ORGANIC ANT KILLER

HOW TO GET RID OF ANTS WITHOUT PESTICIDES, TOXIC CHEMICALS OR INSECTICIDES

STEPHEN TVEDTEN

Copyright © 2013 by Stephen Tvedten

Published by TCK Publishing

Learn more about non—toxic, all natural pest control at:

www.StephenTvedten.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents

About The Author

Other Books By Stephen Tvedten

WHY YOU SHOULD READ THIS BOOK

"Why do I have ants and how can I get rid of the ants?" is one of the most common questions I’ve been asked in my 40+ years of working in the pest control industry. The answer to the first part is simple: Ants invade your home or building either to find food or shelter or both.

The second part of the question is more difficult because not all ants are "bad"! Most ants truly are beneficial - along with termites, ants do most of the aeration and turning of the earth - moving more soil than earth worms and much more than all the world’s human farmers. Ants are also important pollinators of some plants. Most ants are extremely beneficial cleaning up mess after mess and up to 95% of all weed seeds! (They truly are nature’s little garbage collectors.) Ants are also the most important carnivores on earth; they will also help clean your yards of ticks, fleas, cutworm eggs and numerous other pests. They cart off and recycle 90% of the world’s dead insects. Without any ants, the entire Earth, especially your yard, would really be a mess!

As it says in Proverbs 6: 6-8,

"Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler, Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest."

In this book, I’m going to show you how to keep ants from invading your house and bothering you without poisoning ALL of the ants in your yard which are protecting you from other worse pests like ticks, fleas, and cutworm. I hope this guide to natural ant control will give you a greater appreciation for ants while helping your home stay free of ants and other invading pests.

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

The study of ant species (kinds) is called Myrmecology - ants have been living here virtually unchanged (why change perfection) since before the dinosaurs and today you can find at least one native ant species living virtually everywhere on earth except for Antarctica, the Arctic, and a handful of islands. If you do not find a single native ant specie where you live, you will certainly find at least one invasive ant specie. In 2000, biologists Andrew Suarez and his colleagues at UC Davis revealed that in the last century alone, the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, had successfully invaded and now occupies at least 15 countries throughout the world — including a number of isolated, oceanic islands (including Hawaii) — a massive invasion that spans six continents.

In their Pulitzer-prize winning book The Ants, researchers Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson estimate that there are upwards of ten quadrillions = 10,000,000,000,000,000 individual ants alive on Earth at any given time. (We are totally out numbered! For every man, woman and child in the world there are over a million ants!) Their colonies can be quite large - 50 million ants can come together and become a massive ant colony called a superorganism that can coordinate all of its activities with incredible precision! Ants make up 1/10 of the total world's animal tissue. The total biomass of all the ants on Earth is roughly equal to the total biomass of all the people on Earth. Ants are stronger than elephants! The strongest elephant lifts less than its own weight, but some ants can lift 50 times their own weight! If man could do the same, he could lift a 5-ton school bus! The creature with the largest brain in proportion to its size is the ant. They are known to be the smartest species of insects with about 250,000 brain cells! Small wonder that ant infestations are considered to be our number one pest problem!

There have been about 1,000 different species (types) of ants identified just in North America and there have been over 14,000 formal scientific names given to ants worldwide. But, no one really knows exactly how many species of ants are alive today. New species, especially in tropical rain forests around the world, are discovered every year. Even in the United States there are new species of ants that have yet to be given formal names. They are black, yellow, brown or reddish-brown in color. Their colonies may number only a few individuals, or a million or more! Their personal size varies from as small as a pinhead to over 2 inches long. The ant queens may live from 1 to 15 years! The job of the queen is to lay all her eggs inside the colony which the sterile female worker ants then care for. At night the worker ants move the eggs and larvae deep into the nest to protect them from the cold and in the morning, these workers carefully bring them back up. Throughout the world there are probably over 20,000 species of ants, but only about 50 species of these 20,000 species are known to be pests of "our" food or in "our" homes - all of the rest of the 19,950 species are beneficials!.

The seven most common ant species that are considered to be pests in our buildings are the carpenter ant, the pavement ant, the thief ant, the crazy ant, the field ant, the Pharaoh ant and the Argentine ant.

Like all insects, the ant body has three main parts - a head, a thorax (middle section), and an abdomen. All of the ants have six legs that are attached to their thorax, three to each side. Each leg has three joints. The legs of the ant are very strong so they can carry huge loads and run very quickly. If a man could run as fast for his size as an ant can, he could run as fast as a racehorse. Their head is made up of the jaws, the eyes, and the antennae. The eyes of ants are made up of many lenses and are called compound eyes. Compound eyes make it possible for ants to see any movement in several directions very well. The antennae are special organs used by the ant to smell, touch, taste, and hear. (Using them, an ant can smell as well as a dog.). Ants communicate with each other using different methods, including pheromones, touch and stridulaton (sound production), for transmitting and receiving messages. In the ant's abdomen are the ant's stomach and rectum. Many species of ants have poison sacks and/or stingers in the end of their abdomens for defense against predators and to kill their prey! Ants breathe through spiracles (tiny holes) in their body. The ant's heart is a long tube that pumps colorless blood from the ant's head back to the abdomen and then back up to the head again.

Ant food preferences are often seasonal or opportunistic. When the Queen is actively laying eggs, worker ants typically gather protein-based foods for the Queen. At other times they may totally ignore protein foods and restrict their foraging to gathering seeds, sugars, pollen and/or grease. So, vary your baits from proteins to carbohydrates to sugars or whatever you see them feeding or drinking - as ants constantly vacillate on food choices.

By combining their vast numbers with precision aggression, ants have become the greatest insect killers on Earth -- even of their own kind. Ants do not sleep, they either work or fight until they die. The average life expectancy of an ant is only about 40-60 days. If their only queen dies so will the entire colony - so make sure you kill the queen!

The sterile female workers can lift 50 times and pull 30 times their own weight. Ants as a group are considered to be basically beneficial insects. Whether they are tunneling to mix and aerate the soil to help break down organic matter, or searching for insects and other soft-bodied organisms to consume, ants work tirelessly in the environment. As a group, ants are important natural predators of many insect pests, including flea, tick, fly larvae, caterpillars and termites. In agriculture, ants play an important role in cotton fields as a predator of bollworm eggs and larvae. In temperate zones, certain species of ants are active over a very long season and are capable of killing pests at multiple developmental stages. As specific pest populations increase, ants concentrate on that particular prey species, assisting with pest management in numerous crops and yards worldwide. But even beneficial insects can be considered pests when they harm things and/or invade your space!

Ants themselves don't do much damage to "our" plants, however they protect and farm herds of aphids, cottony scales, mealybugs, soft-type scales, and whiteflies that do harm "our" plants. Ants literally save the eggs of these insect pests in their nests over the Winter and bring them out to infest our plants in the Spring. These plant destructive insects produce honeydew while they are feeding on "our" plants a sweet substance that ants just love to consume. If you closely observe ants streaming up a tree and tending their aphid herds, you will see them take their legs and rub the aphids which stimulates the aphids to produce the honeydew. This activity is known as "milking" the aphids. The honeydew that is secreted by these insect pests favors the growth of sooty mold on "our" plants. This is a very destructive black fungus that spreads on plant leaves. The aphids are also responsible for spreading many different viral diseases. If you really want to stop the ants from tending their insect flocks, invading your yard or home, etc. This can only be done if you locate and destroy all of the ant nests and their queens.

All ants are social insects which live together in colonies. The ant colonies can range in size from dozens to millions of individuals, depending on the species. Within each colony are different types of individuals, each with a specific function. All ant colonies contain one or more queens, whose primary role is to lay eggs. The eggs hatch into white, grub-like larvae that later transform into adult "worker" ants. The workers feed and care for the queens and their developing broods, and these sterile female workers are the ones you see foraging all over the earth for food and water, often at great distances from the ant colony. Ants lay down invisible odor trails, which the sterile female workers follow between food and the nest. In many species, the trail of ants is distinct enough to be followed back to the nesting location, or to where the ants are entering from outdoors. The ants you see foraging in your garden or building are sterile female workers. As a group, ants have a wide food range, feeding on sweet foods, greasy materials, fungi, starchy substances, and all kinds of plant and animal materials. Ants like the same kinds of food that people and pets do and they are always trying to take it for their own use.

At certain times of the year (often in the Spring) ant colonies produce large numbers of winged reproductives known as swarmers. These winged ants emerge from the nest to mate and establish new colonies. When a swarm of ants emerges inside a home, it's an indication that a large ant colony is living within your home. Fortunately, the success rate for swarmers establishing new colonies inside your building is low. But, when most people experience a mass exodus of winged ants emerging inside their building this can be quite disturbing and these swarming ants are often mistaken for termites. Examine them closely to make sure that you have the correct pest! Ants are thin-waisted and have elbowed antennae. Termites have thicker waists and have antennae that resemble strings of tiny beads. You may need a magnifying glass to examine the swarmers more closely.

THE BEST OVERALL CONTROL FOR ANTS IS SIMPLY CLEANLINESS.

