Ants in the house - bait or ultrasonic device?

[JTsyo]

Anyone use these ultrasonic pest devices?

 

[Thebobo]

Ants don't have ears

I would use Ant traps

 

[Binky]

Homemade borax-based bait stations or commercial bait stations like Terro. These seem to work well in my house. It takes a while to kill them, and in fact it's initially like you are throwing a party for your ants, but they eventually stop coming (presumably the hive dies). It isn't poisonous so you can feel good about not destroying the environment. You can buy a giant box of borax for about $3 that should make a lifetime supply of the bait liquid. The homemade versions are VERY cheap but they do dry out more and they require more micromanaging, so you may want to try the commercial stuff.

http://www.terro.com/indoor-baiting
Or just google "borax ant"

 

[mindless1]

^ Something missing from your reply is only vaguely mentioned on the linked page.

As ant foragers from the colony look for food, they are attracted to the sweet liquid in the insect bait and greedily consume it.

Sweet liquid = corn syrup

It'll dry out slower if you put the mix in an upside down shallow plastic lid, then set a 2nd lid over that with a gap for them to get in. You might wait to cover it that much, until after the colony finds it and are coming in good numbers.

 

[Humpy]

Ants don't have ears

Confirmed.

Fact #1: Colonies are bigger than the average ant farm.
Ant colonies come in literally all shapes and sizes. A few species live in colonies of only a few dozen ants; however, the average ant colony contains thousands of individual ants. Smaller colonies live in natural crevices or openings while larger colonies create vast nests and forage for supplies and food. There are also super colonies around the world that can contain more than 300 million individuals. These super colonies have been identified in Japan, Australia, the United States, and southern Europe.

Fact #2: Ants have specific jobs.
Ants are very social insects, and they divide jobs among different types of ants in each colony. The queen or queens have only one job - to lay eggs. All other female ants are workers; they feed the larvae, take out the colony's trash, forage for food and supplies, or defend the nest. Male ants' only job is to mate with the queen.

Fact #3: Ants don't have ears.
Instead of hearing through auditory canals, ants "hear" by feeling vibrations in the ground. Special sensors on their feet and on their knees help ants interpret signals from their surroundings. They also use their antennae and the hairs on their body to feel around while foraging for food.

Fact #4: One ant species is exclusively female.
Researchers have yet to find a male of the species M. smithii. The queen ant reproduces asexually, so all offspring are clones of the queen. This species is found in several countries of Central America and most countries of South America.

Fact #5: Ants can become zombies.
Perhaps the strangest ant fact, there is a species of fungus that infects ants and takes control of their bodies. The fungus finds its way underneath the ant's exoskeleton and begins to consume soft tissue. Shortly after, by unknown mechanisms, it causes the ant to leave its colony. The ant then finds a leaf, bites it with a "death grip," and dies. A few days later, the fungus releases spores to infect more ants. Some ant species have learned to recognize infected colony mates and will carry them far away to protect the rest of the colony.

Fact #6: Ants can lift 10-50 times their body weight.
Because ants are so small, their muscles are thicker relative to their body mass than in larger animals. This allows ants to carry objects much heavier and bigger than them. To put it into perspective, if humans could lift 10 times their weight, a 200-pound man could lift a small car above his head.

Fact #7: Some ants are homeless.
Not all ant species build nests. A group of about 200 species known as army ants have two phases of their life: nomad and stationary. During the colony's nomad phase, the ants travel all day, attacking other colonies and insects they encounter for food. At night, they build a temporary nest and keep moving the next morning. The only time they stop traveling is during the stationary phase when the queen lays eggs and the colony waits for them to hatch. During this time, the worker ants make a nest out of their own bodies to protect the queen, the food, and the eggs.

Fact #8: Ants are found (almost) everywhere on Earth.
Ants are found on every continent on Earth except Antarctica. A few islands such as Greenland do not have any native ant species, but individual ants have been brought in through human travel. The vast distribution of ants is rivaled only by that of humans. Very impressive for such little guys!

 

[Thebobo]

If just a few ants I wouldn't bother. Make sure your kitchen is clean.

 

[JimKiler]

Confirmed.

Fact #1: Colonies are bigger than the average ant farm.
Ant colonies come in literally all shapes and sizes. A few species live in colonies of only a few dozen ants; however, the average ant colony contains thousands of individual ants. Smaller colonies live in natural crevices or openings while larger colonies create vast nests and forage for supplies and food. There are also super colonies around the world that can contain more than 300 million individuals. These super colonies have been identified in Japan, Australia, the United States, and southern Europe.

Fact #2: Ants have specific jobs.
Ants are very social insects, and they divide jobs among different types of ants in each colony. The queen or queens have only one job - to lay eggs. All other female ants are workers; they feed the larvae, take out the colony's trash, forage for food and supplies, or defend the nest. Male ants' only job is to mate with the queen.

Fact #3: Ants don't have ears.
Instead of hearing through auditory canals, ants "hear" by feeling vibrations in the ground. Special sensors on their feet and on their knees help ants interpret signals from their surroundings. They also use their antennae and the hairs on their body to feel around while foraging for food.

Fact #4: One ant species is exclusively female.
Researchers have yet to find a male of the species M. smithii. The queen ant reproduces asexually, so all offspring are clones of the queen. This species is found in several countries of Central America and most countries of South America.

