Ant antics
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It’s when ants intersect with humans that problems arise. Some ants are a threat to humans, but most
are just a nuisance problem. The tiny
sweet eating ants in your home aren’t going to harm the house or you, but many
people can’t tolerate them. I know
there are some tiny red ants living in my vegetable garden that I detest
because they attack and bite me while I’m planting or weeding. But they aren’t fire ants and the bites less
serious than mosquito stings, so I don’t go on a killing spree.
I confess I can’t tell most ant species from each other, although
I can identify a few. Ants can be hard
to identify unless you are an entomologist.
I’m going to give some brief descriptions of ants that can cause serious
problems. But ant control is basically
the same if you are doing it to remove a pest or a nuisance species, so I will
cover control of ants at the end of the article. First let’s discuss some ants that do more
harm than others.
Allegheny mound ant Formica exsectoides
This ant species is found from the east coast to just west of the
Appalachian Mountains. It can either be a reddish color or black and sometimes
both colors exist in the same colony.
It’s fond of open woods, or open undisturbed areas. It sometimes appears in tree and shrub
nurseries and home landscapes. They
build a large mound in the sun, which helps incubate their eggs and
larvae.
If Allegheny ants need more sun they try to kill any vegetation
that shades the mound. They do this by
biting the plant and injecting formic acid.
They can kill good sized trees over time with repeated injections. Plants being attacked by these ants often
have brown blister like bumps on trunks and stems.
Allegheny ant mounds are large and quite conspicuous, up to 3 feet
high and 6 feet wide. From time to time
the colony will split and form a new mound, spreading across the area. Besides
the ants killing any plants near the mounds they also aggressively attack
anyone who disturbs the mounds. Homeowners may want to eliminate them. These ants are hunters of other ants and
insects, although they will also scavenge for honeydew from aphids, plant
nectar and other sweets. They rarely
enter homes and won’t nest there.
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.)
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.)
The black carpenter ant (Camponotus
pennsylvanicus). is one of the most common species of
carpenter ant in the US but there are many species. These large black ants
cause a lot of concern for homeowners and they can cause damage to homes. These ants don’t eat wood like termites do
but they tunnel in it to make homes and can do structural damage. They also
tunnel in trees, hollowing out the inside.
They prefer wet or rotting wood and if carpenter ants invade the homes
structure it almost always had water damage in the area first.
If you see a few of the large black ants in the house in the
summer, it may not be cause for worry.
These ants often range widely for food and their nest may be outside
away from your home. If you see them in
the winter though, it probably means they have a nest in the house somewhere,
unless you are bringing in firewood they may have been in. If you see the mating stage, flying carpenter
ants, in the home in large quantities you almost certainly have a nest inside.
Carpenter ants in the woods are part of natures recycling plan and
do no harm. They should be left alone in
this circumstance. But you may want to
eliminate them from garden areas as they are a species that herds and protects
aphids, which are not good for your plants.
Carpenter ants are hunters, herders and scavengers. They hunt and
eat insects including smaller ants, they “milk” aphids for their honeydew
secretions and they scavenge for sweet liquids, like soft fruit juices, honey,
nectar and human foods and for protein sources like dead insects and small
animals. Most foraging is done at
night. Different species of carpenter
ants may prefer different food sources.
Red Imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta
This is a much-feared ant that has steadily been working it’s way
from the south to the north. The first
two segments of the fire ant body are often copper brown and the last segment
black, but some worker ants can be all red or all black. They have 10 antenna segments and two
spike-like projections in the constricted area before the abdomen.
The fire ant has a bite that feels like fire as the name suggests,
and it’s very aggressive. It uses its jaws to grasp and hold onto a victim then
injects them with an alkaloid venom called solenopsin from a
projection on the abdomen, (like a bee stinger). On a human this cause a red
painful area with a white pustule in the center. If
an animal or even human gets enough bites it can kill them. They often kill ground nesting birds and baby
animals on the ground.
Fire ants may build large mounds in open areas similar to the
Allegany ants but they also nest underground, often in moist areas near ponds,
ditches, rivers and under piles of brush and debris and so on. They may nest under concrete slab foundations
or patios. You do not want to get close to these nests without protection
because the ants will pour out and attack anything that disturbs their home.
After heavy rains and flooding the ants may be seen migrating in
huge clusters to a better place. In
flood waters they may form rafts of ants.
You want to stay well away from these migrating/floating groups.
Fire ants feed on tender plant growth and can cause considerable
damage to gardens and crops. Because
they damage wildlife populations, crops, and are a hazard to humans they should
be eliminated in any area they are found in.
Since they are dangerous it’s best to call a professional exterminator
to kill these ants.
Crazy Ants Nylanderia fulva,
Fire ants have caused much grief for southern gardeners since they
worked their way up from South America many years ago. Now a new invading ant is taking over fire
ant territory, and since it may survive cooler weather better than fire ants,
might become a problem for northern gardeners if it is carried north. This ant
is also called Rasberry Crazy ant (named for the discoverer, not the fruit,
hence the spelling) but the official common name is Tawny Crazy ant. It too comes from South America. It’s a non-descript, reddish brown medium
sized ant.