Like all creatures, ants need food, water, and shelter to survive. By limiting these three essentials, you make it impossible (or at least more difficult) for ants to live in the infested area. Simply by improving sanitation you can often suppress existing ant populations and discourage new ant invasions. Safe Solutions Tweetmint enzyme cleaner with peppermint is not only an excellent sanitizer it will literally "dissolve or melt" the ants!.( http://www.safesolutionsinc.com )

The mistake most people make when attempting to control ants is trying to kill the ones they see. This "control" will never solve your ant infestation because because the ants you see are not only sterile but they represent only a small portion of the ant colony. Typically, there will be thousands of additional ants including one or more egg-laying queens hidden somewhere in at least one nest. Eliminating queens and other colony members within those nests is the key to effective ant control. But, where are their nests? Ants build their nests in many different locations both inside and outside of buildings. Ant species nesting inside, or those that nest outside and come inside to forage for food or moisture, tend to be the most challenging ant species for you to control. Like all pests, ants require food and water to survive; by eliminating these basic necessities you can greatly reduce their numbers. Store all food and organic wastes in sealed containers, clean up all kitchen surfaces and spills and empty trash daily. Caulk, seal and/or screen all openings, cracks and crevices.

Ants have many natural enemies - so encourage them to help you control ant infestations. Some kinds of scavenger beetles inhabit ant nests, and feed on larvae and pupae. Parasitic mites attack ants in their nests. Braconid and chalcid wasps attack ants in all life stages. Research shows that more than 15 kinds of spiders (including the much-maligned black widow) take a heavy toll of ants in farm fields, so it’s a safe bet that spider webs are spread for ant foragers in your yard as well. In the world’s tropical regions, some mammals specialize in eating ants. Many of these animals are actually called anteaters, and they have long, skinny tongues with which to pull ants into their mouths. Many frogs, arachnids, feathered predators, serpents and other reptiles also like to eat ants. And any ant that falls into a stream, river or pond is likely to get eaten by a fish. Some people even eat ants. One kind of ant that lives in the Amazon rainforest tastes like a lemon drop, and the children who live there eat as many of these ants as they can find!

Groundbeetles, antlions, earwigs, humpback flies, parasitic wasps, praying mantids, woodpeckers and the yellow-shafted flicker all dine on ants. You may see woodpeckers also pick up ants in their beaks and crush them on their feathers. What are they doing this for? Crushing the ants bodies releases tannic acid which in turn protects the bird from parasites! Flickers and other woodpeckers are especially fond of ants. Most other insect-eating birds include ants in their diet, and huge numbers of ants are snapped up on their mating flights by swallows, chimney swifts, and many other birds, including gulls. To enlist the birds’ help in your fight against ants, provide food, water and shelter for birds on your property. The Author often has thousands of birds at his various feeders throughout the year!

Spread Mulch: In your garden, the best overall ant control is a constant layer of organic mulch over all bare soil. Three to four inches of organic mulch such as chopped leaves or wood chips helps to discourage ant colonies in the area. Mulch harbors their natural enemies, such as spiders and shrews. Stop all visible aphid and scale attacks before they begin producing honeydew. Pinch tender tips of plants where aphids cluster and put them in the trash. Scrape scale off leaf undersides with your fingernail. Or spray your plants with diluted Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner at a rate of one ounce per gallon of water or lightly dust your plants with food-grade DE.

Turf grass that grows thickly (from 6 to 9 plants per square inch) and has deep roots in healthy soil makes life difficult for all ground dwelling ants. Dense, deep grass roots in the soil interferes with their ability to dig their elaborate tunnels. Foster dense root growth by periodically aerating your lawn. Properly water, fertilize and overseed for thicker grass!

Catnip, pennyroyal, peppermint, sage, and spearmint are plants that all repel ants. That is one reason why Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner contains peppermint. Tansy which is often recommended as an ant repellant - but it may only work on sugar type ants.. Warning: You do not want to plant Tansy anywhere that livestock can feed on it as it is toxic to many animals. Do not let it go to seed either as it may germinate and contaminate livestock fields. Simply sprinkle leaves and flowers from sage, mints or tansy around your home to repel ants. These plants can also be used as a living plant barrier for ant control, bearing in mind that they are very invasive plants.

Vinegar sprays in and around the house foundation will also repel ants. Keep these vinegar sprays away from the soil, plants and concrete. Lemon juice concentrate can also be used to repel ants: mix 50/50 with water add a shot of dish soap and spray. You could mix equal parts Windex and Ivory Soap and spray ant infested areas. Lightly dust baby (scented talcum powder), or freshly ground pepper or chalk dust or food-grade DE. Caulk all cracks and crevices in the building to deny the ants access. Be sure to use high quality pure silicone caulking as these caulks are less likely to shrink or crack once you apply them. Scatter some cucumber peelings as an ant repellant. Cucumbers contain a compound known as "trans-2-nonenal" that repels ants as well as it repels cockroaches! Sticky barriers like Tanglefoot makes an excellent barrier and can be applied to tree trunks to disrupt the ants from climbing on them. Tanglefoot will naturally biodegrade itself towards the end of the season. NOTE: On young trees with smaller trunks or those with thin bark (aspens, birches etc.) do not apply Tanglefoot directly to the bark surface. Instead use some thin fabric tied around the trunk with the sticky stuff applied over this. Remove the fabric at the end of the season. A simple band of petroleum jelly will stop most ants immediately.

TOXIC BAITS

All ant baits work on the principle of trophallaxis (the exchange of regurgitated food). Honey will really attract honeydew-eating and other sweet eating ants. Add 2% - 5% boric acid or sodium borate or borax, or better still 4% - 5% food-grade DE or equal parts of aspartame or Splenda to make an excellent sweet bait which has not only a slow acting toxin but, also provides a good food attractant and a convenient moisture source. If the foraging workers die by your baits - the baits are too strong - if the ants are still eating in three weeks - your baits may be too weak! Remember if you are preparing your own baits that (house infesting) ants constantly vacillate between a carbohydrate and a protein menu - and remember ants are finicky eaters that prefer fresh baits. Do not forget to vary your choice of toxins. Place all boron-based baits with caution, out of reach of children or pets. Be careful not to contaminate any food or food surfaces with boron products!

One example of a homemade ant bait: Mix 1 level teaspoon (or less) of boric acid or borax per 2½ fluid ounces of honey. Heat until boric acid or borax dissolves. Cool. Dilute bait with an equal volume of water. Apply the bait with an eye dropper, or place it in small, shallow lids where ants feed. Make sure your baits are properly maintained and are easily available to foraging ants for at least two weeks. Keep the toxic mixture out of reach of children and pets. The Author recommends using boric acid or borax baits of 1% or less so these slow acting poisons will provide a non-repelling toxin that will remain effective after trophallaxis - so they can destroy the entire ant colony. You can put green or red food color in the bait. The queen(s) may survive for a short time after all the workers have been killed, as they are larger and may require a larger dose of poison.

Ants noticed inside your home may actually be nesting outdoors in your yard and often come inside to search for food and may ultimately nest inside. To prevent their invasion inside, follow these simple control procedures: Try to follow the ants back to where they are entering from outside. This may be along a window sill, beneath an entrance door, or where the exterior siding meets the foundation wall. Ants usually prefer to trail along lines and edges. When tracing ant trails indoors or outdoors, pay particular attention to cracks, seams, and edges created by baseboards, inspect the tack strips beneath perimeter edges of carpeting, mortar joints, the foundation- siding interface, etc. Nests often will be located in the ground and may even be marked by a mound or anthill. Other times, the nests will be carefully concealed under mulch, gravel, stones, landscaping timbers, exterior siding, pavement, or beneath the grass. While it takes time to locate an ant colony outdoors, results will be more rapid and permanent than if you only spray where ants are seen trailing. One way to entice ants to reveal the location of their hidden nest(s) outdoors or indoors, is to place small dabs of honey or jelly on an index card, etc., next to where ants are observed. After the ants have fed, they will head directly back to their nest. NOW KILL THE NEST!

When a below-ground nest is discovered, the colony often can be eliminated by spraying or drenching the nest location with safe Solutions, Inc.'s diluted Tweetmint enzyme cleaner. (http://www.safesolutionsinc.com ) or Bug Mojo. Another effective and convenient way to control some species of outdoor and indoor-nesting ants is aspartame (or Splenda) artificial sweetener. Sprinkle the artificial sweetener in small amounts beside outdoor ant mounds, along pavement cracks, and other areas where ants are nesting or trailing and then lightly mist the artificial sweetener with water. Ant entry into homes can be reduced by caulking around door thresholds, windows, and openings where utility pipes and wires enter buildings and/or lightly dusting with food-grade DE

Spraying insecticide POISONS or applying granular insecticide POISONS to the entire yard is never recommended, and will seldom, if ever, solve an ant infestation indoors. Whole-yard treatments also kill many non-target species and will also eliminate all of the beneficial ants, which help to keep other damaging pests of lawns and gardens in check.

ANTS THAT LIVE OUTSIDE AND COME INSIDE TO FORAGE.

Ants usually follow distinct pheromone/chemical trails to easily find their way from their nest to their food source. Follow the ant trail, identify the points of entry into your home, and seal them out. If you don’t have a clear ant trail, (prebait) place small pieces of cardboard or wax paper with non-toxic syrup, honey and a high-protein food (peanut butter) outside at night. In the morning, there should be a nice, thick ant trail leading from your baits directly into their various points of entry into your home.

All the openings, cracks and crevices should be caulked, screened or sealed to eliminate passages into your home. If you do not seal all of the possible entry points, ants will eventually find their way into your home. You can temporarily seal their entry points using toothpaste, petroleum jelly or duct tape. For more permanent control, use silicone caulking.

