Ant insecticides are a common method of controlling nuisance pest ants in urban and suburban settings. They include a range of formulations from liquid broadcast applications, such as fipronil and bifenthrin, to traps, gels, baits, and aerosol sprays.
Baits
Many ant control products are bait-type, meaning they contain a substance that ants feed on and carry back to their nests. This works well for indoor ant infestations, as it can quickly destroy a colony that is feeding and living near your home.
Some baits also offer a residual effect, keeping foraging ants away from your house and killing the entire colony after a period of time. These types of baits can be a good option if you want to get rid of your ants without having to kill them all off at once, but they don’t always work very well.
Baits are a popular way to control ant infestations because they’re inexpensive, easy to use, and effective. Depending on the type of bait you choose, they can take anywhere from 3 to 10 days to kill an entire colony.
Gels and Traps
Gel-based ant poisons are often sold in a cartridge that holds the poison in a tube and comes with small traps to attract the ants that come into contact with it. When the ants go to collect the trap, they then spread the poison across the colony.
They are also sometimes available with a spray dispenser that dispensing the gel, which makes them easier to use and less messy than dropping or spreading the poison directly on surfaces throughout your home. You can also purchase traps that are designed to hold the gel in a tube and release the ants when they touch it.
The key to using gels and traps effectively is to check the traps frequently, and to refresh them as necessary to keep them working. If you don’t do this, the ants Maurgift tips will find new places to set up their colonies, and the poison will never be able to effectively kill them off.
In addition, traps should be kept out of reach of children and pets, especially those that might eat them or get contaminated with the poison. They should also be placed in areas that aren’t accessible to the pests, such as inside walls and under appliances.
Perimeter Treatments
A perimeter spray around your foundation can help keep ants out of your house, but it doesn’t necessarily kill the colony and its queens completely. It only targets foraging ants and doesn’t affect the queens and workers within the colony.
If a perimeter treatment fails to kill the colony, you may need to consider using more intense ant control methods such as a barrier spray that can be sprayed around your foundation and other critical areas of your home. The EPA has tightened regulation on these types of treatments, which is why you might find that professional companies are offering these products to their customers instead of retail-type solutions.