How to get rid of little black ants? Let me guess what you’re up to. You wake up in the morning, hurriedly get a cup of coffee and read your daily news. But just before you have some sip on your cup, these pestering little black are well lined up in the edge of your cup feasting on their sweet delight. I know this is so annoying especially if you are a true coffee lover. But you know what? You are not alone; thousands of households all around the world have to suffer this very problem every single day.
Here is an email I received from Daniel, a friend of mine in the Philippines:
“They are [the ants] always in the meal after only a few minutes and we cannot store open foods in the kitchen. But lately there are already so many ants, I always feel them crawling on me, even at night there are ants on me… they have strong acid. We have the ant chalk and a spray, but both effects in too limited area. The ants are in the whole house”
How to Get Rid of Little Black Ants?
Are you like Daniel who had been suffering from these pestering ants and seeking professional advice? Let us dive into the solution of your problem right away! Let’s us now enumerate ways on how to get rid of little black ants.
Note: Although chemical control (insect pest control using insecticides) is the method known to eradicate insects in minimal time and effort, I consider at as the last resort of control. It is not a secret to most of us that injudicious use of chemical insecticides can result to irreparable damages to our health and the in environment.
Preventive measures
Keep your house especially your kitchen always clean and dry. Don’t leave any kind of food: sweets, meat, vegetables even oils uncovered. Have a regular schedule of cleaning your house moving your wooden furniture from one place to another. These activities will minimize the chance that ants may establish their Colony inside your house. Remember that little black ants build their houses near food source so removing food spill in your kitchen immediately means making the living conditions unfavorable to them. You can also make efforts to seal your house from possible ant entrance like doors and windows. Because of its minute size, ants has the ability to pass through spaces that often neglected by the owners. Door sealants are available at hardware stores. Use this in sealing cracks under your windows and doors. Check your house even from the outside. Seal any holes or crevices as it might be an entrance for these insects.
Take note that once an ant colony is established at that area, any actions to prevent them is in vain.
Eradicative measures
Okay, let’s assume that you haven’t read this article before your friends there had established their colony at your house. Or perhaps these little black ants proved to be very persistent despite your earnest efforts to prevent them. Don’t panic because you haven’t exhausted the available methods yet. Let us come now to the eradicative measures.
Physical control
In order to become successful in getting rid of little black ants using this method, you’ll have to know where exactly the ant colony is located. Heat can easily kill majority of the members of newly established colony. Once they sense danger, the surviving ants will eventually evacuate off your house. Just remember, burning the colony might help but the chances of also burning your valuable things including your house is so high so you must avoid doing so. So what else can you do? The best way to set them in high temperature is by pouring their colony large amount of hot boiling water. Have I told you that ants are hydrophobic meaning they are morbidly afraid of flood? Knowing this fact, giving them hot water will not just drive them away but will kill all of them including the queen. You just have to make sure that you pour a considerable amount of water that will soak the entire colony. You can do this method several times until it is obvious that there is not ant left standing on the colony.
Chemical control
In worst cases of ant infestation, insecticide application is required. Chemical approach can be implemented in two ways: using bait traps and sprays
Using bait traps to get rid of little black ants
Commercial bait is considered to be one of the most effective means of controlling not just ants but most of the household insects that are pestering you every now and then. Insects, including ants are so attracted to the bait which is actually a poison cloaked with a sweet substance. Worker ants will eat some of it and will bring some to its colony. In effect, all of the ants in the colony will be exposed in the poison and the colony will eventually die.
Warning before doing anything:
Make it really sure that there are no kids or pets that roam around the area if you have to use commercial baits.
Commercial baits are available at hardware for as low as $4 per box.
Steps in using commercial baits
- Read the packaging carefully. Follow the instructions on how to set it up properly.
- Place your bait on the in the floor and corners especially in places where little black ants congregate. The best way is to put the bait in an ant trail.
- Wait a few days to see the effect. Compared to other method of getting rid of little black ants, bait trapping is the slowest; but this is the ultimate method. During the days of wait, worker ants will help you poison their colony by means of letting them carry small poison particles back to their den. They thought it is food because it is sweet. For the meantime, make you have to make sure that your kitchen is clean so the ants will consume the bait not the food particles left out on the floor or table.
Household owners may want to double their effort on their battle against little black ants so they also use insecticide sprays. Insecticides can be bought at a hardware store over the counter. You can buy a formula, read and follow the instruction in mixing and preparing it. Pour the mixture or solution on a sprayer and target the ant infested area. Spray the perimeter of your house to seal it from ants that are on the outside.
Aerosol sprays can also be helpful in getting rid of this insect. These sprays can be sprayed straight to the black ants. Aerosol sprays are specifically designed to be used indoors with no adverse effect on the part of the user.
Just make it sure that your kids and pets are away from the treated area for safety purposes. Toxic to ants maybe also be toxic to humans so proper discretion has to be used.
Discussed above are the conventional ways of how to get rid of little black ants. Those are the common and proven methods of eradicating black ants in your house.
Get rid of ants using common household materials
What if all those methods fail or perhaps you don’t want to get involved in chemical formulation in any means by any reason? On the next article, we will discuss the topic how to get rid of little black ants the natural way.
Here is a video on how to get rid of any ant species using kitchen materials.
Little Black Ant Facts
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Scientific name: Monomorium minimum
Appearance
These insects are minute in size and come with different variations in color: dark-brown or black/jet black. Little black ant species are native to the United States but has been widely distributed all over the world and is a perennial problem of thousands of households now a day. The workers of this kind are as small as 1.5 millimeters. The egg laying queen of the colony is the biggest member that can measure up to four millimeters.
Behavior
Just like any other member of the order hymenoptera, little black ants have stingers that can irritate its predators. Yet, this stinger is so small to be used as defense weapon for most of their attacker so they resort to biting to defend themselves from danger. Species of this type are considered to be omnivores eating almost anything from insects, vegetables and plant juices.
Workers of little black ants are often noticed foraging along sidewalks and crevices under your house. They can also be seen lurking around your wooden furniture, in the wall or in the kitchen.
Reproduction
Little black ant’s colony may consists of moderate to large number of populations. Colonies can be occupied by two or more egg-laying queens that contribute to their success. When the mating period occurs (usually by the month of June to August), both queens and drones will become winged and fly in to the air. This behavior is called nuptial flight and is common to hymenopterans. After the mating is done, both sexes will shed their wings off and the drones will die eventually. As a result, population within the colony will explode and will divide naturally. Colonies that are newly established will grow tremendously in nests built in areas like furniture cavities, rotting logs, crevices and spaces near your kitchen!
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