Most ants are repelled by mint. So, plant mint all around your house - especially near doorways and under windows.

A light dusting of red chili powder or cayenne pepper or black pepper or fleshly ground cloves also will repel many ants.

Draw a line with plain white chalk - most ants will refuse to cross it- if they do - sprinkle some comet cleanser or talcum powder.

Clean up and remove food sources. Keep kitchen counters, stove tops and floors clean, put garbage in tightly sealed containers and empty all waste daily, and thoroughly rinse recyclables.

Securely store sugars, grains and pet food in glass jars with seals or gaskets and plastic containers with tight-fitting lids. Small ants can climb up the threads of screw-top jars and get in if there is no gasket or liner.

Place pet bowls in moats – a pie tin filled with plain soapy water and the food bowl placed in the middle can be effective in preventing ant access, but be sure your pet does not drink the soapy water.

Many ants feed on “honeydew,” a sweet substance produced by insects that feed on plant sap, such as aphids and scale. Control these insects and cut branches back from your house to prevent ant problems.

Leave the cap off an open bottle of maple syrup - many ants will crawl in and drown.

Simply putting some soapy water in a spray bottle or on a sponge will kill individual ants and erase the pheromone trail that ants follow.

Scrub around entry points with a detergent (to remove the trail pheromone) and lightly dust with Safe Solutions, Inc.'s food grade diatomaceous earth (DE) around entry points. (http://www.safeslutionsinc.com)

Exterior bait treatments should be placed in areas where ants frequent, eaten and be taken back to the nest. The successful use of any ant bait may take several weeks or more. Make sure the ants always have enough bait to eat.

Safe Solutions, Inc.'s Tweetmint enzyme cleaner when diluted can be used outside to successfully drench ant nests. or inside to kill ants or remove the pheromone trails.

ANTS THAT LIVE (NEST) INDOORS

These ants live with you all year, although they are more active in the warmer months. Several of the major ant species that may be living with you right now include crazy ants, odorous house ants, pavement ants, pharaoh ants, thief ants, and carpenter ants. All of these ants may infest many different kinds of foods.

Spraying a residual insecticide POISON to "control" any ant infestation(s) is truly an exercise in futility. Even if you could kill over 99 percent of the foraging workers, the ant colony will soon return to its original or even larger size. Location and total destruction of all the queens is the only way to effectively eliminate any ant infestation.

Your home contains many favorable hiding and nesting sites for ants. Preferred sites include the voids behind walls, cabinets, and appliances; behind window and door frames; and beneath floors and concrete slabs. Most of these areas are hidden, making it very difficult to discover their precise location(s). When the location of the nest(s) cannot be determined or they are found to be inaccessible, toxic baits offer a good control option. The advantage in using slow-acting toxic baits is that foraging ants take the POISON back to the hidden nest(s) and feed it to the queen(s) and other colony members. As a result, the entire colony can be destroyed.

Most over-the-counter insecticide POISON baits come ready-to-use with the insecticide (POISON) and some food attractant contained usually in a plastic, child-resistant container. The Author recommends you make your own ant baits. Ant baits, can be a useful tool in eradicating any and almost all ant nests, but the female workers must first find and the eat the bait, take it back to the nest, and feed to the queen and larval ants. If they die before returning to the nest - your bait is too strong - if the colony persists after two to three weeks your bait may be too weak. Remember ants generally prefer liquid sweet baits but sometimes they are more attracted to grease or proteins.

Never underestimate the importance of cleanliness and proper sanitation that daily removes available food sources and forces the ants to eat your toxic baits or simply go elsewhere to eat.

A 1947 USDA bulletin on ant control flatly stated that baits are certainly the best way to deal with ant infestations! So, select a food that the ants love and then incorporate a slow-acting toxin in it. The toxin concentration must be such that any adverse effects are delayed until it has been fed to all the larvae, queens and other ants. It must also be present in sufficient quantity to kill all the ants in the nest. The queen is the primary target of the baiting program. Boric acid is a white, inorganic powder chemically derived from water and boron, which is mined from vast mineral deposits in the ground and used in consumer products such as laundry additives, toothpaste and mouthwash. Deadly to cockroaches, boric acid is low in toxicity to people and pets, and is even used as an eyewash in a 1% water solution. It is also odorless and contains no volatile solvents. Boric acid has been a favorite weapon against ants, mosquitoes and/or roaches for more than a century, and is one of the most effective cockroach control agents ever developed, provided that it is used correctly. You can make an effective ant bait by mixing three parts peanut butter with two parts jelly with one tablespoon of boric acid (or borax) per six ounces of mix. Place the toxic bait on pieces of paper so stuff it into large straws and place where you see the ants foraging. Keep these baits out of the reach of pets and children. The Author generally uses aspartame rather than borax. CAUTION: Both should be kept away from children and pets.

Never store baits or bait materials where they can be contaminated with any other odors, especially smoke or fumes of volatile pesticide POISONS. Ants and other insects can detect minute amounts of foreign or repellent chemicals and will avoid smoke, fragrances or chalk lines, calcium chloride, baking soda, cedar oil, food-grade DE, Comet®, Tide® laundry powder, talcum powder and other fine dusts. So use them to repel ants but, never use them near your baits!

FAST ACTING NATURAL ANT KILLERS

POUR (APPLE CIDER) VINEGAR DOWN INTO THE NEST.

A sugar soaked sponge works well for light invasions of ants. Use a large sponge with big holes in it. Soak it in a strong solution of sugar water and place it where you want to catch the ants. Freeze the sponge overnight and then rinse out the sponge every day in warm water;

After the rinsing, you can "rebait" the sponge with sugar water - repeat as needed.

Dusts such as food-grade DE can last a long time. Their mode of action is to dehydrate the ants. They work slowly and are easy to apply with a bulb duster into voids and into cracks and/or crevices.

Make a strong hot water and hot pepper "tea". Use the hottest peppers you can find, finely chop them in a food processor, mix with hot water. Carefully pour the "tea" or simply boiling water directly into the active ant nest.

Repeated flooding of the nest every few days using plain water from your garden hose can often be enough to get the ants to relocate. You must be persistent with this method.

Sprinkle Splenda® or aspartame around active ant nests and lightly mist the powder.

OVERALL ANT SUMMARY

All ants can easily be controlled using a combination the above information which includes good sanitation, baits, dusts, caulking entry points and eliminating active nests. Your very best control is cleanliness. The ant’s greatest enemies are other ants. Diluted Safe Solutions, Inc.Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with peppermint or Bug Mojo sprays can be used both to kill foraging ants and totally destroy ant nests. While the above facts, general biology and control information will help you prevent and/or control most ant invasions there are also specific control strategies that may have to be used depending on nest location(s) and food preferences of the various species of ants that arrived hungry at your door - the Author would now like to present some more specific information and controls for some of our more common ant invaders.

But, do you know exactly which ant is invading your home? Collection Tip - It helps to determine exactly which ant species you have infesting your building before you plan any specific control strategies - so put some food stuffs in a plastic bag (sealable) and let the ants enter and feed - or find some infested material with foraging ants and place them in the bag - seal the bag and freeze it overnight - in the a.m., take several ant specimens and drop them into a vial of alcohol and then submit them to an expert for identification.

Individual Species - Facts, Identification and Control

Acrobat Ants - Facts, Identification & Control

Their Latin names are: Crematogaster spp.

Acrobat worker ants measure around 1/16” - 1/8 inch long and are easily identified because of a somewhat heart-shaped gaster, especially when viewed from above. The ant has two nodes; it is shiny brown to nearly black in color. The workers appear to have their abdomens attached upside down: flat on top, “bellied” below, and pointed at the tip. When excited they point their abdomens up or even over their heads, hence, their name. Acrobat ants are common over most of the United States. There are many species. Their antennas have 11 segments and their thorax has one pair of dorsal spines. Some species are quick to bite and emit a repulsive odor when disturbed. Acrobat ants feed on sweets and proteins and will tend aphids, scale and mealybugs for honeydew (so bait with honey and 1% - 2% borax or boric acid or food-grade DE) -they will also kill and feed on other insects. They usually establish their colonies in wet wood, e.g., in or under rotting logs, trees and stumps and will even occupy abandoned termite or carpenter ant galleries if the wood is damp enough. They can also carve their own small galleries in wet roof boards, foam insulation, house siding, porch rafters, pillars, sill plates, eaves, soffits, firewood, wall voids or virtually any part of a structure where they find wet wood that does not completely dry out. Like Pavement ants, Acrobat ant colonies occasionally dump their refuse. It consists of tiny wood shavings like those of the Carpenter Ant. The difference between Acrobat Ant and Carpenter Ant shavings is that those of the Acrobat Ant are smaller and always dark stained from fungus. Acrobat ants may forage 100 feet from their nest and may feed inside kitchens; they are opportunistic omnivores that feed day and night; they seem to prefer sweets, high carbohydrate and protein foods. New colonies are formed by swarming flights of reproductives. The workers in large colonies can inflict a painful bite and sting when disturbed.

Carefully inspect where structural wood has had water leaks and in all foam insulation:

Look at the porch roof near the house, porch floors, siding where gutters overflow, ends of rafters in the shade, sills, and window and door casings where rain water hits, and carefully inspect older buildings that haven’t been kept up. (Fungus or rot problems are very likely to cause more damage than the ants.)

