I’m a pest expert – how to stop annoying ants getting into your home, and the best ways to get rid of them if they do
A PEST EXPERT has shared their handy tips on how to stop ants from attacking your home and laying eggs.
PestXpert, an Australian-owned pest control company that sells products to get rid of anything from ants to cockroaches, has dedicated an entire section of their website for tips and tricks of the trade.
From prevention to damage control, this expert has got you covered.
“Ants can certainly be annoying… and as many have found out, ant control is not always easy!” they started, admitting that it can be a continuous battle to get rid of them.
There are three species that are commonly seen nesting in houses: black house ant, pharaoh ant, and the white-footed house ant.
Then there are the pavement ants, big-headed ants and Argentine ants that are usually seen around the house, while there are loads more that can be found in the yard.
While signs of an infestation are “pretty obvious”, it’s not always easy to rid the house of them.
The easiest thing to do is take measures to stop ants from nesting inside the home from the get-go.
Listing a set of tips, they said that good hygiene is critical, adding that you should always clean away spilled food and dirty dishes straight away.
Ensure the rubbish is put in secure containers and don’t leave pet food in bowls on the ground. However, if you do, “place the bowl in a large bowl of water to create a “moat” which the ants can’t cross”.
You should also keep leftovers in sealed containers and seal any small holes in the walls or around the windows and doors.
But if everything fails and the ants have managed to find their way inside, finding the nest is your best bet at eradicating them.
“To get lasting control of an ant problem you will need to kill all the ants in the nest, especially the queen,” the pest expert said. “If the queen survives, she can start laying eggs again and ants will return.
However, many ant species have more than one queen and have multiple sites of infestation, despite being part of the same colony.
The advice continued: ““Flooding” [the nest] with insecticide using a ready to use pump pack product will deliver the best results.”
Meanwhile, you can also use ant baits to gain control of the problem.
“By applying bait where ants are active, they do the hard work for you, taking the bait (containing controlled release insecticide) back to the next, where it is fed to the rest of the colony, leading to its destruction,” they said.
They also suggest spraying insecticide around entry points as well as the perimeter of the property as part of a control program.