Ants are getting smart

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, tinca tinca said:

SO what is the THAI PRICE ????

In this case i was referring to expensive falang import. Some equivalent Thai powder which may work 32 baht vs 220 baht for import

[roger buttmore]

If you find ants interesting then you might enjoy this youtube channel.

 

https://www.youtube.com/user/AntsCanada/videos

[HuskerDo]

On 4/11/2021 at 6:47 AM, timendres said:

Bayer Quantum works miracles on those ants that will eat it. Every ant in my place, with the exception of one group, loves this stuff, then disappears.

 

Yes, this and things like RAID sprayed around the doors, baseboards and windows will work wonders against the pests. I wonder why so many would rather allow them in and then complain about it.

[HuskerDo]

On 4/15/2021 at 11:48 PM, elgenon said:

What stores carry ant chalk?

Try a few moth balls. No, not moth testicles, but the marble sized white balls that repel moths. They repel a lot of insects and snakes as well.

[elgenon]

7 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

Try a few moth balls. No, not moth testicles, but the marble sized white balls that repel moths. They repel a lot of insects and snakes as well.

Thanks. Will try it next time I need something.

 

Speaking of moth balls, the first time I went to Thailand I was wondered exactly what was "Fish Ball Soup". I still look for balls on fish. 555

[WaveHunter]

On 4/17/2021 at 8:25 AM, simon43 said:

I stopped eating food with added sugar some years ago.  Since then, with no sweet food left lying around in my house, there are no ants!  I can leave food out on the table tops and ants never appear.

 

Outside in the garden, I guess there are a million ants.  But as others have said, if they don't hurt me, why should I hurt them?

It isn't just sugars that attract ants; they are also attracted to fats and proteins.  Ants are no different than humans, metabolically speaking.  To survive they need all three macronutrients (carbs, i.e.: sugars, proteins and fats), so ANY food particles will attract them. 

 

Different types of ants have particular cravings for specific macronutrients, like, for example, "thief ants", commonly called "grease ants that particularly crave fats.

 

And remember, that a tiny grain of food on your counter represents a feast to a tiny little ant. 

 

Even the smell of food can attract them; Ants have four to five times more odor receptors than most other insects.

 

What's more, they are also highly attracted to water; that's why you often see them in bathrooms.

 

So really, fastidious cleanliness is no insurance against an infestation.

Edited April 19, 2021 by WaveHunter

[Speedo1968]

On 4/15/2021 at 1:29 PM, scubascuba3 said:

but how does it kill them? or are you saying the talcum powder keeps them nice and dry

It does not seem to kill them but they move away from the area and don"t come back>
For example I have found them in the bathroom going in to the shower unit.
Obviously some ants will die and others will spread the powder and warning to its mates.
Works fine outside house too.
Yes, of course wear a mask when puffing the powder.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, Speedo1968 said:

It does not seem to kill them but they move away from the area and don"t come back>
For example I have found them in the bathroom going in to the shower unit.
Obviously some ants will die and others will spread the powder and warning to its mates.
Works fine outside house too.
Yes, of course wear a mask when puffing the powder.

maybe a talcum powder phobia

[patman30]

ARS ant killer is the best product here by far,
throw the green plastic thing away as the ants wont go through it,
just poor some near where the ants are coming from
as you can see in the pic, they take it back to the nest
and it wipes out the entire colony
price seems expensive online, last i seen it was about 60 baht a packet in shops

Bayer comes in 2nd, the chalk sticks and powders are pretty useless

 

Edited April 19, 2021 by patman30

[rodknock]

check the king of the hill ant!

[Speedo1968]

3 hours ago, patman30 said:

ARS ant killer is the best product here by far,
throw the green plastic thing away as the ants wont go through it,
just poor some near where the ants are coming from
as you can see in the pic, they take it back to the nest
and it wipes out the entire colony
price seems expensive online, last i seen it was about 60 baht a packet in shops

Bayer comes in 2nd, the chalk sticks and powders are pretty useless

 

Kiss my "Ars" I,m gone.

[daveAustin]

TL;DR.

Probably already mentioned -- forget the rubbish sold in shops (made not to last to keep you re-buying) -- borax is a surefire way to take a nest out as they take it back to the big mama. Lace it with sugar to temp them in.

[WaveHunter]

22 hours ago, Speedo1968 said:

It does not seem to kill them but they move away from the area and don"t come back>
For example I have found them in the bathroom going in to the shower unit.
Obviously some ants will die and others will spread the powder and warning to its mates.
Works fine outside house too.
Yes, of course wear a mask when puffing the powder.