THE BEST CONTROL IS HABITAT ALTERATION

Properly install and maintain vents, fans and dehumidifiers. Remove and replace all damp and/or damaged wood. Change the grade and install or redirect downspouts that pitch water away from all structural wood. Clean or replace gutters. Trim all overhanging tree limbs that keep structural wood from drying. Remove any/all logs, stumps, leaves and grass clippings away from structures. Habitat alterations, especially the proper use of dehumidifiers, air conditioners and/or fans, should stop the problem. If not, bait with fruit juice and aspartame and/or vacuum. Inspect with a stethoscope and a moisture meter, then inject food-grade DE into their nests as needed. Susceptible structures, especially damp or wet buildings with historical significance should always be periodically monitored. Detailed records concerning pest infestations, treatments and repairs should be kept on file.

ALLEGHENY MOUND ANT - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The Allegheny Mound Ant scientific or Latin name is: Formica exsectoides

(Forel). Allegheny Mound Worker Ants are often called field ants and are over 1/8” to over 1/4” long. These large black and red ants are found in the eastern United States making mounds often up to two feet high. More common in mountains than at coastal elevations, these ants forage actively around their mounds which often are interconnected. They are harmless ants and never forage inside. DO NOT to destroy these ants. Swarming occurs in the spring.

ARGENTINE ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

Argentine Ants whose Latin name is, Linepithema humile (formerly Iridomyrmex humilis), are found mostly in the southern United States, especially California. Argentine ants are an invasive species that may have entered the United States aboard ships carrying coffee or sugar from Argentina during the 1890s. They expanded from the coast throughout California and to the southern parts of the United States. Argentine ants and Fire ants are fierce competitors, and Argentine ant populations are not as numerous in the southeastern parts of the United States where the fire ants reign supreme. The are not know to swarm because mating is usually accomplished in the nest, not in mating flights. The winged queens can produce fertile eggs for up to 10 years after mating once with a winged male. Another difference in this type of ant compared to other ants, is that many productive queens can peacefully share the same colony. (An entire colony with hundreds of queens can move into your yard in 2 hours):

There may be several to many multiple 1/8 - 1/4” queens (up to 10%) in one nest, each of which can lay hundreds of eggs - at a rate up to 60 per day! About 30 days later, the eggs hatch into larvae that are cared for by the all-female workers. In 11 to 61 days the larvae pass into a pupal stage before becoming adults 12 to 25 days later. Queens and ants from all colonies are friendly with one another. They have no natural enemies. But,

Argentine Ants are aggressive to all other ant species, often eliminating all other types of Ants in the same area. They also destroy and eat other household pests such as cockroaches and exposed termites.

Argentine Ants prefer sweet foods and are often found tending aphids or scale insects on plants, using them as a source of honeydew. Their usual habitation is outside, but foraging Argentine ants will enter your home - especially when outside conditions are extremely dry or wet. When they invade your home, you will normally find them foraging in your bathrooms and around the kitchen sink.. They rarely nest inside - they prefer to simply enter to forage and then exit, returning to the exterior nest. Argentine ants generate strong pheromone trails when foraging. They can be easily tracked. In many areas, you will see them walking three and four abreast! Follow them back to their nest! (They do not forage at 43o F. or lower or 90o F. or higher and normally forage at night.)

Argentine ants are a uniformly dull, dark brown color - their petiole (the node that separates the thorax from the abdomen) has one erect node and their thorax (middle part supporting the legs) is uneven in shape when viewed from the side. They can emit a stale, musty odor when crushed. Argentine Ant workers are omnivores and can eat most anything but they prefer sweet foods such as honey, syrup, fruit juices or plant secretions, but will also gather protein/grease-based foods to bring back to the queens and larvae. They forage for food day and night. Of all the smaller sized ants, this one prefers sweets more than protein. They are very adaptable and can nest in a great variety of places. Colonies are usually located in moist soil, next to or under buildings, along sidewalks or beneath boards. Argentine ants can form massive super colonies that contain hundreds of queens and can stretch for hundreds of miles and include millions of workers. Ants from different nests of the same colony rarely show aggression toward each other. The largest super colony in southern California extends some 600 miles and borders three smaller colonies. From egg to adult, the life cycle of Argentine ants ranges from two to five months.

The real key to Argentine ant control is prevention: wipe up food spills immediately, wipe down food preparation surfaces with soapy water, remove garbage frequently, clean food debris out of sinks, rinse well any dirty dishes left in the sink, sweep and mop floors regularly. Even if you get discouraged, don’t resort to insecticide POISON sprays, because they are useless: they kill only the 1% to 10% of the ants in a colony that are out foraging for food, leaving the rest of the colony intact and ready to take their place. Meanwhile you now have toxic chemicals dispersed in the air you breathe and filming the surfaces in the room that you, children, and pets touch. If the sight of them really bothers you - you can use your vacuum to quickly suck up the visible invaders already in your house. When you vacuum them up, add some cornstarch or baking soda to the bag , so that they suffocate inside the vacuum. If they’re nesting in a potted plant, take it outside and flood it several times. If they’re in the garbage can, empty it outside and wash it down with Tweetmint enzyme cleaner or soapy water. With Argentine Ants you should not spray or spread insecticide POISONS inside or outside your home. This alerts the ants to danger and causes them to stop their feeding and begin to reproduce in larger numbers.

Put their most attractive food items (honey, sugar, sweet liqueurs, cough syrup, etc.) into the fridge or into jars with rubber gaskets and lids that close with a metal clamp. Unless the lid of a screw-top jar has a rubber seal, these little worker ants can follow the threads right into the jar – although a couple of layers of waxed paper (not plastic wrap) between the jar and the lid often work pretty well as a barrier, once the lid is screwed down tightly. Transfer other foods, such as cookies in open boxes, to containers with tight-fitting lids; put butter in the fridge. NOTE: paper and cardboard boxes are not ant-proof. Create a "moat" for pet food by placing the food bowl in a somewhat larger shallow tray or pie pan filled with water. Or feed your pet only what it will eat immediately, then wash the bowl. Argentine ants are capable of transporting pathogenic bacteria. Cedar oil repels them.

Put kitchen scraps into a tightly-sealed plastic container or garbage bag. Throw non-recyclable food containers (plastic ice cream cartons, meat wrapping paper, etc.) in an outside trash can. Wash glass, tin, and aluminum food containers thoroughly before tossing them into an indoor recycling bin. Using diluted Tweetmint enzyme cleaner or simply hot soapy water, wipe down kitchen and appliance surfaces where sticky hands or food spills may have left some ant-attractive residue: kitchen counters, floors, cabinet doors and handles, fridge handle, stove knobs, sides of toaster, blender, etc. Immediately mop up food spills and sweep up food crumbs. You can try erasing the scent trail that the ants have laid down by using diluted Tweetmint enzyme cleaner with peppermint.

Find and destroy as many nests as possible. This may be easier said than done however, because of the large, extended colonies that are usually present with this species. Therefore, place baits in ant activity areas to indirectly target those nests that cannot be located or accessed. Because of their sweet tooth, use sweet baits, honey, sucrose water with aspartame or 2% boric acid or borax or 1% disodium octoborate tetrahydrate (DOT) or 3% - 5% food-grade DE to control this ant. But remember, while sugar or honey or 7-Up® is the preferred food source of the workers - queens may also have high protein requirements, so we suggest you also use some peanut butter baits or fish meal baits with 1% borax or 3% food-grade DE. Keep all baits out of the reach of children, pets and wildlife.

The only effective method for control of Argentine ants at present are ant baits! Make your own ant baits by first identifying their preferred food source (creamy peanut butter, shortening, sugar water, moist cat food, honey, jelly) and then lightly mixing in a small amount of borax or boric acid (about 2 percent); or food-grade diatomaceous earth (about 5 percent). Aspartame (Equal® or NutraSwee®t) is also an effective ant bait that can be mixed half-and-half with sugar. Set out these ant bait stations near the ants’ entry points and/or foraging trails, so that the ants find them quickly, ingest the bait, and carry it back to their nest, where they feed it to – and kill – the rest of the colony. Bait stations with liquid (adult ants cannot digest solid) baits (borax or boric acid in sugar water), attract ants all year round. Keep them out of the reach of children and pets. The Author recommends that the active ingredient in the bait stations be aspartame, boric acid or borax, because these ingredients are the least toxic to mammals and because they work slowly, allowing the foraging female ants to spread it to the queens and throughout the colony, before the foragers themselves die.

Flood nests with diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint enzyme cleaners with peppermint or Bug Mojo and food-grade DE or diluted orange juice in soapy water or kill them all with carbon dioxide or steam. Want to repel Argentine ants? Apply Vaseline. Need more repellency? Add eugenol or farnesol or cedar oil.

In addition to practicing good sanitation, you can exclude Argentine ants by caulking, screening and sealing as many entry points as possible: weather-strip doors and use caulking to fill gaps in window and door frames and around baseboards, pipes, sinks, toilets, and electrical outlets. Prune trees and shrubs away from exterior walls, to prevent Argentine (and Carpenter) ants from using them as a bridge into the house. Because Argentine ants are attracted to moisture, seal leaks and fix leaky pipes. Lightly dust entry points with food-grade DE. Spraying with pesticide POISONS is not only dangerous it can make your Argentine ant infestation even worse by stimulating increased egg-laying by the queens and/or by causing the colony(s) to split/bud. The Argentine ants can detect these poisons and will move queens and eggs to new uncontaminated areas.

