10/26/201608/20/2019 Maria Ivanova 1 Comment
There is an opinion that it is completely impossible to get rid of ants that appear in the house.
However, modern raptors are destructive to household insects. The market offers several effective long-acting insecticides. You need to use them according to all the rules, and then the “creeping” problem will forever remain a thing of the past.
Conditions of existence - distribution of roles
At first, the area of the settlement does not exceed a couple of square centimeters, being located in books, under the floor or wallpaper, behind kitchen wall cabinets.
As the anthill grows, new settlement points appear. These full-fledged nesting sites form a great metropolis, where all colonies are closely connected with each other.
Subgroups of insects in one nesting site have specializations.
Every day, working representatives of the group leave their nests to search for food. The rest are obliged to constantly look after the “head” of the ant genus – the queen ant.
A clear distribution of roles allows the colony to live and reproduce for up to 15 years.
Pharaoh ants are omnivores. The food can be crumbs, plant and animal products, rotting organic matter and even other insects.
Danger of ants to humans
Despite their harmless appearance and impressive organization of life, house ants are dangerous parasites and pests for humans. What is their harm?
- Crawling from garbage to food, they carry pathogens of intestinal infections, helminth eggs and many other nasty things no less than flies and cockroaches.
- They spoil kilograms of food: it is not possible to remove an ant that has crawled into flour or cereal. Moreover, there are probably several dozen of his relatives there. We have to throw away supplies.
- There is a frightening theoretical assumption about the possibility of a house ant crawling into the ear canal of infants, and even just sleeping adults, if the apartment is infested with these parasites.
So there’s no point in delaying getting rid of your unpleasant neighborhood.
Safety regulations
When working with poisons, personal protection is necessary.
In order to use ant gel in an apartment and not cause harm to household members, you should follow a number of important rules:
- A dangerous product containing poison should not get on the surface of the mucous membrane or inside the body.
- Keep products out of the reach of children.
- Disinsection is carried out in personal protective equipment - mask, gloves.
- The treated room is thoroughly ventilated, especially if the anti-ant gel has an odor.
- There should be no people or animals in the home.
The destruction of such insects is a complex process. However, the use of effective chemicals can make it extremely easy. When the pest population in a home is not too large, and children or pets live on the premises, a gel composition is the most optimal option.
Ways to deal with house ants
Today, in the variety of methods for exterminating insects, there are several possibilities.
- Folk techniques. A poisonous bait is prepared using borax, yeast, boric acid and corn flour. However, the effect will only be at the initial stage of ant settlement. In most cases, they are not able to completely destroy the “infiltrators.”
- Aerosols . The means are sprayed along the paths of movement of insects and points of possible localization of nests. If you manage to get to the colony, the entire settlement will die. But in general, the aerosol is an unimportant “warrior” against ants.
- Insecticide powders. The products fall on the tips of the insects' legs. When the ant tries to clean itself, it gets poisoned. If he manages to crawl to the nest, the infection will be delivered to the entire family.
- Gels. These developments appeared on the market not so long ago, but have already proven their effectiveness. Their advantage is that the gel is carried drop by drop by worker insects to the nest and completely affects the entire colony. The beauty of gels is that they act for a long time.
In getting rid of an ant invasion, the main thing is to neutralize the “queen” and destroy the nest, and without them both the working insects and the males will die. Getting to the settlement is extremely difficult, so the easiest way to deliver a poisonous potion is with the help of feeders.
Extermination of house ants in an apartment - methods of extermination
Professional extermination of domestic ants in an apartment is possible without calling a special service. Learn about the most effective ways to control insects at home.
1. The use of professional insecticidal aerosols is a quick and effective way to disinfest an apartment. But with this treatment method, the ant nest will not be damaged, and the main cause of the insects will not be eliminated.
2. Use gels and apply the product in places where visible paths are visible. It will be possible to remove a colony of insects at home using this product after a week.
3. Pencils work on the same principle as gels. Use insecticide chalk to draw a few lines in problem areas. The drug contains chlorpyrifos and cement, which blocks the circulatory system of insects. The product is valid for 7 days. According to reviews, this remedy is quite effective. Considering the low cost, this method can be called one of the best in terms of price-quality ratio. With one chalk weighing 20 g, you can “line” 50-60 m² of space.
Which gel to kill ants in an apartment should you choose?
Since the principle of action of various drugs is similar, choose a product that best suits your characteristics.
Gel for killing cockroaches and ants “Brownie” is a modern insecticidal agent. The active ingredient is fipronil. Since its content in the drug is 0.05%, the product is classified as moderately toxic.
Among its main advantages:
- high destructive power (with one package you can treat 50 m²) and ease of use (semi-liquid gel can be applied to any surface); economical consumption (due to drip application, the gel will remain for re-processing) and lack of contact with the skin of the hands (as a precaution, it is recommended to carry out processing with protective gloves); the ability to reach hard-to-reach areas of the apartment; The gel is odorless and retains its insecticidal properties even after long-term storage.
