Author Topic: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard  (Read 3472 times)

jamesbond007

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How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« on: June 17, 2019, 10:24:44 AM »
We started having this problem in the last few months. We are seeing about 10-12 tiny red ants coming out of our baseboard in our living room. There is no "straight line" to figure where they are coming from or going to. They just seem to roam around the living room (ONLY near the baseboards. They don't venture out in the open yet) in random patterns. I am worried about a bigger infestation. Shall I call pest control? Is there any DIY solution for this?

orcateeth

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2019, 10:33:53 AM »
Yes to DIY. Get some diatomaceous earth powder and put it along the baseboards. They will be gone the next day.

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jamesbond007

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2019, 10:40:46 AM »
Yes to DIY. Get some diatomaceous earth powder and put it along the baseboards. They will be gone the next day.

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It worked really well for bed bugs in the past. Wasn't sure if it works well for red ants. I will try. But my concern is if there is an anthill inside the wall, does diatomaceous earth help?

orcateeth

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #3 on: June 17, 2019, 10:46:10 AM »
I would assume so, since the ants that get the powder on their legs will track it back into the anthill. This will transmit it to those ants. It dries them out from the inside.

I've used this twice to get rid of ants. Lots of ants, in my kitchen. Was amazing how fast it worked.

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jamesbond007

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2019, 10:57:41 AM »
I would assume so, since the ants that get the powder on their legs will track it back into the anthill. This will transmit it to those ants. It dries them out from the inside.

I've used this twice to get rid of ants. Lots of ants, in my kitchen. Was amazing how fast it worked.

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Ok. I will try this first before spraying chemicals.

Home Stretch

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #5 on: June 17, 2019, 11:19:49 AM »
Not sure where you live, but we pretty much just accept that ants can and will get anywhere in our house that they want. They're simply too small and the house isn't air-tight. Whenever I start seeing some ants in a particular location, I just deploy one of those cheap little Raid ant baits and a week later there are no more ants.

John Galt incarnate!

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #6 on: June 17, 2019, 11:39:56 AM »
Yes to DIY. Get some diatomaceous earth powder and put it along the baseboards. They will be gone the next day.

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OP, if the d-e powder doesn't work read up on  boric-acid powder recipes for ant eradication.

They worked for us.

KEEP THE B-A  POWDER AWAY FROM PETS.
« Last Edit: June 17, 2019, 11:47:56 AM by John Galt incarnate! »

GuitarStv

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #7 on: June 17, 2019, 11:51:12 AM »
It worked really well for bed bugs in the past. Wasn't sure if it works well for red ants. I will try. But my concern is if there is an anthill inside the wall, does diatomaceous earth help?

Diatomaceous earth works on most crawling insects.

There is likely not an anthill inside the wall, but there may well be a colony.  Some species of ants have evolved to live in tiny voids and cracks (think the void between some bark and a tree, a crack under a rock, that sort of thing).  They love setting up shop in houses because there are fewer natural predators and the voids are often more accommodating.

Diatomaceous earth will kill ants by getting into their breathing holes.  This will not kill the whole colony, but will kill individual ants.  Ants aren't smart, but they are adaptive.  Once they lose enough workers heading off in a particular direction, they will modify behaviour by sending out workers in another direction.  If the ants you're seeing in your house are just exploring from outside then the earth will work a treat.

If however, you've got a colony then things will be slightly different.  If a colony experiences enough losses, it will either move or split with the two halfs heading off in different directions.  If the ants are coming out of an exterior wall, the diatomaceous earth will discourage them from coming into your house, and they'll probably move back outside.  If they're coming out from under an interior wall a different approach is likely to be more effective.

jamesbond007

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #8 on: June 17, 2019, 11:52:25 AM »
Thanks. I just ordered some DE powder. Will try that first. If it doesn't work, then I am going the Boric Acid compound.

jamesbond007

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #9 on: June 17, 2019, 11:54:32 AM »
It worked really well for bed bugs in the past. Wasn't sure if it works well for red ants. I will try. But my concern is if there is an anthill inside the wall, does diatomaceous earth help?