CARPENTER ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL:

The Latin name for all of the Carpenter ants is Camponotus Spp

. (There are more than 1,000 described species). Carpenter ants adults are the most visible ant found in and around buildings; they are large, approximately 1/4” to 3/4” in length. Their thorax is evenly rounded. They have a circle of hairs at abdomen tip. (Polymorphic adults will vary greatly in size in the same nest.) Black, yellowish or black variegated with reddish (rusty) brown or grayish in color. There are at least ten species are native to the United States; they are found nesting in decaying wood, including lumber in buildings, but they do not eat wood; their primary foods are honeydew derived from other insects, as well as fruit, fruit juice, meat, grease, fat and dead insects. Their thin waist consists of one petiole or “knot” which is pointed. Their legs are long and their antennae are elbowed. The winged forms have four wings, the front wings longer and larger than the hind wings. The male can be distinguished from the female by its smaller head and protruding genitalia. Ants in the genus Crematogasta are also called “carpenter ants”. The most common species is Lineolata (Say) which is variably colored and only about 1/8” long. Knock on the wall or hollow door and listen - they sound like crinkling cellophane as they move about inside their nests. Wood with 20% or greater moisture content is a prime location for their galleried nests.

CARPENTER ANT LARVA

are white grub-like young that are only found within the nest where they are fed and cared for by adult workers. It is interesting that cannibalism of larvae is common when there is a low food supply.- so clean up and/or remove their food sources. Carpenter ant pupa are brown in paper-like cocoon. Size of the cocoon is dependent on the type of pupa inside-worker, female or male. The pupal case must be torn open by adults or the pupae cannot emerge. Their eggs are small, white, egg-shaped objects laid singly by the queen ant in a very moist environment. Their normal life cycle is approximately 2½ months or longer. Colonies of carpenter ants mature in 2 to 6 years and normally contain 2,000 - 3,000 individuals. Colonies of Camponotus Modoc and Camponotus vicinus can have 50,000 to 100,000 workers in 10 years. Swarms of 200 - 400 winged reproductive forms are then produced each spring or early in the summer - they mate in the air on warm, still days. The carpenter ant workers are most active at night.

Carpenter ants are among the largest ants, from 1/4- to 1/2-inch long and can be found in many parts of the world. They prefer dead, damp wood in which to build nests. They do not consume it, however, unlike termites. Sometimes carpenter ants will hollow out sections of trees. The most likely species to be infesting a house in the United States are the Camponotus Modoc (western US) and Camponotus Pennsylvanicus (eastern US) both of which are usually referred to as the big black carpenter ants and the Florida carpenter ant complex which is comprised of several species, two of which are common around structures: Camponotus floridanus (Buckley) and Camponotus tortuganus (Emery) both of these Florida species are usually referred to as the red and black carpenter ant(s).Camponotus vicinus (Mayr) is a common ant species found in the Pacific Northwest. It is an important predator of many forest insect pests, a potential biological control agent, and is also a serious structural pest. However, little knowledge is currently available about its nest location and distribution. Foraging black carpenter ant workers are black and quite large - up to 1/4-5/8 inches long. The Author knows of at least one other commonly found carpenter ant species its scientific name is Camponotus sayi. It has no recognized common name, but unofficially it is called the “red” carpenter ant because it has a reddish-orange head and thorax and a black abdomen. They are smaller than the black carpenter ants. Even though the various carpenter ant species have different coloring, they all have one-segmented pedicel (the segment between the thorax and the abdomen) and the profile of the thorax is evenly rounded and not bumpy. Carpenter ant workers are polymorphic--which means workers can come in different sizes. Workers have large, strong mandibles.

Unlike other home-inhabiting ants, carpenter ants cause structural damage to wood by tunneling and nesting inside the wood. They prefer to reside both outdoors and indoors in moist, decaying or hollow wood. They cut “galleries” into the wood (with the grain) to provide passageways for movement from section to section of their nest. They may eventually hollow out and damage sound structural timbers. They are also a visual annoyance as they wander in search of food, and the foraging workers have rather large mandibles with which they can bite. As they carve their galleries, they leave a “sawdust pile” behind to help you find their nests. This sawdust pile may include, in addition to the wood fragments, other debris from the nest, including bits of soil, dead ants, parts of insects and remnants of other food they ate. Carpenter ants eat aphids, sweet sugary insects, termites, other insects and virtually everything people eat.. The Carpenter ant queen lays 15 to 20 eggs the first year and up to 30 eggs the second year. Eggs complete their life cycle in about 60 days. Worker ants can live up to seven years, while a queen may live up to 25 years.

When excited, carpenter ants click their mandibles. Bang on the wall and hollow doors and then listen for carpenter ant “rustling” noises with a stethoscope. The Author has often used this trick to find their nests. Apply a fine layer of dust (baking soda or talcum powder or Comet® or food-grade DE) to house wiring and plumbing pipes, wherever they can be reached. Research has shown that ants use these items as pathways through the wall voids. Unscrew the cover plates from electrical switches and outlets [turn off the main power switch first!] and insert a dust applicator wand inside the box. If the house has a sealed vapor barrier around the electrical box, be sure to reseal any and all openings you make with caulk, duct tape or electrical tape or foam after applying the dust. Properly apply dusts to all accessible plumbing pipes in walls and crawl spaces.

Carpenter ants clean their nesting sites, and their galleries are not lined with mud or moist soil as termite galleries typically are. Carpenter ant workers keep their galleries as smooth as sand papered wood. When a carpenter ant colony gets very large (6-10 years old and has more than 2,000 workers), it may produce winged reproductives, called swarmers that can swarm - usually during warmer months. The color of carpenter ants varies between species, ranging from jet-black to dark brown, red, black, yellow, orange, yellowish tan or light brown. They are most commonly black, but some carpenter ants exhibit both red and black coloration. Carpenter ants are common in many parts of the world. Because the size and color of carpenter ants vary between species and even between individuals within a single colony, these characteristics are not used in identifying carpenter ant infestation. Identification of carpenter ant species can only be made through careful observation of specific physical characteristics.

In natural environments, carpenter ants dwell in both dead and living trees, stumps and rotting logs. Here, they are beneficial insects and very important in the balance of nature because they enhance the decay of the wood. They achieve pest status when a colony invades and damages the integrity of the wood within your home or any other building where wood is found. Carpenter ants prefer to start their galleried nests in areas where wood has been exposed to severe moisture. Certain parts of a house, around and under windows, roof eaves, decks and porches are more likely to be initially infested by carpenter ants. Carpenter ants prefer to nest in moist wood, but wood saturated previously may be soft enough for carpenter ants to hollow it out and/or they simply may use an old abandoned nest or wood "hollowed out" by termites. Nests also may be located in hollow doors, small void areas produced during construction or even in foam insulation. Carpenter ant infestations are often a serious problem in poorly maintained log houses. In controlling any infestation of carpenter ants, it is necessary to first find all of the nests.

Carpenter ants build two types of nests: parent colonies and satellite colonies. The main or brood nest is normally located in the soil, under rocks or in plants; most are not in decaying wood. This site must be permanently moist or the eggs and younger larvae cannot survive. Old nests can contain thousands of ants, but it takes several years for a new nest to build up to a few hundred individuals. Main nests are usually outdoors in rotting stumps, trees or in decaying landscape timbers. Parent colonies consist of a queen, her brood, and workers. Satellite colonies consist only of thousands of workers. Workers create satellite colonies or nests when the parent colony lacks sufficient space or when there is another suitable supply of food or water. In these satellite nests the workers care for the older larvae and pupae that tolerate dryer conditions. These nests are often in wall voids and eaves, ceilings or under materials, e.g., insulation in attics or crawl spaces. Most carpenter ant nests in houses are opportunistic satellite nests that maintain communication with the main nest. Remove them all! (There are over 300 times as many ants out at night, so inspect at night.) Nine out of every ten nests can be found outside in soil or in trees 8” or larger in diameter; look for rotten areas and holes and frass (sawdust).Satellite colonies are typically located within 20 to 40 feet from the parent nest. Carpenter ants are usually a symptom of a water leak or moisture problem because they usually nest in wood that remains wet. Correct all moisture problems! Once any nest is found, kill it or remove it.

Toxic baits - Honey poisoned with 1% or less of borax) or 3% - 5% food-grade DE will kill some carpenter ants who will then be cannibalized by some of their meat-eating sisters and/or the queen will be killed. Put liquid toxic baits in red traps or red packing slips (stuck open) securely fastened in out-of-the-way locations; check and replenish the liquid bait as needed. Note: In the North they do little feeding after September 1, so bait them before this date or wait until next spring. Also, bait placements should be made later in the day. Kill them with open packets of aspartame.

DRINKABLE CARPENTER ANT BAITS

with 1% or less borax and 10% sucrose water in a 35 mm film capsule drilled at the edges on opposite sides and inverted on its lid - the “lid” now the base and the feeding trough; rinse or refill them weekly for at least 1 month; or put honey with a boron toxin in red packing slip envelopes placed near ant trails, but out of the reach of children, pets and/or animals. Put 10-15 stations up where you see carpenter ant activity. Keep boron baits away from people and pets.

