How to Get Rid of Ants
First make sure that you’ve correctly identified the invader as an ant; they’re surprisingly similar in appearance to their cousin the termite, but the two can be distinguished by a few features.
Ants Versus Termites
- Ants have longer legs, curved or elbowed antennae, and defined “waists” between their thorax and abdomens.
- Termites have straight antennae and a straight body.
Common Species of Ants
Carpenter Ants
How To Identify:
- 1/4 to 1/2 inch
- Reddish black
- Found throughout the U.S.
- Can destroy wet and decaying wood
- Pose a serious structural threat; consider seeking professional help immediately
- Nocturnal
Pharoah Ants
How To Identify:
- 1/16 inch
- Light brown, yellow, or amber, almost transparent
- Found throughout the U.S. and most of the world
- Difficult to fully eliminate
- Can chew holes in nylon and silk fabrics
- May be treatable with DIY solutions
Crazy Ants
How To Identify:
- 1/16 to 1/8 inch
- Dark brown
- Found in Southern U.S.
- Attracted to sweet substances
- May be treatable with DIY solutions
Odorous House Ant
How To Identify:
- 1/16 to 1/8 inch
- Brown or black
- Give off rotten smell when crushed
- Multiple queens
- Not directly harmful to humans, but can contaminate food
- Found throughout the U.S.
- May be treatable with DIY solutions
Fire Ants
How To Identify:
- 1/16 to 3/16 inch
- Copper, red, or reddish brown
- Found in Southern U.S.
- Known for their painful sting
- Professional treatment may be required
Pavement Ants
How To Identify:
- 1/16 to 1/8 inch
- Light brown or black
- Build colonies under pavement
- Commonly found in urban areas of the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Northwest
- Not harmful to humans but can contaminate food
- May be treatable with DIY solutions
Which Ants Bite & Sting?
There’s a common misconception that ants don’t bite, but unfortunately, a few species do. Here are the ant varieties that bite and sting:
Carpenter Ants
Not only can they damage your home, carpenter ants can break the skin when they attempt to bite humans. While not poisonous, their bites can be painful and are sometimes followed by a defensive chemical spray that can cause further soreness. Carpenter ant bites can be treated with Aloe Vera or ice.
Fire Ants
We all know fire ants sting, but it’s important to understand the difference between a normal reaction and an allergic reaction. A normal response to a fire ant sting will include itchy, raised red skin that improves after a few hours. An allergic reaction can include a range of symptoms like dizziness, shortness of breath, swollen tongue, and abdominal pain.
Pavement Ants
These small ants rarely bite humans, but they may resort to this defense if they feel threatened. Pavement ant bites are usually mild and only require ice or a cold compress.
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Gather the Tools You’ll Need
a good flashlight
a magnifying glass
a sweet substance
Step 1: Identify the Species
Step 2: Know the Signs of an Infestation
Step 3: Remove Their Food Sources
Step 4: Secure any openings into and out of your home.
Step 5: Kill the Strays
Step 6: Find the Nest
Step 7: Develop a Plan
Weather & Ants
Ants modify their behavior in different weather just as humans do. Knowing which conditions force ants indoors can help you stay extra prepared for a possible invasion.
Rain
Ants live in shallow underground nests, which means they’re particularly susceptible to rainy weather. They may double their efforts to access your house if you’re experiencing a large amount of rainfall in your area, so make sure any entry points are sealed.
Cold
Most ant species hibernate, or at least become far less active, during the winter, so homeowners can breathe a sigh of relief during these months. If you do spot many ants in cold weather, though, it may be a sign that you have an infestation inside the home.
Heat
Ants are at their most active during hot summer months since this is the time they gather the food that will last them all winter. Keep an eye out for particularly ambitious ants that may infiltrate your kitchen to find extra food to secure for their colonies. Clean up quickly after meals and keep food in airtight containers.
Drought
A lack of rain can also drive ants indoors to seek water. You may spot ants in the bathroom or kitchen or close to any other water source in your home. Try to eliminate standing water, like cups with leftover beverages or wet floors.
