Can you recommend a strategy for dealing with pavement ants?

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Jus' Askin - 15 Jun 2008 19:38 GMT

This weekend I discovered I have a pavement ant infestation. They are
entering my home in two places--the decorative wooden framing around my
front door has developed some openings near the bottom, and I see a trail of
ants going in and out of those openings. In addition, the exterior of my
home is brick, and in several locations (again, in the front of the house)
the mortor has fallen away from between two bricks, and I see ants moving in
and out of these spaces.

Here's my first question: Should I seal these openings right away, or
should I set out some baits, first? My concern about sealing right away is
that the ants have established colonies within the walls (I saw some winged
reproductives leaving the opening in the door frame). I am afraid that if I
seal right away this will drive them further into the interior of my home as
they try to find an alternative way out. My thinking is that I should apply
some baits, first, in the hope that the workers will take the poison into
the colony and kill the queen.

Given that, what bait should I use? I did some research online yesterday,
and bought some baits with fipronil in them. I placed these baits on my
front porch late yesterday afternoon. This morning at around 6:15 a.m. I
went out and found worker ants swarming on my front porch. They were all
around the bait containers, but I did not see any enter the containers.

I just went out and bought some other types of baits. I bought some Terro
traps with liquid borax in them. I also bought some Real-Kill baits with
indoxacarb. The Terro baits are supposedly good for sweet-loving ants, and
the Real-Kill baits are good for both sweet- and grease-loving ants. After
I set out all of these baits, there won't be any room to walk on my front
porch!

If anyone has any suggestions on how I can deal with this problem I would
love to hear them. Thanks.

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Lar - 16 Jun 2008 03:24 GMT

> This weekend I discovered I have a pavement ant infestation. They are
> entering my home in two places--the decorative wooden framing around my
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> the mortor has fallen away from between two bricks, and I see ants moving in
> and out of these spaces.

Probably need to find out exactly what ant they are, doubtful they are
true pavement ants giving you a problem. The space between the bricks
you have may be the weep holes...they are made that way to allow
ventilation behind the walss...you will have problems if you close the
holes (if they are the weep holes).

> Here's my first question: Should I seal these openings right away, or
> should I set out some baits, first? My concern about sealing right away is
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> went out and found worker ants swarming on my front porch. They were all
> around the bait containers, but I did not see any enter the containers.

what bait you need depends on what type of ant you are dealing
with..guessing the bait you bought with fipronil is Combat which will be
for protein feeding ants...the Terro is another good choice for sugar
feeding ants. With either bait you will have activity for a week or so.

> I just went out and bought some other types of baits. I bought some Terro
> traps with liquid borax in them. I also bought some Real-Kill baits with
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> If anyone has any suggestions on how I can deal with this problem I would
> love to hear them. Thanks.

If you have trailing ants try to follow them back to a nest.."pavement
ants" should be found under stones or other items on the
ground...odorous house ants will be found in loose material such as
mulch or just under leaf matter under the hedges. Find the nest,
saturate with an appropriate insecticide and all should be well...until
the next colony moves in, maybe a few days maybe at the end of the Summer.

Lar

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Jus' Askin - 16 Jun 2008 04:26 GMT

>> This weekend I discovered I have a pavement ant infestation. They are
>> entering my home in two places--the decorative wooden framing around my
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> Probably need to find out exactly what ant they are, doubtful they are
> true pavement ants giving you a problem.

I am pretty certain these are pavement ants. They are dark brown in color.
I measured the workers, and they are all 3/16 " long, which matches exactly
the length specified for these ants in one of the online resources I
checked. In addition, I saw some winged reproductive individuals leaving
one of the spaces, and this also matches the description of the pavement
ants.

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Cheryl - 08 Jul 2008 00:59 GMT

> If you have trailing ants try to follow them back to a nest.."pavement
> ants" should be found under stones or other items on the ground...odorous
> house ants will be found in loose material such as mulch or just under
> leaf matter under the hedges. Find the nest, saturate with an appropriate
> insecticide and all should be well...until the next colony moves in, maybe
> a few days maybe at the end of the Summer.

If they are odorous house ants what is the appropriate insecticide? I've
been following tiny ants while they move larvae from one bush to another.
They're amazing little creatures. Industrious. They don't seem to be living
in the mulch because I've seen them crawling out of the bushes down the
trunk with the larvae in their jaws. I lose them when they get lose to the
bush they're moving to so I don't know if they're going up or under. I've
put out Raid stakes in their path.

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Homeowner Forum / Pest Control / July 2008

Can you recommend a strategy for dealing with pavement ants?