The very best carpenter ant protection is to maintain dry conditions with proper construction and maintenance. Remember that anywhere wood is in contact with soil there is a risk of carpenter ant infestation.

To prevent further carpenter ant infestations, prune all trees and bushes so branches do not touch the house and correct all moisture problems such as leaky roofs and plumbing. Paint and/or seal exposed wood construction before it becomes wet. Replace previously ant-infested wood, rotted, or water-damaged wooden parts of the structure and eliminate all wood/soil contacts. Remove and repair all wood damaged by moisture, ventilate damp areas, clean gutters to avoid clogging which leads to water damage to siding or roof. Remove all moisture sources. Properly install vents and dehumidifiers. Air currents irritate them, so use air to flush them and leave the fans run 24/7. Properly store all firewood on raised platforms, outside and well away from the house. Remove all nearby rotted stumps or logs. Check for rotting landscaping wood. Air currents really irritate these ants, so keep your fans going.

THREE CRAZY ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The crazy ant whose Latin name is: Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille), occurs in large numbers in homes or out-of-doors. Ants of this species often forage long distances away from their nests, so nests are often difficult to find and then control. The species whose Latin name is: anoplolepis gracilipes are also known as yellow crazy ants as a result of their frantic movements and erratic behavior. While this species originated in Southwest Africa, it is known worldwide as an invasive species and environmental pest. This species of adult crazy ants are yellow or tan in color and worker ants are the smallest caste of their colonies. Crazy ant antennae have 12 segments without a club, and are elongated. The eyes of the crazy ant are elliptical and convex, positioned close to the posterior borders of their heads. A crazy ant’s legs are extremely long and its head, thorax, gaster and petiole are brown to black in color. While both male and female crazy ants have wings, males are rarely seen in flight and females shed their wings after mating. Crazy ant workers are omnivorous, feeding on both dead and live insects, honeydew produced from insects, fruits, plant secretions, seeds and a variety of household food items. Crazy ants prefer high-protein diets, and are capable of killing large prey. Workers also gather food from agricultural crops, such as tobacco or lettuce, and feed on human foods such as fruits, vegetables, sweets, meats, grease and liquids. During colder seasons, crazy ants prefer sweet items, while in warmer seasons; crazy ants feed primarily on proteins. They have no sting.

A research paper published this year showed that the third species of crazy ants swarming in Jacksonville and Gainesville were actually the species with the Latin name Nylanderia fulva. So, it’s likely that some, if not all, Gulf Coast infestations are caused by this species, which hails from South America. This fast-moving, invasive ant species can establish colonies with multiple queens and millions of workers, blanketing lawns and sidewalks, killing native species, shorting out electrical systems and creating headaches for homeowners and pest-control operators. In Texas this same Florida species had been called - the "Raspberry crazy ant" - but, has now also been correctly identified as Nylanderia fulva. This ant is very similar to Nylanderia pubens, the Caribbean crazy ant.. Dr. Roger Gold, who heads the Center for Urban Structural Entomology at Texas A&M University has noted: Entomologists have been tracking the spread of "Raspberry crazy ants" in the Houston area since they were discovered in 2002, Gold said. "They went from one site to 11 counties in just a few years, and they're not slowing down because common over-the-counter insecticides don't work well against these exotic pests. Though "Raspberry crazy ants" don't sting like fire ants, they wreak havoc on electrical systems and attack other wildlife. Apparently attracted to electrical equipment, the ants invade by the millions and can shut down anything from computer systems and communications networks to hospital data bases and airport security control panels, he said. Repairs might cost millions. These little invaders can displace fire ants, and also attack such beneficial insects as ladybugs and honeybees, And they prey on the offspring of songbirds and ground-dwelling fowl like the endangered Attwater's prairie chicken. The ants were probably brought to Houston aboard a cargo ship traveling from the Caribbean, possibly St. Croix, Gold said. They are a comparatively small ant and reddish brown, Drees said. They don't live in mounds, but nest throughout the landscape. They can be found under wood piles, bird baths, flower pots or other landscape features. Colonies often contain millions of ants.

Before you start, you should know which species of crazy ant is attacking your home and/or yard!

All three crazy ants are highly versatile, living in both moist and dry habitats - these monomorphic ants have very slender bodies about 1/16” - 1/8” long;. Possible nesting sites for Crazy Ants include: soil beneath landscape timbers, logs, manholes, mulch firewood and other debris. Crazy Ants may also nest inside rotting wood, tree holes. Soil, the cavities of trees and plants, trash and under rocks and buildings. Crazy ant colonies have been repeatedly introduced to the United States with plants from South America, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. Colonies exist outside the Gulf Coast and southern United States and commonly overwinter in buildings and manholes in the northern portion of its range along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Crazy ants cannot survive extremely cold climates and will likely infest houses and buildings when the weather gets colder. Crazy ant nests can be located by following workers as they carry food back to their colonies. Entire colonies will follow a queen to a new nesting site. Crazy ants are more difficult to control than other ant species because they dwell both indoors and outdoors and can forage long distances from their numerous nests and they often form "super colonies" with more than one queen. Make sure you get all of the queens, or the colony will soon recover.

Eliminate food and water sources - do this and you will weaken crazy ant colonies, and weakened ants are vulnerable. Eliminating food and water sources will make your other control efforts more effective and it will also prevent ant colonies from re-establishing themselves later. Prevent their invasion with caulk and screens, Lightly dust the foundation with food-grade DE or talcum powder. Bait with syrupy baits and aspartame or borax. If the ants die next to your baits - your baits are too strong - if they are still feeding on your baits in 3 weeks your bait may be too weak. Crazy Ants are among the most difficult to control within a structure because of their erratic, jerky movements and reluctance to form trails. They will either be seen in trails or wandering "aimlessly" on walls or countertops. To encourage trail formation bait them with non-toxic baits then you can easily find the source of ant infestation - just follow the workers home! Then flood all of their nests with Safe Solutions, Inc. Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with peppermint. You can also grow repellent plants around your house to help repel crazy ants away - they hate Catnip, Pennyroyal, Peppermint, Sage, and Mint. Tansy can also work, but Tansy is toxic and should be avoided if you have any pets that like to chew on plants (sheep and lambs do this, but so do some dogs and cats).

To prevent Crazy ant invasions - Practice good sanitation. Limit food preparation and consumption to one or two areas that are cleaned daily. Properly handle your garbage (take it all outside before dark) and routinely clean garbage rooms, garbage cans, and dumpsters and their surroundings. Crazy ants will be less likely to invade your home - if food sources (like crumbs and spills) are not available - especially on a daily basis. Eliminate all cracks, crevices and gaps in the foundation, baseboards, window frames, and door frames by tightening them or with screens, sealants and/or caulk to eliminate ant entryways. Materials such as stacked or piled lumber, stones, bricks, leaf litter, heavy mulch, and other debris that serve as potential ant harborages should be removed as far from the structure as possible. Trim the branches of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation that may serve as ant highways so they do not touch the structure. Repair all leaky pipes, air conditioners and faucets. Bait along foraging trails and/or lightly sprinkle food-grade DE. talcum powder or Comet® on these trails. White vinegar and/or diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint enzyme cleaners with peppermint in infested manholes and other protected voids will kill large numbers. Mop with ½ cup borax per gallon water. Lightly sprinkle baking soda, talcum powder, Comet®, food-grade DE or medicated body powder or apply Vaseline® wherever you see these ants. Some Crazy Ants will be attracted and others repelled by the same bait, e.g., sugar water or honey and boric acid, in red packing slips (stuck open) secured in out-of-the-way places at a 45 degree angle - so use several different baits. Keep all these baits away from children and pets.

FIRE ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

Fire ants are social ants that first entered the United States about 1918, near Mobile, Alabama. Fire ants have now been reported as far north as Delaware and as far west as California. They currently infest at least 15 of the nation's states including: Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Nevada, Alabama, Louisiana, North and South Carolina, New Mexico, Tennessee, and Arizona. Fire ants thrive in warm weather and in sunlight; however, they quickly are adapting to colder climates, which means more states are facing fire ant invasions. Fire ants resemble ordinary ants. They average 1/8"-1/4" in length and are reddish-brown to black in color. Worker fire ants are dark, small, highly variable in size, aggressive, and sting relentlessly. Workers have the same body proportions from the tiniest to the largest. Head width never exceeds the abdomen width, even in the largest workers. The imported fire ants are very aggressive, and have been known to repeatedly attack animals that intrude on their nests. The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is particularly aggressive. Fire Ants are known to attack people, plants, and animals; they also cause damage to homes, buildings, air-conditioning units, and telephone wires.

Fire ants include a large group of reddish-brown to black ants that normally spread by one of the following methods: seasonal relocations, migration in nursery stock, natural flights, and after floods rafting on water. Ants can be blown by the wind 12 miles away from where their mating flight occurred. They can “hitchhike” on birds or mass together to form a floating ball to ride out a flood. Over 33,000 people a year in the U.S.A. seek medical attention from fire ant stings. A fire ant mound can be 15” - 24” in diameter and 10” - 18” high and 1’ - 3’ deep with some tunnels extending 5’ or more down to the water table and can contain 80,000 to over 250,000 workers. A.K.A. the six-legged scourge of the South. Note: Talcum powder will repel them. Rub the bites with the inside of a banana peel.