They get the name Crazy ant because of the huge erratic colonies
they build up; often the Crazy Ant population in an area will be 100 times more
than all other ant species combined.
They also seem to move erratically in their search for food. They eat
anything, including other ants, and eliminate all competing species, even fire
ants. The worst thing about them is that
unlike fire ants they invade homes, often in the thousands, and are very hard
to control. They often damage electrical
systems and equipment by eating components or shorting them out.
The key to keeping them from spreading north is to watch for ants
hitchhiking in things like potted plants, camping equipment and RV’s. These ants do not fly at any stage of their
life so their spread is solely by foot travel or hitchhiking. Be very careful with nursery plants you
receive from the south, particularly those from Texas and Florida. While they may have been inspected, there’s
always a chance a crazy ant could slip through. And if you visit the south please be very
careful not to bring ants back with you.
Now let’s discuss some ant myths as well as control.
Ants and peonies
When
people look at peonies and peony buds they often notice ants on them and that
makes for some interesting conversation.
Ants are neither bad for peonies nor good for them. Peonies have many nectar glands, they occur
in the flowers reproductive parts, starting when the buds enlarge and lasting
at least to the green seed pod stage.
Ants enjoy this nectar. But
peonies don’t need ants to eat the nectar.
Ants don’t help the buds open by eating “sticky” nectar off and they
don’t generally pollinate the peony flower either. Ants do defend a food source to some extent
and may keep things like caterpillars from eating the flowers. But this is a minor benefit in most cases.
Peonies
without ants will open their flowers just fine.
And the ants don’t harm the flowers so there’s no need to control them.
There’s plenty of nectar for everyone.
Using pesticides in this case, even organic ones, is not good
environmental stewardship. I saw a
recommendation to sprinkle powdered sugar on peony buds to remove ants. That would probably bring a whole lot more
ants, because ants love sugar. And that
kind of tinkering might well prevent peony buds from opening well or looking
good. It might also cause mold to
form. Please don’t try that nonsense.
Ants
don’t show up on every peony plant. Some
varieties seem to attract more ants than others, and what’s available in your
area for ant food may determine whether you have ants on your peony flowers or
not. If you object to ants being on
flowers you are cutting for a bouquet you can shake the flowers or dip them
slowly into cold water upside down to remove ants.
Ants and cornmeal
Here’s
another common myth concerning ants.
Someone wants an organic solution for getting rid of ants and someone
else recommends sprinkling cornmeal- or grits- where the ants are to get rid of
them. Somehow the idea that ants eat
cornmeal or grits then bloat and explode got started and it’s hard to make that
false idea die. There’s no evidence that
ants ever die from eating cornmeal or grits.
And the biology of the ant’s digestive system makes that explosion
pretty much impossible.
Ants
don’t digest solid foods they may gather, like pollen grains, pieces of dead
caterpillars, leaves and so on. The
solid bits go into a special pouch area and get carried back to the nest where
they are fed to the ant larvae, which do digest solids. The larvae then regurgitate a liquid which is
shared through the colony of both worker ants and larvae. There’s no gas build up since they have the
ability to regurgitate. Researchers have
fed cornmeal and other substances to ant colonies with no problems.
The
nonsense of cornmeal killing ants probably got started because cornmeal is
often used in ant pesticides as an attractant.
A poison is liquefied then added to cornmeal which absorbs it. The cornmeal makes it easier for the ants to carry
the poison deep inside a nest and the starch in cornmeal is tasty to ants. But the cornmeal needs to be saturated with
poison before it kills the ants.
When
you sprinkle cornmeal around in the garden you aren’t killing pests, you are
attracting them. You’ll get ants as well
as mice and squirrels and other critters.
And cornmeal can also mold and look and smell nasty. When you hear someone recommending using
cornmeal to make ants explode just laugh.
Controlling ants
By
reading the section above you now know cornmeal doesn’t kill ants. So lets talk about how you can get rid of
them. We’ll call it controlling ants
because you are never going to totally eliminate all ants in your environment.
First
thing to try is disruption of their food supply and nesting areas. This is pesticide free and generally
environmentally friendly. In the home
eliminate food crumbs, food left out on counters, even spills that aren’t
cleaned up on counters and tables. An ant colony can feast on a smear of jelly
left on a counter. The cookie crumbs
under the highchair are like a banquet.
If you
have a large ant problem you can put pet food dishes in a slightly larger dish
filled with water to make an ant moat.
Some ant species are attracted to sweets and others to protein sources.
Since ants follow a scent trail of other ants to food sources clean counters
and floors frequently.