Advantages of gel compositions and application features
The characteristics of the gels make it possible to reliably get rid of domestic ant colonies.
- The action of the compositions is prolonged. Poisoning of an insect does not occur instantly, so the foraging ant manages to drop poison into the colony and infect all its fellows, including the queen.
- The toxic ability of the active substance persists for 1-2 months.
- The organoleptic properties of the bait are attractive to insects. House ants eat poison with great pleasure. This property ensures the targeted effect of the composition.
Gel insecticides are used indoors only. The compositions are applied in a drip path in areas of suspected insect colonies, as well as along areas of movement of foragers. Usually these are baseboards, plumbing communications, trash cans, furniture.
All compounds are poisonous. To prevent poisoning of children and pets, the poison formula includes vegetable bitters, which completely discourage the desire to join the ant “meal”.
The best insecticide gels to get rid of ants
Application practice identifies the most effective compositions, which include:
- "Global";
- "Brownie";
- "Clean house";
- "A great warrior".
Ant repellent gel
Insecticide "Global"
The German-made gel has an attractive chocolate smell. Based on the toxic properties of chlorpyrifos. "Global" remains active for 4 months. Affects the efficiency of transmission of nerve impulses in insects, as a result of which ants lose the ability to orient themselves in space.
Poisoning appears a week after applying the composition. Knead the tube of Global gel with your hands. You can also keep the package in warm water.
Then strips of paper, cardboard, and plastic are cut 1.5-2 cm wide and 10-15 cm long. The composition is applied to the blanks in a thin layer and placed on areas where ants are likely to accumulate, along their migration routes around the apartment.
After two weeks, the treatment with Global is repeated. The packaging of the product is enough to treat 60 square meters of housing.
The ratio of the toxic substance is designed to affect the body of an insect, so there will be no harm from the Global gel to humans or animals if the product is used according to the instructions. The composition is also effective against cockroaches.
Gel "Brownie"
The active substance is the intestinal poison finpronil. The substance has no characteristic odor and has no effect on humans or domestic animals.
The gel is available in 30 ml tubes and allows you to treat an apartment area of up to 50 sq.m.
By eating the bait, the ant accumulates poison in its body and slowly begins to lose vitality. The insect begins to feel severe discomfort after 1-2 days.
This time is enough for complete infection of ant colonies. The effect of fipronil lasts for 3 months, which allows you to completely get rid of parasitic insects.
"A great warrior"
This is a targeted remedy for house and garden ants of the latest generation. The Great Warrior gel consists of food bait and two toxic substances. The death of insects occurs as a result of the action of chlorpyrifos at a concentration of 0.3% and diazinon (0.2%). The gel base is formed by the substance bitrex.
The packaging of the “Great Warrior” gel is presented in two versions:
- 30 ml dosing syringe;
- tubes with a volume of 40-80 g.
A syringe is preferable in cases where the “Great Warrior” must get into a hard-to-reach place. Since the syringe tip is long, it is easy to distribute the gel into furniture joints, baseboard cracks, and holes.
The complex of poisons has a delayed effect. It will take 1-1.5 days to notice a decrease in the insect population.
During this time, the worker ants not only have time to taste the poison themselves, but also carry pieces of the substance on their paws to their lair.
The activity of the active substance lasts for several weeks. During this time, even insect larvae are destroyed.
To notice the heroic blow of the “Great Warrior” on ant colonies, you need to strictly follow the instructions for use.
The “Great Warrior” will work at full power only if you do not allow the strips to become dusty or get water on them.
“Warrior” is applied along the perimeter of possible ant movement. These are baseboards, furniture corners, plumbing fixtures, etc. The product is placed in dotted lines.
During initial processing, the length of the stroke is 5-6 cm, when re-using “Warrior” - 2-3 cm. The interval between the treated surface is no more than 2-3 cm.
If there is a severe pest infestation, or if the composition is washed off, the gel will need to be reapplied. This can be done 30 days after the first stage of treating the room with “Great Warrior” gel.
The peculiarity of the gel is its high concentration of toxic substances. Contact of the composition with the skin must be completely avoided. It is easy to feel acutely unwell if you work without gloves. When the product gets on open areas of the body, they must be immediately treated with running water.
Alkot gel against cockroaches and ants
If you missed the moment when six-legged invaders entered the house and managed to settle in, then nothing will help except serious insecticides. The active ingredient in this product is the nerve chemical, lambda-cyhalothrin (0.075%). In addition, the composition includes a food attractant, bittering agent (Bitrex), and other components.
This product, like similar ones, is low toxic (hazard class 4). Apart from a syringe (30 g), you won’t need anything to treat your home. It works within 2-3 days and you can relax for a whole month, new uninvited guests will not bother you.