Fire ants are omnivores and will eat honeydew, seeds, sugars, proteins, plant and animal material including mice, turtles, snakes, and other vertebrates, crops (including okra, corn, strawberries and potatoes), plants, saplings, wildflowers, fruit, and grass but prefer insects e.g., fleas, filth breeding flies, horn flies, boll weevils, sugarcane borers, ticks and cockroaches. The Imported Fire Ant is credited with having dramatically reduced the range of the Lone Star Tick, a serious livestock pest.

In a nursing home, fire ant workers will gather food from soiled linens, garbage, IV equipment and even body oil buildups. During foraging periods only 80% or so of the ant colony may be inside the mound; the rest are out gathering food. Workers create and use foraging tunnels 50 to 100 feet long to find and collect food. That is why there are times of the day or night that flooding or drenching mounds are more effective.

In the USA fire ants readily defend their mound. Disturbed or injured workers release alarm pheromones. There are four major species, two native and two imported, found in the U. S. from the Carolinas to California. Mating between the winged forms or alates takes place 300’ to 800’ in the air, usually in late spring or early summer. The males fly up first and wait for the females, after mating, the males quickly die and the newly mated queens seek moist areas, normally within one mile of the mother colony. If the female lands on a suitable moist site, she removes her wings and digs a small burrow in the soil and then seals it. Within 24 hours the queen begins laying her eggs, normally only 10 - 15 in the first cluster. The queen ant can live up to 7 years and will produce up to 1,500 to 1,600 eggs per day throughout her life. Queens are the first to be fed proteins, so any effective fire ant bait should be protein-based. Fire ants frequently enter and nest in houses and are attracted to water and electrical wires and their associated magnetic fields or impulses. They can ruin gas pumps, transformers, traffic lights, air conditioners, heat pumps and other electrical equipment.

There are two kinds of red imported fire ants: the single queen and multiple queen forms. Workers in single queen colonies are territorial, foraging within their territory. Workers from multiple queen colonies are not territorial; they move freely from one mound to another, which has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of fire ant mounds per acre. Areas infested with single queen colonies contain 40-150 mounds per acre (rarely more than 7 million ants per acre.) In areas with multiple queen colonies, there may be 200 or more mounds and up to 40 million red fire ants per acre. Total time from egg to adult averages 30 days, workers live up to 180 days, and queens live two to six years. The imported fire ant will not only forage for food, such as small insects, dead animals, and sweet materials such as plant secretions but will also attack and kill insects and small animals to feed. The southern fire ant go for a variety of foods including protein, greases and sweet foods.

Some areas also have black imported fire ants, or even hybrids of the red and black fire ant species. They all are similar in biology and behavior and all are capable of stinging. Fire ants have a complete life cycle. The eggs hatch into legless larvae, which develop into pupae and ultimately become adults. Fire ants are omnivorous feeders. They will eat: Carbohydrates (e.g., fruits, sugars, and syrups), Proteins (e.g., insects and meat) and Lipids (e.g., grease, lard, and oils from seeds). Workers will forage for food more than one hundred feet from the nest. They can forage during both the day and the night, generally when air temperatures are between 70° and 90°F. When a large food source is found, the foraging ants recruit other workers to help take the food back to the colony.

Fire ants build their mounds in any type of soil, but prefer open, sunny areas such as schoolyards, pastures, parks, golf courses, lawns, meadows, and athletic fields. Mounds are 10 to 24 inches in diameter and 18 inches high. They also may exceed six feet underground. Often mounds are found in rotting logs and around stumps and logs. Fire ant mounds in public areas pose not only a medical threat to people and animals; they detract from the aesthetic value of the landscape. Fire ants form colonies close to homes and other buildings and occasionally feed on vegetable plants in home gardens. The worst damage occurs during hot, dry weather. Like other ants, fire ants frequently infest electrical equipment. They chew on insulation and can cause short circuits and fires or interfere with switching mechanisms. Fire ants also are known to invade compost piles and mulched flowerbeds seeking warmth and moisture. Armadillos, which primarily feed on insects, have been known to dig into fire ant mounds to dine on eggs, larvae, pupae, and worker fire ants.

Fire ants are a nuisance, can interfere with outdoor activities, and harm wildlife. A fire ant's venom burns like a hot match and causes tiny blisters or white pustules that persist for days if left untreated or for weeks if scratched or infected and may leave

permanent scars. Their venom can also cause nausea, vomiting, disorientation, dizziness, asthma, and shock. In some sensitive victims, the fire ant sting can cause anaphylactic shock or even death.

If you are stung by a fire ant, cautiously watch for excessive swelling, itching or redness, or other symptoms like shortness of breath, thickening of the tongue, or sweating, indicating a systemic allergic reaction, all of which could be fatal. If these symptoms appear, seek medical attention immediately. Otherwise, treat stings like other insect bites by keeping them clean and intact to avoid getting secondary infections - the Author uses hydrated bentonite clay to relieve the pain and draw out the toxins. Somewhere between 30% to 60% of all the people in fire ant territories are stung each year!

The oldest and most expendable 20% or so of the colony’s fire ant workers leave the nest to search for food. They explore 50-100 feet from the nest with an efficient looping pattern. They can gnaw on soiled clothing. Although the worker ants can chew and cut with their mandibles, they can only swallow liquids. When they encounter liquid food in the field, they swallow it and carry it back to the nest. Solid food is cut to reasonable size and carried back to the nest. They prefer protein foods, e.g., insects and meats, but will feed virtually on everything, including fruit, seeds, plant sap and nectar, honeydew, insects, grease, butter, honeydew, plants, nuts, garbage, i.v. tubes, needles, body oils, animal carcasses,etc. They especially like foods high in fat and they love to eat tuna fish, (They first suck out the juices and then carry the dry tuna sticks back to the nest.) grape jelly and Coca-Cola, so add 5% or less of borax acid or aspartame or food-grade DE or Splenda® to these baits.

Keep all baits out of the reach of children, pets and wildlife.

Like other ants, fire ant workers share their food with their nest mates by regurgitating it so that it can be licked or sucked up as a liquid by other ants. In this way, most ants in the nest get fed equally. This food sharing is why slow-acting poison baits can be an effective control tactic against fire ants. You can try using 1% or less borax or boric acid with 10% sucrose or aspartame in water by ant colonies for 3 - 4 months - it may take that long to get control. Quickly clean up food debris and garbage to help direct the fire ants to your baits. Try using several (filled and drilled) 35 mm film capsules per nest or sponge pieces soaked with bait.

Voracious predators, fire ants consume large numbers of fleas, ticks and other insects and can be the most abundant natural predator of plant-feeding insects in cotton, soybean, peanuts, corn and other important agricultural crops. Adult fire ants are incapable of swallowing solid food - they carry it back to the mound and feed it to the larger larvae, which chew and digest it and regurgitate it in liquid form. In this manner, liquid food is passed from the larvae back to the workers and then shared with all ants in the colony. Because the adults are incapable of swallowing solid food - is exactly why you need to mist the aspartame on the fire ant mound! The Author has read that Splenda® will also kill fire ants - Splenda®’s molecular structure is similar to that of DDT. Sprinkle it around the mound. The ants supposedly love it to death.

Fire ants spread by swarming. Unmated, winged alates (reproductive male and female ants) exit the mound in mass, fly into the air and mate while airborne. Newly mated fire ant queens fall back to the ground within a few hundred yards to a few miles of the mound from which they emerged, shed their wings and attempt to start new colonies. Fire ants also travel long distances by hiding in soil, plants with roots, nursery stock, gravel, grass, sod, hay, wood, or soil-moving equipment transported by motor vehicles. They disperse locally during the mating process, floods, and mass movement of colonies. At first the new queen is ‘on her own’. She lays a few eggs that eventually become small workers. These first workers then help care for their younger sisters and the colony begins to grow. It takes several months for a colony to get large enough to build a mound large enough to be noticed in your pasture or lawn. For every large fire ant mound in a lawn there are usually many younger colonies that are still too small to produce visible mounds.

Fire ants are tick predators - normally yards with fire ants also do not have ticks. If you have no ticks there obviously, is less danger of disease. They also control the ground stage of horn flies.

Only undisturbed forested areas remain virtually fire ant free. Fire ants must have sun energy to exist. Cloudy, cool days in early morning or late afternoon, in fall, winter and/or spring are the best times to kill fire ants. Spring is the best time to try borax or aspartame baits mixed in sugar, jelly, honey or pet food. Try flooding nesting sites with copious amounts of diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint or Bug Mojo or with 1 gallon of orange juice and 2 gallons of water and a dash of dish soap.

How to avoid being stung - Any person who stops to stand on a mound or one of its tunnels, or who leans against a nearby fence post here in the USA, can have hundreds of fire ants rush out to attack. Typically, the ants can be seen swarming on a person for 10 or more seconds before they grab the skin with their mandibles, double over their abdomens, and inject their stingers.

That is why some people die! This does not happen in their native land where the fire ants fear the native phorid fly species who only lives to torture and kill fire ants. The March 2002 issue of Pest Control Magazine noted that in 1998 an estimated 660,000 people were stung in South Carolina alone and approximately 33,000 sought medical treatment costing an estimated $2.4 million. Try to avoid stings by lightly dusting your shoes, socks, feet and legs with talcum powder. You might need a medical practitioner to administer epinephrine in a timely manner. If you are allergic to their venom, you can be dead within minutes from anaphylaxis or anaphylactic shock.

