Argentine Ants

[MattyB]

Does anyone know of an ant bait that the Argentine ants will actually eat and that actually works? I've tried 7 different kinds and none work. I read that if you spray poison, it triggers them to stop feeding and reproduce. Which is why baiting is recommended to kill the entire colony. I've found that unless you actually pour poison onto a nest it dosen't help to control the ants. So is there a bait that actually works. My ants could care less about all the baits that I set directly in their paths. They ignore it at first and continue down the ant trail as if they have much more important things to do. Then a few scouts will come along and go in breifly and check it out. I guess they tell the colony that its' no good because no ants will go into the bait stations after that. All products claim to control Argentine ants but none do. Help!!!!!!!!

I'm putting this in the palm section because it's the ants that cause the most problems with scale and aphids on my palms. So I'm trying to fix a palm problem.

[niftinfiftin]

They're having the same problem in New Zealand where they are infesting big time. Nothing really seems to work, and they keep on spreading. If a colony is sprayed, some will die, but the survivors will go on and make multiple new colonies, spreading them further.

They have come up with a multi stage strategy to combat them. You can google search Argentine ants NZ, and it will come up with a few possible sprays, and methods.

Regards,

Nathan

[pindo]

Hi !!!

In my poor English, I will try to help you.

I believe that you refer to the cutting-leaves ants, big size and black in color.

The best: To look for the colony and open the earth with the shovel until finding the ants eggs.

Then, to toss a lot of good quality powdered poison.

This way, you killed the eggs and it is poisoned the mushrooms that the ants eat.

This work should be made in hours of sun and heat

If you don't know where is the ant’s colony:

Prove with putting rice in the ants trail. The ants take it to the colony and there the rice ferments and kill the ants

Regards , Jose

[Ken Johnson]

ANTS YOU SAY? I thought we covered that already this week. Just cover them in metal????

Or try Talstar.

[DoomsDave]

ANTS YOU SAY? I thought we covered that already this week. Just cover them in metal????

Or try Talstar.

Oh, such a pedANT . . . .

[LJG]

Matt, I Googled them a few weeks back and found some interesting stats.

1) They have multiple queens. Kill one, the colony lives. As many as eight for every 1,000 workers.

2) If some worker comes back with pesticide, they kill it before it can spread.

For more details, here is a cool write-up on them. The part about pesticides is quote amazing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_ant

[millic]

Matt, have you tried Terro yet?

http://www.terro.com/products.php?product=liquid_ant_bait

The recipe seems similar to the one listed in the Wiki post as being effective.

" I accidentally stepped on one of the ant traps. How toxic is this bait and will this exposure harm me? What if my cat or dog gets into the bait and eats some?

TERRO® Liquid Ant Bait is a sweet food based product similar to pancake

syrup combined with Borax. Borax is a mineral that is mined in the desert

in California and is a common active ingredient that is used in soap

products such as 20 Mule Team Borax.

The product kills ants but will not harm people or pets. If you spill some

on your skin there will be no reaction at all. Simply wash with warm water.

Pets occasionally find the Terro and eat it. Our advice when this happens

is to do nothing at all. The product is not toxic enough to cause a problem

and the pet will be just fine."

[freakypalmguy]

Gasoline and a match are all I have ever used.

[freakypalmguy]

Gasoline and a match are all I have ever used.

[Tala]

argentine ants are often a problem here, there is no bait that will eliminate the colonies, simply because the colonies are too massive & widespread (various ones are satellites) to eradicate w/ baiting. They will take the bait (esp. sugary ones like Terro), but they can't spread it around enough to kill off the queens (which is the only surefire way to rid them). They are much less dependant on protein based products. I use (brand name) Termidor around the foundation, in plant beds, etc. wherever they are trailing. In a wk or so they are gone. Phantom (brand name) is labeled for interior use if necessary. Usually a single perimeter treatment does the trick, the caveat is coverage, you need plenty. About nine months to a yr later it becomes necessary again. Life in Fla...