Pro Tip: Ant Prevention Starts in the Yard
While it’s important to seal any entry points into your home, maintaining the lawn around your home can also help prevent an invasion. Examine the land around your home for:
Ant mounds
Lawn debris that may be hiding nests
Rotting or decaying wood
Long branches touching the exterior of the home
To understand how to get rid of ants, it is important to understand how they live and how they sustain themselves. A relatively small infestation may can be tackled easily with little expense. Top-rated treatments exist for carpenter ant problems, and it’s even possible to mitigate a fire ant infestation on your own. Once you know the type of ants you are dealing with, there are many different ways that you can keep this pest at bay.
Many do-it-yourself ant treatments can be done both inside and outside. You may need to purchase certain products depending on what is on hand at home, but many simple treatments require little to no cost. The best treatment of all is prevention — practicing good habits to keep your house clean and sealed off from pesky intruders.
Cleaning up Food and Waste
- Promptly clean up any crumbs, spills or food waste, especially anything containing sugar.
- Always use place mats when you eat so any spills can be contained and wiped off afterward.
- Clean your kitchen appliances regularly. Your fridge, microwave, toaster and oven all collect food residue each time they’re used, and ants can detect even the tiniest amount.
- Wipe down your kitchen counters and the places where you eat every night. Make sure you also sweep your floors to get rid of any crumbs.
- Keep your garbage can closed and make sure to mop up any spills on or around it.
Properly Seal Your Food
- Keep food in sealed containers, especially those containing sugar.
- Dispose of unused pet food or put it away at the end of the day. Don’t let it remain in a dish overnight.
- Take out the trash regularly to keep the smell from attracting ants. Make sure your garbage lid fits and closes properly to seal off all your waste. Its odor can attract ants and other insects, like flies.
- Keep an eye on any of the food you leave outside of your pantry or fridge (such as fruits), to make sure they’re not rotting and attracting ants with their odor.
Minimize Moisture
- Minimize the amount of water around your house by fixing any leaky pipes, both inside and out.
- Ensure that your gutters drain water away from your house. Make sure they aren’t clogged with leaves or other debris that sit and retain moisture.
- Consider using a dehumidifier if you live in a humid area. This can remove excess moisture from the indoor air.
- Eliminate piles of leaves, branches or wood that retain water in your yard.
- Regularly trim your grass, bushes and trees so they aren’t providing shady, moist areas for ants to flourish during rainfall. It’s especially important to keep up with your landscaping during rainy seasons.
- Make sure that your outdoor trash cans have tight-fitting lids. Rainwater can easily become standing water — the perfect environment for insects to feed and breed.
- Remove empty planters, old toys, unused bird feeders, or anything else outside that might trap and contain water. Planters or any other items sitting out in your yard should be properly fitted with drainage holes.
Outdoor Care
- Check your lawn for any pest waste. This can easily go unseen and decompose, attracting ants and other pests.
- Pick up any trash that might have made its way into your yard or fallen out of your trash cans.
- If you have a garden or any fruiting plants, pick ripe fruit and vegetables or dispose of those that have fallen on the ground.
- Regularly wash out and disinfect any outdoor trash cans to get rid of buildup and odor.
- Trim back branches that lead to the roof of your house or any entryways. They provide a perfect bridge for ants and other insects to enter your home.
Seal and Clean Your Entryways
You should also seal any entrance points for ants in your house—primarily cracks in your foundations, walls and windows. Caulk is the most common sealant for this purpose, although the best choice may depend on the specific material that you’re sealing. You can also use weatherstripping and seals for doors that leave a wide gap, even when they’re closed.
Baiting
Baiting is one of the most effective methods of controlling ant infestations, especially when you can’t locate or access the nest. Keep in mind that this method requires several days’ effort.
Ant bait works very slowly, allowing the workers to make multiple trips to the bait source. The workers lay down pheromone trails, which attract more workers. You will initially notice more ants as they form lines to the bait source, but do not disturb these lines once you have set the bait. Be patient, and wait for the ants to retrieve it and carry it back to the nest. This bait will eventually kill the individual workers that consume it, but its primary purpose is to kill the queen.
