Red small ants: how to get rid of them once and for all

Appearance

The small reddish ants that live in city apartments are called pharaoh ants. House ants differ from garden, field and forest insects in their size: they have a small body, colored orange or light chestnut.

Working ants are the smallest compared to males and females - their size does not exceed 2.2 mm.

The body length of males can reach 3.5 mm, and there are transparent wings on the back. The queen of pharaoh ants is the largest insect. The length of its body varies from 4.7 to 5.2 mm. The uterus has wings, which disappear after fertilization.

HELP: Seeing the queen is not easy - you need to find and disturb the ant nest.

How to distinguish house ants from street ones?

House and street ants are very similar, so they are easy to confuse. However, there are some features by which these insects can be distinguished:

• Forest and garden ants are much larger than house ants;
• The colors of insects also differ slightly - there are light stripes on the abdomen of pharaoh ants;
• House ants are uniformly colored reddish, while garden ants have an orange chest and lower part of the head. The abdomen and crown of street ants are dark brown or black in color.

The main difference between insects is their lifestyle. Forest and garden ants are engaged in building an anthill and taking care of their queen. Pharaoh ants are pests that engage in destructive activities.

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Lifestyle

Red ants were first discovered during excavations in Egypt, which is where they got their name - pharaonic ants. These insects are very heat-loving, so they are not able to live outside.

Once in a house or apartment, red ants begin to look for suitable places to create nests.

Let's look at the places where pharaoh ants can live:

• Under the carpets;
• Behind the baseboards;
• Under furniture;
• In cracks and holes in the wooden floor.

Finding an ant nest is very difficult.

IMPORTANT: A significant problem is the rapid increase in the number of pests and their creation of more and more new nests in the apartment.

Pharaoh ants eat almost all foods, so they can exist in any room.

The main occupation of house ants is creating more and more nests around the apartment. Each new nest formed by insects is closely connected with the main, main anthill, but exists and develops independently. If you find and destroy one nest, the ant colony will not be harmed at all.

In just a couple of weeks, pharaoh ants form nests throughout all rooms in the apartment. Each nest may contain several queens that are actively laying eggs. The average lifespan of a queen is 4.5 years. During this time, one female is capable of breeding several generations of red ants.

Red ants are the most difficult pests to remove, and their control requires a lot of time and effort. In order to destroy all nests, it is necessary to use several products simultaneously and treat every room in the apartment.

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TOP 5 remedies for red ants

To prevent the spread of small “guests” around the house, it is necessary not only to carry out prevention through general cleaning and throwing out all cereal mixtures and other products where insects are found. But the premises will also need to be treated with special pest control agents.

Medilis-CIPER

One of the popular remedies is “Medilis-CIPER”. It is considered to be universal . Therefore, it is suitable not only for eliminating red body ants, but a number of other insects. Its characteristics include the following features:

1. Available in the form of a concentrate (25%) .
2. The active substance in the composition is cypermethrin.
3. There are three types of blend:

• 50 ml;
• 500 ml;
• 5 l.

1. Safety level – III class (medium) .
2. Country of origin: Russia.
3. To prepare the solution, take 5 ml of the product per 1 liter of water.
4. Average cost: 1534 rub. (500 ml)

​​BUY

The shelf life of the substance is 5 years. The dosage rate for the drug is applied according to the instructions, and its volume always depends on the type of insect that needs to be destroyed.

Cucaracha emulsion concentrate

Almost breaking all records among insecticides is the drug “Cucaracha”. We can highlight the most basic characteristics of such a drug:

1. Manufactured in concentrate .
2. The active substance is malathion (10%), cypermethrin (20%)
   .
3. Package contains 1 liter.
4. In terms of safety, the substance is in class 3, which is classified as moderately hazardous .
5. Directions for use: per 1 liter of water you need from 2 to 5 grams. Consumption - from 50 to 100 ml of ready-made solution per 1 sq.m.
6. Price – 1550 rub.

​​​BUY

The drug will be valid for 1 year after the release date . It gets rid of almost all types of such insects and has earned an excellent reputation as the most effective drug.

Sychlor

. Product characteristics:

1. Available in the form of a concentrate.
2. Manufacturer: Hallmark Chemical, Netherlands
3. The main substance is Chlorpyrifos (10%), Cypermethrin (20%).
4. One package 1 liter;
5. Hazardous to humans and animals (safety assessment class 2).
6. To prepare a working solution you need to take 5 grams of the substance per 1 liter
7. For processing 1 sq.m. you need 50 ml of working solution.
8. Cost – 2,250 rubles .

​​​BUY

The drug is very effective not only against ants, but also cockroaches. However, its shelf life is only 2 months.

K-Otrin 250

Among professional substances, K-Otrin 250 can be called the most effective. The use of a specialized product must be carried out strictly according to the instructions. The characteristics of the drug are as follows:

1. The form in which the product is produced is granules .
2. Method of use: the granules are dissolved in water and the affected areas are treated with the solution.
3. Active substance – deltamethrin (25% ).
4. Blend – 2.5 g.
5. It ranks third in safety class.
6. Cost – 390 rub. for 30 g .

​BUY

The drug can act for three years. The solution consumption is calculated at 50 ml per 1 sq.m. non-absorbent surface, 100 ml per 1 sq. m. absorbent surface.

BAF dust

Another professional drug that does an excellent job of killing red ants is “BAF”. The characteristics include the following features of the product:

1. Available in the form of dust powder.
2. Active ingredients include alpha-cypermethrin (0.05%), phenyton (0.25%) and boric acid (5%) .
3. Sold in large packages of 15 kg.
4. Directions for use: 5 g. scattered over 1 sq.m.
5. The class of the substance is moderately hazardous – class IV.
6. The price of the substance for wholesale sales is 2400 rubles. for 1 craft bag of 15 kg

​BUY

The shelf life of this substance is 1 year. The substance has an extremely unpleasant odor, so after treatment, the room must be washed and ventilated.

