Fire ants are bad enough out in the yard. Now they’re moving
in with you.
“The extreme dry weather has many ants looking for both
water and food,” said
Beverly Sparks, an Extension Service entomologist with the
University of Georgia College
of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.
Sparks said people throughout the state are reporting unusual
numbers of ants and some
other insects moving indoors.
“Certain species of cockroaches will move indoors when
it’s dry,” she said.
“Mostly, though, the problem is with ants.”
What Kind of
Ants?
When the ants come marching in, though, answer at least one
question before you grab
the bug spray: What kind of ants are they?
“Make sure you properly identify the ants first,”
Sparks said. “It’s
important to differentiate between ants that can nest indoors
and
those that come in from
nests outside.”
If ants all look alike to you, collect a few for your
exterminator to identify. Or take
some to the county office of the UGA Extension Service.
Stop Ants
Outside
If you know the ants are coming in from an outside nest,
Sparks said, treat the
individual mound with a contact pesticide. Then spray a
pesticide
around the perimeter of
the house to create a chemical barrier. Most garden centers
carry
a number of products
labeled for these uses.
One of the better barrier chemicals, Dursban, is being phased
out for most household
uses by the Environmental Protection Agency. “But it’s OK to
use up existing supplies
this year,” Sparks said. “And it is an effective
product.”
If the ants in your home can nest indoors, you’ll need a
different tactic.
Use Bait
Stations
“Find out what they’re feeding on,” Sparks said.
“And then put
commercial bait stations in places where the ants can get to
them.”
Baits don’t kill ants fast. But they’re highly effective at
eliminating whole colonies,
which is important if the ants can nest indoors. So use the bait
stations, Sparks said,
and be patient.
Some ants that normally nest outside can build nests indoors,
she said. And fire ants
are among them. “Fire ants can bring soil indoors to build
nests,” she said.
Talk about bad roommates.
