Subject: Re: discouraging ants

From: [email-masked] (Samuel Sun)
Date: 24 Mar 1995 01:04:37 GMT

[email-masked] wrote:
> 
> 	Hi! My home is currently being invaded by ants fleeing the rain
> 	we've had out here in California. Is there any substance known
> 	out there that we could use to either kill them or discourage them
> 	from visiting that isn't as toxic to humans as most of the
> 	pesticides are?
> 
> 	I could not find a newsgroup about insects or ants. If one is
> 	out there, I'd appreciate a pointer.
> 
> 	thanks,
> 
> 	amr

Given as the original post is not lepidoptera-related, let me put a spin on
it and invite answers on this newsgroup:

I'm having the same problems - hundreds of the little Argentine critters
marching in through cracks and such.  I am loathe to Raid them because I
have live lepidoptera of various stages in my house almost year round.
Although the fumes from the ant spray probably wouldn't affect them too
much, I don't want the risk of inadvertantly killing something like a batch
of Papilio indra martini pupae, which are now illegal to collect.  It would
be nice to know how to get rid of the ants without getting rid of my
butterflies!

Sam Sun

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From: [email-masked]
Date: 23 Mar 1995 23:08:18 GMT

thanks,

	amr

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From: Mossy Fern <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 1995 14:38:28 -0800

- well I recommended an ultrasonic device that just plugs in to an outlet
closest to where the ants come in - tried it in my kitchen - to avoid the
Raid smell, and it worked, until the ants got too many for that level of
ultrasound. Check out a local nursery; I got mine from "Navalets" here in
T.G.* ! (I didn't see your letter till I responded to the originator)

happy trails
from *Telecom Gulch!
Sharyn Fernandez

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From: [email-masked]
Date: Thu, 30 Mar 1995 23:15:15 GMT

>        from visiting that isn't as toxic to humans as most of the
 
Find out what type of ants they are #1 (try your local Extension office for
a bulletin).  Then find an appropriate bait for them in the store.  Some
baits are better than others, so try a couple and monitor for usage after a
couple of days.
 
Another option is boric acid, which has a VERY low mammalian toxicity (used
as laundry softener, in contact eye solution, etc).  This is a dust that you
can spread around in appropriate locations.
 
Neither should bother live Lepidoptera collections (just don't puff the
powder all over the place, or place it where the Leps can walk thru it).
 
Ultrasonic devices are a bunch of BS.  They were originally invented and
tested sucessfully on some obscure mosquito with a limited US distribution.
The only reason EPA has not been able to prove them a piece of junk is because
the frequency ranges are so broad EPA doesn't have the time to check each
and every frequency against each pest (or was it they keep changing the
frequencies? one of these two).  However, if you want to spend your $$, feel
free.
 
Liz Myhre
Dept Entomology
Washington St. Univ.
Pullman, WA.  99164-6382
[email-masked]

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From: Mossy Fern <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 31 Mar 1995 16:40:48 -0800

Hi - just thought I'd mention I have had limited success w/ ultrasonic
devices; albeit not too reliable. No research into 'fine-tuning' to
"Mhz" and broadcast range being done? am suprised...

Sharyn Fernandez
Contra Costa County IS
Mount Diablo

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From: [email-masked] (Schwen)
Date: 1 Apr 1995 07:30:45 -0500

I have read that DE (diatomaceous earth) is a common repellant for hard
bodied
insects. The problem is how to attarct them to get on the DE.  Some ants
are
attracted to sugar and some to protein. Try some of these mixed in DE.
Also
I have seen products advertised using Borax as an ingredient. Good Luck!
My problem are large black carpenter ants in my house....

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From: [email-masked] (Curtis B. Sisk)
Date: 5 Apr 1995 16:26:45 GMT

In article <[email-masked]>, [email-masked] says...
>My problem are large black carpenter ants in my house....

I have had great luck keeping the Fire ants (Solenopsis xyloni) out of my 
house by mixing a 50:50 blend of peanut butter and powdered boric acid 
and offering it to them in small plastic cups. They feed on it and some 
time later die.  This sp. of ant likes peanut butter so well that a huge 
number of ants will continue feeding until the colony is so small that it 
is not a bother any more or it is gone. Dont know which.  Either way it 
keeps them out of my house. The one draw back is you have to live with 
them coming in to the bait for about one week before they are gone.  
Experiment with different baits.  Good luck.

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From: [email-masked] (Brian Korbelik)
Date: 4 Apr 1995 21:21:29 GMT

Lately I've been experimenting with boric acid to try to
get rid of Argentine Ants. (Iridomyrmex humilis)
I have mixed it with honey, granulated sugar and powered sugar
with varying results, none of them great.

Mixing boric acid with honey attracts the ants and quite a few
feed on the mixture, though I think it kills them more in a tarpit
fashion than by poisoning them. Mixed with granulated sugar also attracts
the ants and I observed the ants carrying off their "loot". They seem
to get bored of the mixture though in a day or two and then just ignore
the mixture. Boric acid mixed with powered sugar was a total bust.
The ants completely ignored this mixture even after I had placed it
right on their ant trail. None of the mixtures that I used made an
appreciable difference in the ant population that I could tell.

The elusive search goes on.....

Brian Korbelik