We have all been there, ants all over, flies driving us crazy, cockroaches appearing and giving us nightmares or some other animals that we may be afraid of encroaching our personal space, we put together some pointers on how to deal with these pests as well as some general other pointers.
Let's start with ants...
Ants, Interesting Stuff
Ants have a cosmopolitan distribution and is found on all continents except Antartica with more than 13,800 known species globally, most being brown or black, but a few species are green and some tropical species have a metallic colour.
Like other insects, ants have an exoskeleton, an external covering that provides a protective casing around the body and a point of attachment for muscles, in contrast to the internal skeletons of humans and other vertebrates. Insects do not have lungs; oxygen and other gases, such as carbon dioxide, pass through their exoskeleton via tiny valves called spiracles.
Insects also lack closed blood vessels; instead, they have a long, thin, perforated tube along the top of the body (called the "dorsal aorta") that functions like a heart, and pumps haemolymph toward the head, thus driving the circulation of the internal fluids. The nervous system consists of a ventral nerve cord that runs the length of the body, with several ganglia and branches along the way reaching into the extremities of the appendages
Ants as other insects seems to spread the world away from their natural or origin habitat, creating invasive species in many instances, and as extracted from paper by James K Wetterer
"Tramp ants are species that associate with humans and are spread by human commerce. They travel the world hidden in our plant products, packaging material, building supplies, and heavy machinery such as logging and military equipment. For the most part, tramp ants thrive only in disturbed environments and do not penetrate intact natural habitats. But as humans and their disturbance spread, so do the tramp ants. The ecological importance of most tramp ant species remains undocumented. Several species, how-ever, are known to have dramatic impacts"
All ants begin as eggs, fertilised eggs become female and all unfertilised eggs become male ants. Young ants emerge from these eggs as worms (larvae). The better fed and larger a female ant becomes the greater the chance of becoming a queen, as strong female ants will develop wings that will allow them to fly off and start their own colony.
All ants are social, so if you find one you can rest assured that you will find others from the same colony nearby, and most of the ants that you do see will in all likelihood be female as the workers are mostly female, whilst the males have a very short life, starting with life in the nest and being fed and pampered each day, then leaving and finding a female to mate with or breeding with the queen, after such mating they cannot care for themselves and then they die.
Some of the ants that cares for the queen can have a life of 20 years of working for and caring for the queen, and indeed although most common ants you see have a lifespan from a few weeks to a few years there have been studied cases of a queen lifespan reaching 30 years.
An important part of ants behaviour when it gets to ants pest control is that they They use biochemical pheromones to mark the shortest path that can be taken from the nest to a food source. When a sizeable number of workers follows this trail, the strength of the cue increases and a foraging trail is established.
There are more than 550 species of ants in South Africa and if you have an interest to get to know the different types we suggest clicking here and you will be directed to an ant haven of information, yet for purposes of pest control at home you thankfully only need to know about a few of them, and we cover some of these below.
The Pavement Ant (Tetramorium caespitum)
You can easily spot the presence of Pavement ants through the small heaps of soil present on pavements, sidewalks and driveways, and unlike popular believe that these moulds of soil is sand dug out through ant tunnels underground, the ants are in fact placing the sand and soil in the sun to heat up and to take the heated soil back at night into their nests to warm up the eggs and larvae.
There are also winged versions of this ant that resembles a termite and indeed many consider them as termites in this form.
Due to these moulds of soil aiding nest production a good practice of self pest control is to regularly sweep away these soil heaps to counter production in the ant nests.
Pavement ants loves your pet food, so it is important to store your pet food in a manner, such as in plastic containers, to counter allowing a feeding ground to develop from your pets favourite pellets or other forms of pet food, in that way you will minimise having a take-out source for these little mongrels.
Argentine Ant ( Linepithema humile)
This specie of ant originated from Argentina and is now found in the Western Cape, Free State, Gauteng and Northern Cape, tales of import to South Africa includes having come here with fodder that were imported for British horses during the Anglo Boer war, yet evidence suggests that they have been around since 1750. These ants are a threat to indigenous ants that form an important part of our ecosystem and as a result their presence threatens natural plants, especially the fynbos species.
These ants are incredible fighters and in battle with other ants, even defeating large ants such as our incredible 20mm Camponotine ant, this as a result of their ability to squirt a disabling substance on their enemies, they also spread through nest-budding, where the mated queen runs with the workers to any good food source and thus establishing branches from the parent colony, and this allowed the spread of this specie across the world in especially areas are that are not very humid.
Carpenter Ant (Camponotus sp)
This ant nests inside wood and chews cavities with their mandibles, unlike termites however they do not consume wood and discards the materials it what looks like sawdust, they even hollow out trees as a result.
This ant is a threat to wooden buildings and structures and is a major cause of structural damage.
In nature they fill the role of assisting in forest decomposition, whilst in suburban areas this could cause damage to man built structures, hence the pest definition applied to these ants. They normally reside in moist, decaying or hollow wood, thus at residences with wooden windows, decks and porches these ants could infect these areas around when moisture is present.