Getting rid of ants in an apartment - a simple way:

What harm do they do?

Pharaoh ants cause significant harm in living quarters:

• Food spoilage. Due to their small size, red ants are able to penetrate everywhere. They can be found in sugar, cereals, baked goods, as well as in various foods and dishes. Once the ants have penetrated the food, it can no longer be consumed;
• Apartment pollution. Food debris, excrement and other waste products of these pests accumulate near ant nests. Since the nests are located in hard-to-reach places, it is quite difficult to detect contamination. Garbage near an ant colony serves as a medium for the development of microbes, bacteria, and larvae of other insects;
• House ants spread various diseases, including bubonic plague.

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Where do red ants come from in the house?

Pharaoh ants appear in apartments for various reasons. Pests are attracted to the smells of food and the heat that comes from the apartment.

House ants can crawl into a room through cracks, an open door, or get into an apartment from clothes or shoes.

Most often, insects migrate from places where there is not enough food or there are a large number of nests. Pharaoh ants can enter a living space from the entrance, basement, or neighboring apartments.

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How to remove red ants - traditional methods

There are several safe methods for getting rid of unpleasant neighbors. Before using any method in a residential building, you should prepare:

• seal food products;
• remove small children and pets (birds too) from the apartment.

Boric acid

Boric acid, according to statistics, is the most reliable remedy. It is poisonous to ants, carried by workers on shells into the anthill, corrodes the chitinous cover and is not erased by loads and other obstacles. Delivery of poison to the queen disables the entire anthill, the larvae die, and the reproduction of workers stops. Acid is applied to the paths to the anthill and where they often appear. To speed up the process, traps are made:

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• sugar and borax are dissolved in a glass of water, placing the “delicacy” in the places where ants most often appear;
• boric acid is rolled inside the meat balls and placed next to particularly attractive places (under the bathtub, near the toilet, trash can).

You can mix borax with honey, jam, boiled potatoes, or any other aromatic dish - it is guaranteed to attract the attention of ants.

Plants

The aroma of some plants and seasonings repels sensitive insects and prevents them from finding food. To protect against red ants, elderberry, mint, and chamomile are kept in the house. Brew chamomile tea bags from the pharmacy and put them in the trash after use - the smell repels insects. Do the same with calendula, tansy, wormwood: brew a bag and pour tea under the bath or on the toilet (drinking medicinal herbs is not necessary).

Seasonings that work well include pepper, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves, and bay leaves. Lavender sachets placed in different rooms help.

Ants do not like strong smells, so garlic juice is quite effective. The paths along which they walk are covered with a clove, so the work columns go astray. But this is rather a temporary or additional measure. It will not help remove an already established colony.

Repellent liquids

The smells of ammonia and vinegar repel insects. To do this, use weak concentrations when cleaning (they also clean stains and grease well). An aroma lamp with mint essential oil is placed in the bathroom or toilet.

Repellent liquids will not help destroy the neighbors that have already appeared, but they will help fight them. It is better to use them as prevention or an additional measure to destroy the colony.

Pesticide

You should start removing ants from your apartment by looking for a colony. The main goal is an anthill with a queen and larvae. No matter how many working individuals (which we see in the apartment) are removed, the anthill will still live and replenish losses. You should look in damp, hard-to-reach and dark places: under the bathtub, baseboards, behind cabinets, in ventilation, ceilings, garbage chutes, and a damp basement.

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Before using sprayers, you should buy a respirator, safety glasses, and rubber gloves.

Pest control

The easiest method is to call an exterminator. But you will have to leave the apartment for 2-3 days; after treatment, you need to wash it and completely replace the food supply. In addition, the procedure is paid, and maximum efficiency is achieved when treating adjacent premises - you will have to negotiate with the neighbors.

Household chemicals

Small colonies can be removed by insecticidal aerosols and sprays (Raptor, Raid, Combat, Agran). Topical gels and pencils (Sturm, Raptor, Fas) work well on paths. Working individuals are caught in special traps, and poison is delivered to the colony using poisonous baits (Kapkan, Mashenka, Cleanbait).

How to get rid of house ants in an apartment?

As soon as you notice small red pests in your apartment, you must immediately begin to fight them . How to deal with ants in the house:

• Use of special aerosols;
• Application of insecticidal gels;
• Mechanical destruction of ant nests;
• Using special crayons;
• Calling professional pest control teams;
• Folk remedies.

IMPORTANT: In order to get rid of pharaoh ants, experts recommend using several methods simultaneously.

How to distinguish domestic red ants from random guests

Permanent apartment residents are especially easy to identify in winter. All outdoor species hibernate with the onset of cold weather. Red ants, on the contrary, become more active when the heating is turned on.

They can be distinguished by their size and speed of movement. 3-4mm street dwellers move quickly. If you encounter small ones (about 2 mm), evenly colored, slowly moving - these are apartment pests, it’s time to sound the alarm and look for the source of the appearance.

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Useful tips

We bring to your attention several valuable recommendations for successfully combating pharaoh ants:

• It is necessary to use chemicals to kill ants in empty rooms, during the absence of family members and pets;
• Pack food carefully to avoid exposure to insecticides;
• After using special aerosols, the room must be closed for several hours and then thoroughly ventilated;
• If you have a small child at home, give preference to traditional methods of fighting pharaoh ants.

In rooms heavily infested with pests, you will not be able to get rid of them on your own. In this case, you should use the services of professionals who will quickly and effectively destroy house ants.