Table of Contents Show
What are those small tiny moving things you notice over the sweets? It may be a sugar ant gang.
Where is it all from? What should we do? How to get rid of sugar ants?
Sugar ants are extremely common in our households and mostly invade our houses to steal all the sweet foods we have. They are known to be pests of odorous houses. But luckily these insects don’t sting and mostly don’t bite us.
Now, what is the solution? How to get rid of sugar ants? These ants are small in size and do not create any risk issues but come as a bunch, and in large numbers to steal the sweets, and unfortunately, are annoying pests to deal with.
1. What are Sugar Ants?
They are a type of ant species1 that is attracted to sweet foods. These ants invade our houses searching for food items like soda, candy, fruit, and even spilt drinks. These small attackers take over the counters of your home.
2. How Do I Get Rid of Sugar Ants?
Keep in mind, first start from the kitchen, obviously the main place in our home full of food. Let us have a peek below to find out how to get rid of sugar ants.
1. Reduce The Food Storage Space
The best way to destroy their invasion in our house is by reducing the food sources in our houses. We know from earlier that food items with sugary particles are the main course for the ants to enter our houses, for example, drinks, candies, and food particles which spilt on the floor attract ants a lot. Eliminating the spill and proper storage of these items will reduce the invasion of ants in our houses, or it will be a major way for the ants to enter the houses as a whole colony.
2. White Vinegar Method
It is a bit of a time taking process because these ants are so stubborn that it takes some time to get rid of them completely. Just take a 50:50 ratio of water and white vinegar, then take a spray bottle and mix them well in it. Now spray in the area where the ant’s colonies are, such as crevices and gaps.
3. Bay leaves Method
Bay leaves2 have a strong aroma, that helps in driving the ants away easily. Take some small pieces of Bay leaves and now place them in the required spots.
4. Borax And Sugar Water
A powdery substance, borax3 can be easily found in local markets. Take some of it in equal portions along with white sugar that will give us a thick paste consistency. Put this paste near the spot where the nest or colonies are located. It acts as an ant bait and is a food source so it can be dangerous for the insects.
5. Boric Acid Power
It is an alternative way but effective way to remove ants from our homes. This poison eliminates sugar ants but is still dangerous within the reach of children and pets. It is similar to Borax but much safer for pets and kids when compared.
6. Natural Repellents Remedies
Natural repellents4 like peppermint essential oil or lemon juice contain strong smells that can drive the ants away. Place these natural repellents in the areas you spot the colonies and also nests to get rid of them. Alternatively, we can also use good quality plastic containers as the ants do not like the smell of plastic that much.
7. Reaching for a Professional Pest Control exterminator
We all can try as many DIY methods, but in the case when it is out of your hands, the best step we can take is to reach out to a professional exterminator who can help us in an effective way and we also get a better guarantee of lasting results. A professional person knows the behavior of these pests very well so he can deal with the root cause of the problem – the nests of the sugar ants and eliminate them.
3. Effects of a Sugar Ant Infestation
First of all, you have to identify the sugar infestation5 that is important to get rid of sugar ants. Are you wondering how these ants start the process of finding the food source? It all starts with the ants and their antennae. Because they use their Antennae to find the food source, it’s the first step to find their food and take them to their nests.
They also are much more intelligent than other animals as they usually create pheromone trails to the nest so using that track, the other ants follow and collect the food. Mostly through these pheromone trails, we all notice these tracks an army of ants entering our houses like a straight line. It is a footprint for all to find ants entering the house.
The Common aspects of sugar ants infestation are as follows:
a. Unusual Number of Ants
You can see an unusual number of ants, that is sugar ants, entering and moving around inside our home. Because they are searching for food, they only leave once they gather a reasonable number of food sources.
b. Damages in the Furniture
You may able to notice some damages in the furniture made of wood.
c. May Find their Hub
They nest inside the houses especially in the corners of the houses and near the food storage and under the desk and so on.
4. Effects of A Sugar Ant Infestation
Although rare sugar ants are not as dangerous as other pests, there are some significant risks in opening your counter and seeing the ants around.
They are able to smell blood and if you have a wound in your body it is a high risk that will create a wound infection by pathogens carried by ants.
That is the reason you must know how to get rid of sugar ants.
FAQs
Q1. Will Sugar Ants Go away on Their Own?
The truth is no, they won’t go on their own.
Sugar ants are attracted to an atmosphere because it may either be conducive for them since they have their colony built inside the home or some food is near their colony. As long as their colony and nest are inside the house they won’t go anywhere. they will stay inside your house.
Q2. How Do I Get Rid of Tiny Ants in My Kitchen?
The fact is even the cleanest kitchens will have tiny pests since they have incredible receptors and that is enough for them to seek out and remotely search and find the food source.
This doesn’t mean that you have to leave the kitchen as amess for this. The first thing you have to know is what leads to the ants entering the house. The above tips should help with getting rid of them.
Q3. What Attracts Ants To Your Kitchen?
What we’ll need is food and water for survival similar to them too. So that they have an intense odor receptor so they can easily detect the source of their food even from a far distance. However, all food items are in our kitchen it’s earlier for rover ants to take place in our kitchen and house.
Water is enough in the kitchen for ants to enter. they follow the track and enter the house. Do also always rinse dirty dishes.
Takeaways
If you want to get rid of sugar ants, we hope this article gives you an insight into how to identify sugar ants and how you can get rid of them and prevent them from invading your home. You can try these tips for ant-free existence in your house and living place.
- Cornelius, M. L., J. K. Grace, and J. R. Yates. “Acceptability of different sugars and oils to three tropical ant species (Hymen., Formicidae).” Anzeiger für Schädlingskunde, Pflanzenschutz, Umweltschutz 69 (1996): 41-43. ↩︎
- Harlan, Jenna C., et al. “An Analysis of Household Products as Ant Repellents.” Instars: A Journal of Student Research 6.2 (2021). ↩︎
- Sola, Francisco, Agustina Falibene, and Roxana Josens. “Asymmetrical behavioral response towards two boron toxicants depends on the ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).” Journal of economic entomology 106.2 (2013): 929-938. ↩︎
- Chen, Jian, and David H. Oi. “Naturally occurring compounds/materials as alternatives to synthetic chemical insecticides for use in fire ant management.” Insects 11.11 (2020): 758. ↩︎
- Pérez-Rodríguez, Jésica, et al. “Sugar provisioning for ants enhances biological control of mealybugs in citrus.” Biological Control 157 (2021): 104573. ↩︎
Last Updated on by laibaarif
Author