The most common active ingredient for ant bait is borax, which is effective for several reasons. Borax is inexpensive because it occurs naturally in seasonal lake beds at high levels of purity. It’s also highly lethal to ants but only mildly toxic to humans. Ants eagerly seek it out for its sweet taste.
DIY Ant Bait Recipe
INGREGIENTS
- 1 cup warm water
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons borax
DIRECTIONS
Add your bait ingredients to a bowl and microwave or heat on a stove top to medium heat. Once the solution cools, mix it and leave it in shallow containers such as bottle or jar lids near the ants’ path.
You can also soak your borax mixture with cotton balls and leave them near ant trails and entryways around your home. This method is especially helpful if you have children or pets that may get into the mixture or knock it over. Check your bait as well as the amount of ants you see each week so you know if it needs to be replenished.
We’ve also reviewed several ant bait products that are the best in the business and offer a surefire way to get rid of ants fast. These baits are best used when paired with ant poison so that the ants are both lured to the bait and able to take the poison back to the colony.
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Chemical Ant Control
Contact pesticides, including commonly sold sprays, are the best way to kill visible ants, especially if they don’t have a well-established nest. These pesticides work quickly and have residual effects that last for weeks. Contact pesticides are typically used in specific areas that aren’t used to prepare food.
Ant pesticides for outdoor use typically contain one of the following active ingredients:
- Acephate
- Nifenthrin
- Carbaryl
- Cyfluthrin
- Permethrin
Acephate is used for liquid pesticides and spray, while bifenthrin and cyfluthrin are the active ingredients in solid pesticides. Carbaryl and permethrin used in both liquid and solid pesticides. Liquid pesticides should generally be allowed to soak into the nest, while solid pesticides are placed outside the nest so they appear to be a food source. Both types of pesticides often require multiple applications to kill the queen, which is essential in resolving an ant problem.
Many of these insecticides can be bought in small amounts. As long as your infestation is small enough to manage on your own, this will still be cheaper than hiring a pest control company. The insecticides can also be used as a preventative measure by spraying them around the outside perimeter of your home every three months or so to keep ants at bay.
Check out the best ant sprays that you can easily pick up in stores or online to get rid of your ant problem quickly. It’s especially important to compare their effectiveness and toxicity levels if you have children and pets at home. As outdoor sprays have different ingredients that aren’t appropriate for indoor use, we’ve also outlined some of the best outdoor methods to bait and kill the ant colony.
Essential Oils
DIY Peppermint Oil Spray
INGREGIENTS
- 1/2 cup water
- 15 drops peppermint oil
DIRECTIONS
Cinnamon oil and lemon oil are also great options that will help deter ants. If you have both on hand, you can mix them all into the recipe along with the peppermint oil. Be sure to shake your spray bottle before using to evenly mix the oil within the water.
Natural Ant Repellents
Herbal Approaches
DIY Vinegar Spray
INGREGIENTS
- 1 part water
- 1 part vinegar
DIRECTIONS
Mix one part water with one part vinegar and add to a spray bottle. Before use, be sure to shake the bottle in order to mix the solution inside. Similar to a DIY essential oil spray, you can use vinegar spray on ant trails and the areas around them.
Eradicating an ant nest in the house often involves more than just applying spray: a pest control company may have to drill small holes in the wall near the floor. Insecticidal dust may then be applied through the holes with a special applicator or plastic bottle with a nozzle, a procedure especially necessary for carpenter ant control.
Be aware that wood-cutting species like carpenter ants often cause property damage requiring a contractor to repair. These ants can bore long tunnels, or galleries, in wood, greatly weakening load-bearing structures in your house.
Professional pest controllers typically handle a range of insects, but may also specialize in a particular species. They are likely to be highly experienced with the particular ant species that live in your area, as well as pesticides and treatment methods that are safe for children and pets. These experts frequently provide free estimates, allowing you to determine the severity of the infestation before making a financial commitment.