The real key to getting rid of ants is to kill the hidden colony, not just the ants you see.  So, you really need something they will carry back to the colony to do that. 

 

Boric acid combined with something they are attracted to like sugar or fat is the most common way to do it.  They consume it and carry it back to the colony where they regurgitate some of it to feed the colony, and the boric acid effectively kills them all by impacting their stomachs, their nervous systems, and their exoskeletons in less than 24 hours.

 

The trick to an effective boric acid ant bait is to not use too much boric acid otherwise ants will detect and avoid it.  The brand I mentioned in a previous post here is quite different from most so ants don't seem to recognize it as bait, and in my experience has been incredibly effective with ants here in Thailand. 

 

It's cheap and easily purchased on Lazada and has hundreds of positive reviews there so that would be my recommendation.  Here is quick link to my previous post with a link to the Lazada product listing.

Edited April 20, 2021 by WaveHunter

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, WaveHunter said:

The real key to getting rid of ants is to kill the hidden colony, not just the ants you see.  So, you really need something they will carry back to the colony to do that. 

 

Boric acid combined with something they are attracted to like sugar or fat is the most common way to do it.  They consume it and carry it back to the colony where they regurgitate some of it to feed the colony, and the boric acid effectively kills them all by impacting their stomachs, their nervous systems, and their exoskeletons in less than 24 hours.

 

The trick to an effective boric acid ant bait is to not use too much boric acid otherwise ants will detect and avoid it.  The brand I mentioned in a previous post here is quite different from most so ants don't seem to recognize it as bait, and in my experience has been incredibly effective with ants here in Thailand. 

 

It's cheap and easily purchased on Lazada and has hundreds of positive reviews there so that would be my recommendation.  Here is quick link to my previous post with a link to the Lazada product listing.

i tried your suggestion and after 2 days ants weren't going near it, but i was putting the powder in jam jar tops, you'd think they'd find it easy but seems not, instead today i put some directly on the kitchen unit and they've started taking it, see what develops

[JTXR]

12 hours ago, daveAustin said:

TL;DR.

Probably already mentioned -- forget the rubbish sold in shops (made not to last to keep you re-buying) -- borax is a surefire way to take a nest out as they take it back to the big mama. Lace it with sugar to temp them in.

 

I have tried to find borax (boric acid) around Bangkok, without luck.  Where can I buy it?

[WaveHunter]

21 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

i tried your suggestion and after 2 days ants weren't going near it, but i was putting the powder in jam jar tops, you'd think they'd find it easy but seems not, instead today i put some directly on the kitchen unit and they've started taking it, see what develops

Are you using the exact product I suggested?  It is granular in form, not a powder. 

 

Perhaps you're overthinking WHERE you put it.  My suggestion is not to put it where YOU think ants will go, but watch the ants and just see where they make consistent trails.  If you watch them, you'll see they consistently seem to have these prescribed trails that they ALL follow (usually along baseboards leading to or from doors)

 

Also, keep in mind that they are not necessarily attracted to just sweet things; sometimes it's fats, sometimes it's just water, and sometimes they are just transiting from one place to another and not seemingly looking for anything but will take advantage of targets of opportunity (like sprinklings of bait).

 

All I can say is that I've been using it for two years (one year up in Chiang Mai and now down here in Pattaya) and it has always been effective in 24-48 hours, just sprinkling a tiny bit along baseboards or where I notice consistent trails.

Edited April 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[scubascuba3]

51 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

Are you using the exact product I suggested?  It is granular in form, not a powder. 

 

Perhaps you're overthinking WHERE you put it.  My suggestion is not to put it where YOU think ants will go, but watch the ants and just see where they make consistent trails.  If you watch them, you'll see they consistently seem to have these prescribed trails that they ALL follow (usually along baseboards leading to or from doors)

 

Also, keep in mind that they are not necessarily attracted to just sweet things; sometimes it's fats, sometimes it's just water, and sometimes they are just transiting from one place to another and not seemingly looking for anything but will take advantage of targets of opportunity (like sprinklings of bait).

 

All I can say is that I've been using it for two years (one year up in Chiang Mai and now down here in Pattaya) and it has always been effective in 24-48 hours, just sprinkling a tiny bit along baseboards or where I notice consistent trails.

my ants are consistently walking along corner of the walls by ceiling so the powder you suggested is useless for that. I have left some out on kitchen worktop, they take it then others get bored of it and leave it so they are learning quickly. It's certainly not a silver bullet but I'm persisting with it for a while

[WaveHunter]

58 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

my ants are consistently walking along corner of the walls by ceiling so the powder you suggested is useless for that. I have left some out on kitchen worktop, they take it then others get bored of it and leave it so they are learning quickly. It's certainly not a silver bullet but I'm persisting with it for a while

Perhaps you just have an unusually affectionate strain of ants that just enjoy your company and want to be your new pets ????