Diatomaceous earth works on most crawling insects.

There is likely not an anthill inside the wall, but there may well be a colony.  Some species of ants have evolved to live in tiny voids and cracks (think the void between some bark and a tree, a crack under a rock, that sort of thing).  They love setting up shop in houses because there are fewer natural predators and the voids are often more accommodating.

Diatomaceous earth will kill ants by getting into their breathing holes.  This will not kill the whole colony, but will kill individual ants.  Ants aren't smart, but they are adaptive.  Once they lose enough workers heading off in a particular direction, they will modify behaviour by sending out workers in another direction.  If the ants you're seeing in your house are just exploring from outside then the earth will work a treat.

If however, you've got a colony then things will be slightly different.  If a colony experiences enough losses, it will either move or split with the two halfs heading off in different directions.  If the ants are coming out of an exterior wall, the diatomaceous earth will discourage them from coming into your house, and they'll probably move back outside.  If they're coming out from under an interior wall a different approach is likely to be more effective.

I see them inside of an exterior wall. So hopefully this works. I love DE but didn't know it works for ants. Thanks for the reaffirmation.

NV Teacher

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #10 on: June 17, 2019, 01:55:04 PM »
I've had great success with Terro Liquid Ant Bait. 

jamesbond007

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #11 on: June 17, 2019, 02:27:31 PM »
I've had great success with Terro Liquid Ant Bait. 

Good to know. I will get this option after DE fails.

YYK

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #12 on: June 18, 2019, 02:09:09 PM »
I've had great success with Terro Liquid Ant Bait.

+1 for Terro. It's basically just borax in a goopey, sweet solution. You could probably make a similar formulation yourself. The sweet ingredient induces them to drink it and the borax kills them. Borax is pretty toxic to insects but fairly harmless to people and pets as far as I am aware; you can even wash your clothes with it, which is a plus for me because I don't like spraying pesticides around my house, which sometimes don't even work on ants.

The ants will drink it up and alert their compatriots, so once a bait pile is located you will have a swarm of ants to that area. They then ferry it back to the nest. It takes a couple days for the colony to die off so expect lots of ants for a short time. I once had probably a thousand ants come and go in a twenty-four hour period, with attendant scouts branching out from that bait pile that I had to keep an eye on. Despite that annoyance, it will kill the colony for good and you shouldn't have any more problems unless a new colony moves in. Once scent tracks are laid by ants they don't go away easily, so if the ants are coming from outside you may now have a scent highway right into your home that new colonists may find. DE may be of use here to prevent future infestations through the same route. I prefer to use Terro outside as a long-term defensive strategy so they don't come inside in the first place. Terro makes outdoor bait stakes with the same borax solution but with a higher concentration so it works faster; I've noticed significant drops in intruders within a day. The idea is that indoor ants may have a longer path home so the concentration needs to be lower for the indoor bait so they don't die before making it home with a load of borax. I keep stakes around the exterior during the warmer months, replacing them when the fluid level gets low or it gets congealed.

calimom

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #13 on: June 18, 2019, 05:52:15 PM »
If you're going with D.E., make sure it is the food grade or the horticultural grade and not the pool grade. Pool grade will not have the desired effect in pest control application.

BussoV6

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2019, 02:57:31 AM »
We have found mixing a little castor sugar in with the boric acid works very well. The sugar causes them to take it back to the nest and share with their buddies.

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Re: How to deal with tiny red ants coming out of the baseboard
« Reply #15 on: June 21, 2019, 07:05:26 PM »
We have found mixing a little castor sugar in with the boric acid works very well. The sugar causes them to take it back to the nest and share with their buddies.

Adding a little pancake syrup to the b-a mix also works well.