The ants are a result of the presence of the scale or aphids. They secrete a honeydew liquid which the ants ingest. If they are not there to "farm" this it turns black (sooty mold). Treat your palms for the scale & aphids, you won't have the ants. At least not in your palms anyway. If you have a "chemical phobia" then employ Hort. oil (2 oz. per gal. water) mixed a some liquid dish soap for adhesive purposes), this will kill the scale. Treat again in 2 wks to kill newly emerged crawlers. If you don't mind chemicals any contact insecticide will kill scale/aphids but I prefer imidacloprid (brand name Merit, others). This is a systemic which moves into the newer foliage. As always coverage is key - whether hort. oil or something else treat the entire plant, not just where you see the insects. For scale it may be necessary to drench the bud (pour a gal. or so directly into the bud). Bueno suerte ...

[tropicalb]

as for baits matt, amdro seems to work better than most (available now at home depot), but it's a little on the pricey side.

[quaman58]

Matt,

You may have concluded by the responses to these little ####s are near impossible to control. One thing that makes it tough is that the colonies apparently have no problem intermingling, an inusual trait for insects. However, like so many pests, I have found that I have almost no problems where I have good air circulation. If I remember right, you've got a greenhouse, so that's a bit more of a challenge. Anyway, my two cents!

Bret

[Matt in SD]

Matt,

I have tried a lot of stuff too and just gave up. Some years they're a pain, some not. The only real solid thing I've noticed is that they like to nest in dry ground. If you irrigate heavily in areas you want them out, they'll leave.

I have a bottle of Amdro, you're welcome to have it if you want. I never saw the ants actually eat it, but I think it may leach into the ground and kill them if you put it over their nest.

Matt

[amazondk]

I heard that if you play Tango music they come out to dance. Then you throw gasoline on them and set it on fire. Since the queen likes to dance the most you normally get her.

dk

[MattyB]

The Terro brand bait is the only thing I can get them to touch. It's sugar water and boric acid. I can make a 55 gallong drum of it myself for the price that Terro charges for 6 bait trays. Yes, the workers will eat this, but it does nothing to lessen the ant population. It just collects dead ants and the others walk right on by. I'm trying my own concoction in a mass baiting effort but I don't have much confidence that it'll work. It's not getting taken back to the colony for a death feast like some of the protein based baits will with other ant species. My next experiment will be with Mayo, sugar, and boric acid. Maybe I can get the sugar for the workers, the protein for the queens, and the boric acid for the lot of them!

Matt, I'll take you up on that offer for the poison. I'll give anything a try. I'm experimenting with Coffee grounds too.....more on the scale front.

[yachtingone]

Hi Matt, I learned at a cycad siminare put on by Loran Whitelock to use Terminate a termite and carpender ant killer is the product to use to get rid of those tiny little b$#$#erd ants. He said he applied it 2 years ago and still no ants!!! I have been ant free for 1 month now. I got the stuff at one of the box stores. Good luck. Randy

[Pivi]

sorry

[Al in Kona]

I'd be interested to hear from the Hawaii people to see what kind of ant problems they are having and what they are doing to help control them. As for us, we used to have a serious ant problem (indoors and outdoors) when we first moved here but now they are basically non existant except for one almost microscopic tiny ant which we occasionally find. Our control happened when the tiny Coqui tree frog became prevalent here. Found out one of a tree frogs main diet consists of ants. Unfortunately the possitive aspects of the Coqui are little known here as the media almost never reports them but only dwells on the negative, which is of course the noise the males make after dark (can be especially loud on a damp rainy evening). I'm not suggesting you get these frogs, I'm just stating it is a well known fact that they help control ants and many other insects as well.

[amazondk]

I found this article about Argentine Ants in California. It does not look like there is much hope beyond coexistence. It seems like they have already won the war. Argentine Ants in California.

dk