They love sugary liquids such as honey, syrup and juices. An interesting point of this specific specie is that in some Southeast Asian countries these ants are called exploding ants as they have greatly enlarged mandibular glands that run the entire length of their body, and through autothysis (suicidal altruism is the process where an animal destroys itself via an internal rupturing or explosion of an organ which ruptures the skin) they rupture their body in suicidal fashion, spraying toxic substances from their head, which entangles and immobilises all nearby victims.
Pharaoh Ant (Monomorium pharaonis)
Definitely not an ant that you want close to a hospital as the danger exists that these ants have been reported to carry many potentially pathogenic bacteria (Pathogenic bacteria are bacteria that can cause disease) on their bodies due to their foraging habits, yet that is exactly where these ants can be found as they constantly look for protein feed. These ants are also called a cryptogenic specie, which is a specie whose origins are unknown.
This is an ant that do not tolerate colder environments, hence you are bound to find them mostly indoors, especially in kitchens and bathrooms. If you have outdoor lights at your house you may find these nests close-by as these ants then target dead and dying insects in these areas.
These ants are also believed to wash themselves when they enter the nest/cell, as well as after a long feed. It is believed that this washing has a hygienic value and keeping the nest clean, staving off disease and disorder.
When fighting this ant it is important not to disturb the foraging trials created by the ants, as this will cause nest budding, which is when the queen ant and her workers will leave the nest and then form a new site elsewhere, it is thus better to place protein based baits along these trials so that the baits are taken to the nest and which will aid in eliminating the colony.
Acrobat Ant (Crematogaster spp.)
This ant has the ultimate stomach shape, that of a heart, and they are referred to as the Saint Valentine ant, they are also referred to at times as the cocktail ant because of their habit of raising their abdomens when alarmed.
These ants are predatory in behaviour and will hunt prey such as wasps, grasshoppers and termites.
When they attack a prey they will sting the prey with venom and during this attach release an alarm pheromone to alert other workers that prey has been seized, these workers will then assist to spread-eagle the prey, and carry the prey to their nests, normally found in trees.
Big-Headed Ant (Pheidole megacephala.)
The African big-headed ant tends to be a sap-sucking insect, making it a pest in many agricultural areas throughout the world. The workers can also damage fruit and plant roots directly. African big-headed ants can be a serious pest in buildings, forming large colonies where food scraps are available.
It is an aggressive specie that can form large colonies and is a globally distributed ant specie, the origin of the specie remains unknown however several citing's are made that the specie originated from Africa
This ant is a well known indoor and agricultural pest, and it commonly nest inside buildings and feeds on human foodstuffs, they have been reported to attack and chew through electrical wires, communication cables and irrigation tubing.
Odorous House Ant (Tapinoma sessile)
This ant is also called the sugar ant, stink ant (due to smell they release if crushed) and coconut ant. Their colonies consists of multiple nrsts each containing multiple reproducing queens. They are found in diverse habitats and houses and they feed on honeydew, floral nectar and sugary foods.
Not much is known on the lifespan of these ants, with some sources referring to 8 months for the queen and males living approximately one week, they are tough buggers with some workers witnessed continuing living and working albeit with visible injuries, they seem to be highly tolerant to heat and cold and once established in a home they are difficult to remove.
Interestingly it seems that food allocation is done to the queens in a dominance hierarchy as researchers identified queens getting different allocations of food, more should that queen be higher in such hierarchy.
Their habitat inside houses included being closed to heat sources or in insulation and nests have been found in house plants and even in the lids of toilets.
Removing Ants - DIY Pest Control
It is recommended that you carefully study and identify which ants you have that may be infesting your home, as each may have a different method required to combat and remove/eradicate, therefore a professional pest removal company may be your best bet, especially if you are dealing with a heavy infestation.
For DIY pest control we have collected a few tips that you could possibly use at your house and home, these are as follows:
Baby Powder: Some people strongly feel that baby powder sprinkled in places where you may find ants works wonders, and claiming that the ants are suffocated by the talc powder particles, yet this is not actually true, and although baby powder seems to be a deterrent we are not quite sure why
Vinegar: White vinegar is a cheap way to get rid of ants. Use 50/50 water and white vinegar to wipe hard surfaces and to wash your floors with.
Black Pepper: The smell of black or red pepper irritates ants. Sprinkle the pepper around baseboards and behind appliances.
Peppermint: A mixture of peppermint and tea tree oil is a natural repellent for ants. Saturate cotton balls with the mixture and place them around the house.
Lemon: Lemon juice and lemon rinds can also be used to get rid of ants. Spray lemon juice in areas where the ants are active or wash hard subsurface and floors with water and some lemon juice. Place the lemon rinds in cupboards.
Chalk: Chalk is another home remedy to get rid of ants. Draw a line with the chalk at the entrance of each room, or spray powdered chalk in the areas that they enter.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon is regarded as an effective ant control option; the smell repels the ants. Place the cinnamon at the entrances of your house.
What about Ant Traps for Pest Control
Many people believe that an Ant trap actually traps ants inside the ant trap, and while the word ant trap seems to suggest doing exactly that it is not actually a trap. In reality the ants are invited through food bait inside the trap and then to carry this back to their nests which then kills the colony through this poisoned bait.