Fact #5: Ants can become zombies.
Perhaps the strangest ant fact, there is a species of fungus that infects ants and takes control of their bodies. The fungus finds its way underneath the ant's exoskeleton and begins to consume soft tissue. Shortly after, by unknown mechanisms, it causes the ant to leave its colony. The ant then finds a leaf, bites it with a "death grip," and dies. A few days later, the fungus releases spores to infect more ants. Some ant species have learned to recognize infected colony mates and will carry them far away to protect the rest of the colony.

Fact #6: Ants can lift 10-50 times their body weight.
Because ants are so small, their muscles are thicker relative to their body mass than in larger animals. This allows ants to carry objects much heavier and bigger than them. To put it into perspective, if humans could lift 10 times their weight, a 200-pound man could lift a small car above his head.

Fact #7: Some ants are homeless.
Not all ant species build nests. A group of about 200 species known as army ants have two phases of their life: nomad and stationary. During the colony's nomad phase, the ants travel all day, attacking other colonies and insects they encounter for food. At night, they build a temporary nest and keep moving the next morning. The only time they stop traveling is during the stationary phase when the queen lays eggs and the colony waits for them to hatch. During this time, the worker ants make a nest out of their own bodies to protect the queen, the food, and the eggs.

Fact #8: Ants are found (almost) everywhere on Earth.
Ants are found on every continent on Earth except Antarctica. A few islands such as Greenland do not have any native ant species, but individual ants have been brought in through human travel. The vast distribution of ants is rivaled only by that of humans. Very impressive for such little guys!

Planet Earth (1) shows fact #5 which is very freaky deaky.

 

[Mike64]

Anyone use these ultrasonic pest devices?

I know they've managed to hang on in the marketplace for years now and that some people swear by them (which, seriously speaking, means less than nothing), but it seems to me everything I've ever read about anything approaching "controlled" tests of those things has proved pretty thoroughly that they don't in fact work on any "pests"... Devices that emit loud noises that only some animals (including, for that matter, young humans) can hear, especially when the sound isn't continuous, are one thing, but not those dinky little things that plug into outlets and supposedly deter pests based on frequency alone...

 

[highland145]

Anyone use these ultrasonic pest devices?

They don't work on moles. Yes, I was desperate.

 

[paperfist]

Homemade borax-based bait stations or commercial bait stations like Terro. These seem to work well in my house. It takes a while to kill them, and in fact it's initially like you are throwing a party for your ants, but they eventually stop coming (presumably the hive dies). It isn't poisonous so you can feel good about not destroying the environment. You can buy a giant box of borax for about $3 that should make a lifetime supply of the bait liquid. The homemade versions are VERY cheap but they do dry out more and they require more micromanaging, so you may want to try the commercial stuff.

http://www.terro.com/indoor-baiting
Or just google "borax ant"

Terro is the bomb!

I have those ultra sonic things in every room and right now every room has ants!
Last year Terro cleared them all out. TIme to pickup more.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I know they've managed to hang on in the marketplace for years now and that some people swear by them (which, seriously speaking, means less than nothing), but it seems to me everything I've ever read about anything approaching "controlled" tests of those things has proved pretty thoroughly that they don't in fact work on any "pests"... Devices that emit loud noises that only some animals (including, for that matter, young humans) can hear, especially when the sound isn't continuous, are one thing, but not those dinky little things that plug into outlets and supposedly deter pests based on frequency alone...

That's what my friend said, that had a relative or friend (I forgot which), that was in the extermination / pest removal biz., and he told me that those ultrasonic devices don't do much.

However, I have had several of them plugged in at the perimeter of my small apt., and I have (some crumbs), and don't always throw my food wrappers away super-promptly, and I nearly never had bugs. I recently unplugged both of them, and now I've got ants. I put out some ant-bait traps (Raid), and that seems to have cut down on most of them.

 

[Stg-Flame]

My buddy's house got infested with Pharaoh ants because he wouldn't keep his house clean. He paid a large amount of money for a specialist exterminator to get rid of them and the one stipulations the exterminator told him was to clean his house top to bottom and keep it clean so the ants would eat the bait instead of the crumbs. Two days later I go over and find open pizza boxes and cans of soda strewn all over the living room and a sink full of dirty dishes. The infestation got so bad they made their way into the water lines so every time we'd turn the faucet on, ants would come out for a few seconds. During that time, I discovered a fun fact about Pharaoh ants - they taste like banana runts when you eat them. I discovered this because I got a bowl of cereal and noticed after a few bites (and noticing the strange taste to my honey-nut cheerios) that they had gotten into his cereal containers and were trying to get out of the bowl.

So, if the ants in your house have a yellow sheen to them in the sunlight, those are probably Pharaoh ants and they are a royal pain in the ass to get rid of. Also, don't eat them.

 

[WelshBloke]

Get one of these!

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Homemade borax-based bait stations or commercial bait stations like Terro. These seem to work well in my house. It takes a while to kill them, and in fact it's initially like you are throwing a party for your ants, but they eventually stop coming (presumably the hive dies). It isn't poisonous so you can feel good about not destroying the environment. You can buy a giant box of borax for about $3 that should make a lifetime supply of the bait liquid. The homemade versions are VERY cheap but they do dry out more and they require more micromanaging, so you may want to try the commercial stuff.

http://www.terro.com/indoor-baiting
Or just google "borax ant"

I’ve used this stuff before and it works. Basically sugar liquid with borax in it.
Takes time to kill them but it definitely works provided you leave them up for a week or two.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Terro-Liquid-Ant-Baits-T300/202532940