Now
disrupt their nesting areas. Inside that
may be drying out wet areas to get rid of carpenter ants and replacing wet
damaged wood. There may be a rotting tree close to the house outside, or a pile
of old lumber or firewood that needs to be removed. The small household ants may nest in
crawlspaces, basements, under carpets, even flower pots. Try to track them to where they are coming
from and eliminate their home. Yes, some
will just relocate but if you eliminate their food sources and constantly
disturb their nests they will relocate farther away, out of your home.
Outside
eliminate ant mounds in the yard as soon as you see them, before they get
large. Rake over them with a sturdy rake
and pour a bucket of hot soapy water on the mound area. Contrary to popular
media belief, hot soapy water probably won’t kill many ants, but if you disturb
their nests often enough they may relocate to an area far away.
Remember
to be very careful disturbing the nests of fire ants. They can seriously harm
you if you get enough bites. It’s probably best to hire an expert if you
suspect you have fire ants.
Pesticides
Let’s
just get the boric acid/borax thing
over with first. It’s the most common
“home remedy” for ants circulated in social media and among gardeners. And yes, boric acid kills ants, it’s one of
the most common ingredients in commercial ant control products and get this- it’s a registered pesticide! When you use boric acid, whether you buy
commercial products or mix up some concoction you read about, you are applying
a chemical pesticide, not a “natural” product.
And
despite all the claims boric acid is not
harmless to children and pets. It’s not
always safer than other chemicals either. It’s a moderately safe pesticide if
used correctly. And many of the home
remedies that include mixing borax acid or a close sub, borax (they are not the
exact same thing by the way) are much less safe than a commercial product. Here’s why.
Boric
acid in commercial pesticides is mixed with attractants that attract ants or
cockroaches but aren’t that attractive to pets and kids. The directions, which
you should follow because in pesticides they are the legal way to use them,
will tell you the appropriate way to apply the product and how much to use.
These pesticides are often packaged in a way that makes it less likely a child
or pet will consume them, such as in the little ant buttons or other types of
bait stations.
When
people go to the drugstore and buy some boric acid or the grocery to buy borax,
a laundry product, and then mix it with jelly or honey they are making a
pesticide that is attractive to kids and pets.
When you are spreading it on trees or other things outside, like some
media posts urge you to do, you are also attracting bees and other helpful
insects and wildlife, all of which can be harmed or killed by the product. It kills all insects, not just harmful ones.
Boric
acid used to be prescribed as an eyewash and as a douche. Medical experts have quit advising it for
those uses because frequent exposure to the product has been found to cause
kidney damage and other problems. In the
late 80’s there was a popular folk remedy floating around that advised moms to
coat a pacifier with honey and boric acid to ease sore gums. This caused seizures in infants. A nursery disinfectant with boric acid caused
the deaths of several babies in the 1960’s.
Boric
acid is not absorbed easily through the skin except on wounds. Boric acid powder can be inhaled, and chronic
exposure will cause problems. Getting powder in the eyes will cause severe
damage. But the most common way to be poisoned by boric acid is by consuming
it. Normally pets and children would not
eat enough boric acid to make them terribly ill but when someone mixes it with
jelly, honey or maple syrup they may consume enough to become seriously ill or
die.
Consumption
of boric acid (and borax) causes vomiting, diarrhea, listlessness, fever, skin
rashes, seizures, kidney and other organ damage, coma, and death. Young children seem to be affected more
severely. Children have died from boric acid poisoning. There have been many pet
deaths from boric acid poisoning. Boric acid causes fetal abnormalities in
animals and possibly humans. It causes atrophy (shrinking)of the testicles in
animals. Poisoning can be acute- from one large dose- or chronic- from repeated
small doses.
Boric
acid is not harmless to plants either.
Boric acid products on plant foliage will dry it out and cause leaf
death. Too much boric acid in the soil
causes plant death. This can happen when
boric acid products are leached into the soil by rain or irrigation.
So, the
bottom line is boric acid is a pesticide
and can cause poisoning like all other chemical pesticides. If you mix up concoctions with it, they must
be placed in containers that pets and children cannot get into. Sweet mixes should not be openly spread
around in the environment where they can kill bees, helpful insects, and
wildlife. If you use a powdered mix pets
should not be able to walk through it.
Here’s
some links about toxicity of boric acid.
Other pesticides for ants
There
are several commercial pesticides on the market for controlling ants. They may
be sprays, powders or baits. If you
follow the label directions, they are as safe as the home or commercial
remedies with boric acid. Active
ingredients can contain imiprothrin and cypermethrin, Indoxacarb, hydramethylnon,
and orange peel extract among other things.
Read labels carefully, some products can’t be used inside or near food
or food crops.
Carpenter
ants and fire ants, possibly crazy ants may require professional exterminators
for best results. They have access to
chemicals and methods homeowners do not.
Fire Ants
ReplyDeleteFire ants are a dangerous invasive species that could spread to large areas of Australia. Fire ants could severely damage the environment, our outdoor lifestyle, and the agriculture and tourism industries. They inflict a painful, fiery sting, which can, in rare cases, cause a severe acute allergic reaction (anaphylaxis)