horizontal, but also to vertical surfaces.
Effect on insects and the benefits of powders and crayons
After the powder or crayons are applied over the area of the house or apartment, the ants touching the treated surfaces cling to their paws the toxic substances contained in these preparations. Then they instinctively begin to remove them from their paws with their jaws and swallow the poison. These drugs, like insecticidal gels, do not exert their effect immediately, but gradually, because of which the infected ant carries poison among other adult individuals and larvae that are in the nest.
One of the main advantages of this group is its cheapness and prevalence in retail trade. At very low costs, you can process a very large area of an apartment or house. Also, the pluses include the fact that these substances are used to prevent the appearance of insects in your home.
Ant traps
Nowadays, the so-called insect traps are widespread . Consider how to deal effectively with ants with their help. It should be noted that this method of bullying ants is considered ineffective if only it is used. Only ants belonging to the workers get into these devices, which, of course, does not affect the rest of the colony inhabitants. However, if traps are used as an auxiliary method along with other means, together this will give a very good result.
Well help in removing "tenants" Velcro traps. When installing adhesive tapes in places where insects appear, up to several hundred ants can get into them in one day. Such devices are effective in cases where the “newcomers” enter the house from the outside, and the nest itself is not in your apartment. But the best result when using this method of fighting ants can be achieved by using insecticidal substances.
Insect control in other ways
There are folk ways to combat insects. These include ant-repellent products, such as bay leaf, garlic, and sunflower oil. As well as synthetic substances - turpentine, kerosene and meth. Any of these substances or products spreads in the places where the ants appear, after which the insects stop “visiting” in these places. It is also good to use borax, boric acid and ordinary brewer's yeast. Making decoctions of these ingredients, you can successfully fight insects.
It is worth paying special attention to the fact that how to deal with ants is best known to professionals, namely pest control teams. At your call, they will come and cope with the invasion of insects in an extremely short time and, most importantly, effectively. The only negative of this method is its relative high cost. Nevertheless, the result after processing your house or apartment with pest control will be very long-term.
How to deal with small ants, red or ordinary, you decide. Among a wide variety of control methods and drugs, which are presented in a wide assortment in specialized stores, you can choose the method that is right for you. The main thing is to remember that initially you need to weigh the pros and cons when making a decision, and then proceed with the fight against insects.