Oh when the ants...come marching in... (house, neighborhood)

[ilovelucy5]

H-E-L-P!!

I keep having trails of ants coming in the house. I keep my food sealed and kitchen very, very clean. Still, I have ants. I have gone around the perimeter of the house and sealed the cracks. Then they come in by the doors. I have sprayed Terro, put Terro baits outside, and used the white chalk, Dead Fast around the doors. They are small brown ants. I actually got a magnifying glass right now to check one out (right before it met its demise). Their heads and tails are darker than their middle. What kind are they and what else can I do?? Mahalo!!

[Ziasforever]

I have the same problem here in New Mexico. These little brown grease ants all over my house. The Orkin man told me I could 'control' them but not eliminate them.

[winkosmosis]

There are safe chemicals that can repel them. I think ants don't like the smell of orange oil or something like that. Or maybe it was mint oil?

[whynot?]

These sounds like (what we found out are called) ghost ants. We used to have them, too. TONS of them. Near the outside doors (or windows). In bathrooms, kitchen, etc. Once between the two panels of glass in a lined, stained-glass window. We used Raid when we would see them, but Terro didn't seem to help.

Terminix told us they're water-seeking ants, not sweet-seeking ants. (Whee! On an island!) We've had their pest control for a few years now, and haven't seen them for a long time. Don't love the chemicals, but we love the results. Probably available at retail. We dry out sinks, tubs, and showers now, too. Would love to know if there's a more "natural" way to keep them out.

Best of luck.

[winkosmosis]

BTW, after my last landlady had the outside of the house sprayed, I stopped seeing ants completely. It took a few days but they just vanished. I refused to let them spray the inside because I didn't want those toxic chemicals, and I'm glad I did.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

We use a product called Amdro. It's a granule that you spread around outside around the foundation. It came highly recommended by several people in our neighborhood. Almost immediately (to my surprise), the ants inside the house disappeared. Entirely! It's been a week and I haven't seen any ants reappearing inside the house. YAY!

[MickeyE]

I've read that ants don't like cucumbers and that if you place slices of cucumber at their point of entry it will keep them from coming in. Google "ants and cucumbers" for more info.

Mickey

[hotzcatz]

I generally mix boric acid powder with whatever is attracting the ants and in a day or two they are all gone.

[ilovelucy5]

Thanks to all of you who replied with advice. I am wondering if what works on the mainland will work here since the ants may be of a different variety?

Why not, I do think they are ghost ants as I looked up their picture on the internet. And, they do seem to congregate around areas with water. Couldn't they just go to the beach? Not good for beach goers, however.

Dreaming of Hawaii, we used Amdro on the mainland and it did work great there. I will look for it here.

Have an ant free day!!

[AFDDS]

We tried everything on the island when we arrived in July. I got tired of chasing them down and sweeping them up......called termix and got results within a week. No more ants.