 

I will admit that figuring it all out can be a real mystery.  What seems to work for some people is a miserable failure for others I guess.  One promising thing though is that their presence seems to be a seasonal and very short-lived occurrence...so, just hang in there.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 21, 2021 by WaveHunter

[scubascuba3]

I gave up on the powders and decided to live with some ants searching about for food. I've started using a separate bin bag for food waste which is tied up so ants can't get in there, this stops them marching

Edited May 7, 2021 by scubascuba3

[thaibeachlovers]

On 4/12/2021 at 1:32 AM, MartinL said:

 

Even though they can be a pain in the house, I find ants to be fascinating little things. Maybe I'm weird but I enjoy watching them going about their lives.

 

Outdoors I leave them be. In the house I try to spray the nest entrance rather than their trails but, no matter how smart you think you are in defeating them, they'll always have the last word and pop-up gain just as you're celebrating getting rid of them.

 

As I said, fascinating little creatures. 

 

BTW have you ever watched weaver ants building their leaf nest?

I never saw them making the nest, but I've destroyed a few nests- amazing to think of the co ordination needed to make one.

 

I once watched hundreds of red ants drag a dead scorpion up a tree, and they always found a way to get past obstructions.

[scubascuba3]

Anyone else getting an increase in ant activity recently? ants desperately looking around for food even though I'm careful with food waste. Powders are a waste of time. I usually kill on sight now, feel like I'm fighting a war

[scubascuba3]

Just had some success, put the usual powders down, ants normally turn their noses up and walk past, i added electrolyte powder and they are currently in a frenzy all over it

[scoutman360]

Borax (Lazada), + sugar. A little stove top heat to melt together. Dip in some cotton buds and problem solved. Trust me. They never came back. 

[bert bloggs]

The wife at the moment uses a mixture of baking soda cider vinegar and wading up liquid and spraying it , seems to work but eventually they come back,me i put a drop of jam in the sink and when it is full of them i wash them down the plughole ,nasty bitty things.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, bert bloggs said:

The wife at the moment uses a mixture of baking soda cider vinegar and wading up liquid and spraying it , seems to work but eventually they come back,me i put a drop of jam in the sink and when it is full of them i wash them down the plughole ,nasty bitty things.

I think the trap is as good as any, sink idea sounds good, powders are useless, ants ignore it and take the bait. BTW spraying soapy water kills them too, i use it on plants with ants

[huangnon]

Had problems with ants until about 1 year ago, the "ARS" stuff really did a number on the species (small brown variety) that periodically swarmed our kitchen and garbage bin.

I don't doubt they will be back at some time. Hardy little beasts. ????

It's the termites you have to worry about, though.

[scubascuba3]

1 hour ago, huangnon said:

Had problems with ants until about 1 year ago, the "ARS" stuff really did a number on the species (small brown variety) that periodically swarmed our kitchen and garbage bin.

I don't doubt they will be back at some time. Hardy little beasts. ????

It's the termites you have to worry about, though.

Is that ARS powder? just leave in the kitchen like the other types?

[huangnon]

3 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

Is that ARS powder? just leave in the kitchen like the other types?

Yep. That's it. Worked a treat for us. (So far..)

[scubascuba3]

On 4/19/2021 at 3:17 PM, patman30 said:

ARS ant killer is the best product here by far,
throw the green plastic thing away as the ants wont go through it,
just poor some near where the ants are coming from
as you can see in the pic, they take it back to the nest
and it wipes out the entire colony
price seems expensive online, last i seen it was about 60 baht a packet in shops

Bayer comes in 2nd, the chalk sticks and powders are pretty useless

 

This stuff has proved very effective, the only thing that's worked so far. I've used the green box and its ok, advantage is it keeps the poison in one place so easier for cleaning

[patman30]

4 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

This stuff has proved very effective, the only thing that's worked so far. I've used the green box and its ok, advantage is it keeps the poison in one place so easier for cleaning

as i said, i have tried them all
that is the only stuff that does the job properly
i just wish they sold it in bigger quantities at a cheaper price

i do not usually have any to clean up
as i will follow the ants to where they are coming from and pour it right by there
they usually take it all away in minutes