Ants are one of the most common pests around the globe – the polar regions and a few remote islands are the only places in the world ants can’t be found. In Arizona alone, there are 318 native species ready to march their way through cracks and crevices, up walls, and establish themselves in the most inconvenient places around your home. Ant infestations are no picnic and having them at your picnic is no fun either. Seeing ants around is no reason to panic though, with the proper supplies and instruction, it can be easy to get rid of ants.
Ant behavior and communication
Learning how ants think and behave is the best way to both get rid of them and prevent them from invading your space altogether. Ants are some of the most social insects in the world and they live a very organized life made up of complex societies with three distinct castes: the queen, drone and worker ants. The queen’s only function is to lay eggs and ensure the survival of the colony, which makes them an important target when looking to eliminate an entire colony.
It's also important to note that ants communicate through pheromones when hunting for food. This is a process found in nature where ants leaving the nest leave behind a scent to easily find their way home. Once the ant finds food and makes its way back to the nest, the pheromone scent is even stronger, causing other ants that come across it to abandon their own random search for food and follow the pheromone trail. This is the process that causes the little “ant highways” seen running between your picnic and the ant nest.
Spot treatments
Ants love to invite themselves to all kinds of events where they aren’t wanted. Ants can easily put a damper on parties, picnics and sporting events, to name a few. Many of our customers come into our stores with ant horror stories to share; explaining how an ant invasion ruined what should have been a perfectly good day. Like the customer that sat down for a refreshing water break during her high school soccer practice and unknowingly sat right in the middle of an incognito ant hill. A few moments later, she felt them crawling up and down her legs, and immediately knew she had made a huge mistake. Not only did this experience end soccer practice for her that day, it’s also the reason she refuses to sit down on anything but a chair now.
You may think it’s easy enough to keep an eye out for ants and avoid them altogether. However, for people who like to gather outside, it is smart to pack an ant dust or spray that immediately targets ants in a specific area. It is a sure way to keep your gathering ant free. There are a variety of spot treatment options that are easy to throw in along with chairs and coolers providing peace of mind and prevention against outdoor ant visits.
Get rid of ants naturally
For those looking to get rid of ants naturally, Bug & Weed Mart carries about 40 natural or organic pest control products, including natural ant killers. These natural products are just a few of the many professional-strength products Bug & Weed Mart sells. All our products are EPA-approved and, when used properly, are safe for your pets, plants and children.
One of our most popular natural pest-control solutions is our variety of pyrethrum products. Extracted from the chrysanthemum flower native to northeastern Europe, Asia and Eastern Africa, pyrethrum is a compound that affects an insect’s nervous system and kills them almost instantly without harming anything else.
Another natural approach to killing ants is a liquid spray concentrate. We can help customers find the best fit for them, how to determine the proper dose/mixture and how to best apply the solution. If you already have a tank sprayer, you can bring it to any of our locations and have it serviced by one of our experienced team members. If not, we keep a variety of tank sprayers in stock and can show customers exactly what to look for to best fit their needs.
Other options
One hands-on solution to ants in unwanted places is to place glue boards in the areas where ants travel. Glue boards are excellent tools in general for monitoring any pest issue and they are great to stick in areas that are hard to reach or see. It might take some time, but glue boards can be an effective way to take down smaller colonies without using other products. If they are placed in areas that ants travel through frequently, they can trap the majority of worker ants in a colony, essentially starving out the rest of the ants waiting for food at the nest.
Finally, the most effective way to get rid of ants is to bring down an entire ant colony by putting out a safe ant bait. Ant bait comes in dust, spray or granular forms. When ant bait is put out in an area heavily populated by ants, they think it’s food and take it back to the nest. Once enough ants find it and bring it back to the nest, all the rest of the ants eat it too, effectively poisoning the entire colony.
Bug & Weed Mart has everything needed to get rid of ants inside or outside the home with natural ant killers and other professional-grade products. Just stop by any of our Bug & Weed Mart locations and speak with one of our experienced team members who will gladly advise on the best solutions to any pest-control needs.