We can come across many types of ants because they are part of a very large species and each variant in particular is related to its size. They are insects belonging to the Hymenoptera family, with a very advanced social organization that we all know. They live mainly in ant-hills built in the ground, in wall/floor cavities, but also in flower pots, from where they leave in search of food even travelling long distances.
It will have happened to everyone to find in the house or in the garden long lines of these insects that come and go without understanding the reason. In reality, ants behave in this way because they are looking for food and when they find it they intensify their activity considerably.
Normally a spray or powdered insecticide is used to deal with such a situation, but even if it is of excellent quality, this method does not solve the problem. In fact in doing so the affected specimens will die but all the others will simply move to another place in the house. We also advise against the use of powder or spray insecticides in this case because they will contaminate and pollute our house.
To remove these small insects without polluting the environment can and will be sufficient some small expedients:
- The first rule is to check and remove any residual food (even a grain of sugar can be a source of attraction). Doing this control in a very accurate way is very important because the presence of ants means the presence (even minimal) of food around.
- If you can find the anthill by climbing up the ant columns, I suggest you put Ant Bait Station ant bait dispensers for the outside or bait boxes like the ant bait insecticide Blattoxur if you are inside. If you have chosen the dispensers you will have to put attractive granules such as Nexa granulated ant bait or a special bait gel such as the insecticide ant bait gel AMP 1 RB inside these containers.
- If you cannot find the anthill, you will have to take advantage of the ant’s characteristic of sniffing out attractive substances even at long distances. Then simply place tiny doses (1mm ø) of ant gel insecticide AMP 1 RB, a specific food gel, in syringes, with the active ingredient Acetamiprid, in closed or hidden places or in special closed boxes.
- If before carrying out the treatments you have sprayed insecticides and/or put powders or other products, described above, you must wash the surfaces well and make sure that they are not contaminated by substances repellent to them of any kind. The insecticide would make the gel unattractive.
Among the various recommended products, the best is certainly the gel insecticide and granules: like all foods, ants do not feed on the place where they find it, but will take it inside the anthill and there it will act not only on the specimens present but also on the eggs. In fact, thanks to its long duration of action (2-3 months), it will act as soon as the eggs hatch, eliminating also the newly born ants.
If you adopt the tricks and behaviors suggested according to the situation, you will no longer have to worry about the ant problem. In the next publications I will show you how to act if you do not want to use any kind of chemical substance, but only products of plant origin.
Keep following “The expert advice” and you will discover many answers to everyday problems! In the meantime we are waiting for your questions or particular cases to give you more help click here or write in the comments.