Thief Ants
Thief ants are household ants that are just 1/32″ in length. They can be recognized from their yellow and red color and black marks on the abdomen. Unlike other ants, they establish their nests near or inside other ants’ nests. Not only do they live in others’ nests, they get food from the same nests. Their diet includes dead insects, proteins, greasy foods, peanut butter, and sweets just to name a few. Since thief ants can be problematic, let us teach you about how we can get rid of them.
1) Inspect your house thoroughly
First off, you need to carry out a thorough inspection of your house. If these ants are present in your house, you may find mounds somewhere in your house. They can build their nests under rocks, in rotting wood, and around walkways to name a few. So, make sure you take a look at these places.
2) Get Rid of Ant Mounds
If you spot a few mounds in your garden, use Demon WP or other product to eliminate the mounds by drenching. Don’t let your kids get near the treated area until the solution is dried.
3) Take care of outdoors
To prevent the ants from getting into your house, you can use a good spray around your house. For excellent protection, it is recommend that you spray the side your house up to a height of 3 feet. Similarly, the ground should be sprayed up to 6 feet.
4) Try Baiting
Baiting indoors is a good idea. But not all baiting will be effective, so try one on an area and check whether the ants visit the area again or not. If they don’t, the method has worked.
If bait doesn’t seem to work, try out other baits until you find the one that works.
More Methods for Thief Ant Prevention And Control
Once you have used the right pesticide chemicals, the following non-chemical methods can help you maintain control and keep ants away in the future.
- Follow good sanitation
- Clean your kitchen daily and don’t use just any area of your house for food preparation.
- Make sure there are no gaps or cracks in your house’s foundation, windows frames, baseboards or doorframes. If you spot any, fill them with caulk or any other material.
- Remove materials, such as stones, piled lumber, leaf litter, bricks and heavy mulch from the structure. Ants usually build their nests inside such stuff; so don’t give them a chance to do so.
- Take a look at your garden and trim the shrubs, trees and other plants that may serve as a highway for ants. No branch should touch your house.
- All the leaky faucets and piles should be fixed as soon as possible.
With the above tips, you can prevent an ant infestation with ease. Thief ants can be dangerous and can cause a good deal of loss to you. So, it is a good idea to have a professional pest control company inspect your house for possible infestation.
Contact us today for a free consultation and we will be at your service.
Image: © AntWeb.org / CC-BY-SA-3.0
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