Even a single fire ant can deliver multiple burning stings resulting in the formation of itchy, white pustules. In Brazil, when the Author kicked open a fire ant mound the fire ants literally dove into the mound - because of the natural predators there - but here you had better watch where you step! In the past decade, the phorid fly, a predator native to Brazil and South America has been introduced to attack and kill imported red fire ant colonies. This fly lays its eggs inside the head of the red fire ant. After hatching, the larvae kill their host and consume its body while developing. This has proven a potentially viable method of controlling imported red fire ant populations in some fire ant infested areas. Until there are enough of these flies to scare "our" fire ants when we disturb them - you need to be continually aware of your surroundings at all times to avoid being stung here in the USA. If fire ants do crawl onto your skin, they first bite with their mandibles, the piercing mouthpart, in order to anchor for the thrust of their terrible sting. As soon as any pinching sensation is felt, quickly sweep the ants off your legs before they actually sting and you will help avoid most of the coming pain and irritation. If you lightly dust your feet and lower legs with talcum powder, most fire ants will leave you alone. The Author was challenged by an fire ant "expert" about the repellency of talcum powder - so he jammed a stick (with a little talcum powder on the end) into an active colony and the frenzied fire ants ran up the stick until they reached the talcum powder and there they stopped!

ORANGE JUICE

The Author has killed fire ant mounds using 1 gallon of orange juice or grapefruit juice and 2 gallons of cold water and a splash of dish soap; open the nest and pour in the 3 gallons. There are literally tons of free oranges with a low sugar content rotting in fields around Ft. Pierce, Florida. Flood all fire ant nests with diluted diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint or Bug Mojo. Prepare baits or sprinkle several packets of aspartame on the colony and then mist with water. Fire ants can be quickly controlled when sprayed or flooded and drenched with Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint and food-grade DE or with carbon dioxide.

GHOST ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The scientific or Latin name for Ghost ants is Tapinoma melancephalum

(Fabricius). The adults are very hard to see because of their pale color and very tiny size, about 1/16” long or about the size of a pin head. Antennae 12-segmented, gradually thickened towards the tip. The head and thorax of the ghost ant is black and the rest of the body and legs are a pale grey color, almost transparent. Ghost ants live in just about anything outdoors and can be carried inside in plants, wood, soil and plant products; they then move in just about anywhere in book bindings, interior walls, behind baseboards, between cabinets and walls, in plant soil, in greenhouses, etc. Their nesting habits and size are similar to Pharaoh Ants. They also stink like rotten coconuts when crushed. They like honeydew and sweets and like to be around moisture.

A thorough inspection with prebaiting should reveal all their nest locations. Then try honey, watermelon juice, Listerine, jelly and/or peanut butter baits with 1% or less borax. Better still, use 3% - 5% food-grade DE or aspartame. Trim back all branches that touch or overhang the buildings. Remove all mulch, stones, rocks, boards, firewood and other debris that are near the building. Lightly sprinkle talcum powder or Comet® or food-grade DE. Look for nests and flood with diluted Tweetmint enzyme cleaners. Spray all visible ants with diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. Tweetmint enzyme cleaner with peppermint. Draw a line of chalk or petroleum jelly where you don’t want them to cross. Turn over all stones, rocks, logs, bricks, firewood, etc. outside when searching for nests. Don’t forget to look in potted plants. Caulk and seal all openings. Mop with diluted Tweetmint enzyme cleaners and/or borax. These ants and some Crazy Ants will literally stand on each other to get to a fresh honey or light Karo Syrup bait with borax - they will literally pour out of the ground to drink even a 5% DOT (disodium octoborate tetrahydrate) or borax poison solution. They and Pharaoh Ants respond quickly to borax, sodium borate or DOT baits in sucrose water or light Karo Syrup or freshly ground crickets, which act not only as a food attractant but as a moisture source. You also can spray them as needed with diluted Safe Solutions, inc. Tweetmint. enzyme cleaner (1 oz. per quart of water). Dusts, e.g., Comet®, talcum or medicated body powder or food-grade DE will kill and/or repel them.

HARVESTER ANT - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The Latin name for these Harvester ants is

Pogonomyrmex spp. The adults are comparatively large, 3/16” - 1/2” long, red to dark brown in color with a pair of spines on the thorax. Long hairs form a “brush” under their heads. The pedicel has two knots. A stinger is present on the abdomen. They regularly gather, store and eat seeds. They commonly are found outside in lawns, paths, around door steps, etc.; they are primarily an agricultural pest; removing vegetation from around their nest; but they are also a fierce stinger, and can occasionally invade

inside and inflict painful stings when they are disturbed. California Harvester Ant venom can persist for over 30 days. The California Harvester Ant

(Pogonomymex californicus) workers will leave the next individually and fan out in all directions. Red Harvester Ant workers (P. barbatus) leave the nest on scented trails and then later fan out in all directions. Found normally in the arid (sandy) regions (high desert country) of the Southwest. When the reproductives emerge a group of males will swarm over a single female forming “balls of ants” on the ground, producing two genetic lineages. Their head has rows of long hairs underneath and antenna has 12 segments. These are the ants used in most ant farms. To corral the ants the Fawcetts family from Washington County, Utah use straws to drive them out of their mounds. The vibrations they create by blowing into a trench near the ant hill opening - prompts the ants to rush out to do battle with whatever is near their entrance. Few North American insects have a worse sting! The stinger is barbed! Flood the mounds with diluted Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint during the hot part of the day when most of the ants are in the nest.

LARGE(R) YELLOW (CITRONELLA) ANT - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The Latin name for the LARGE(R) YELLOW (CITRONELLA) ANT is

Acanthomyops interjectus (Mayr). The adult workers are 1/8” - 1/4” in length (reproductives are larger), pale yellow to yellowish red in color, and have only one segment or node or knot in the pediceI. Nests in many different locations including under basement floors and around and inside foundation walls; (outside) in and under old logs and stones. Found throughout New England and the Midwest. They can be found primarily in the Southern states, e.g., Texas and Louisiana. These ants feed on honeydew from aphids and mealy bugs, which they attend. Yellow ant workers and reproductives emit a lemon or citronella odor from the head. This can be detected when the head is crushed. If the abdomen is crushed, a strong formic acid odor is produced. Workers forage outside in lawns, fields and open woodland. Colonies are sometimes located next to or under basement slabs; in late winter, workers will excavate the soil and enter through cracks in the slab. They commonly pile their resulting anthills on concrete or between cracks in the slab. If undisturbed, many anthills may appear. Winged ants occasionally swarm from these hills, but workers normally do not forage inside. Vacuuming the soil anthills is recommended. Treatment of yellow ant hills outside near the building foundation with white vinegar/enzymes and some food-grade DE may be indicated in the spring with repeat cases. They forage at night, so conduct your inspections then. When they swarm in late winter or spring, they are often mistaken for termites. Control is not justifiable based on potential damage. Try a sweet bait with aspartame. They have been known to strip a tree of leaves in one night. Occasionally they will invade a home for cereal products. Spray with diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaners with Peppermint and/or food-grade DE

LITTLE BLACK ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The scientific name of the little black ant is Monomorium minimum

(Buckley) & Monomarium destructor (Jerdon). Little black ants are small and dark brown, black or jet-black in color. Little black ants are a native species found throughout the United States. Worker little black ants are very small, about 1/32 to 1/16' long, shiny black in color, and slow-moving. Their queens can measure up to 1/8 inch in length. Their antennae consist of twelve segments and end in a three-segmented club. Their pedicel is two-segmented (has two nodes). Little black ants have no spines and their bodies are unevenly rounded. Although little black ants bear a stinger, it is too small to be effective against most threats. Both males and queens have wings before mating season, though males die soon after mating and females shed their wings. Little black ants prefer meat, but they are omnivorous and will eat insects, sweets, honeydew, vegetables, grease or oily foods, corn meal and plant secretions as well. Little black ant workers forage in trails, which are frequently seen along sidewalks and foundation walls.

Little black ant colonies are moderate to large and usually contain multiple queens. New colonies are formed by swarmers which are typically seen June to August. This ant may nest in many different places, including in mulch, logs, stumps, and in piled items. Little black ants may invade homes in search of a wide variety of foods including sweets, meats, grease, and bread. Outdoors, this ant normally eats insects, honeydew, pollen, and sweet plant secretions. Little black ant swarms are common from June to August, during which time mating occurs and queens form new colonies. Newly-established colonies grow rapidly. Outside, they build nests in areas such as woodwork voids, rotting logs, cracks in cement, lawns and open areas. Indoors, the little black ant can be located in wooden items as well as in wall voids and the junction between the carpet and walls.

When little black ant infestations occur, all of the gaps and cracks in exterior walls should be sealed. It is important to remove decaying wood, firewood and other debris surrounding a home or building if an infestation is even suspected. Little black ant workers travel along defined foraging trails and are slow-moving and can easily be followed back to the nest. Once the nest is located, it can then be destroyed. Seal up any openings that ants may be using to get inside. If nest(s) cannot be found, apply baits both indoors and out.

Both little black ants normally nest outdoors and tend honeydew producing insects. They feed on virtually everything inside, e.g., bread, grease, sweets, meat, fruits and vegetables, but outside they normally only feed on honeydew and plant juices. Destructor has been known to damage fabrics. They bite viciously and have been used as “stitches” to close wounds. Follow them back to their nests and treat with baking soda, talcum powder, chalk dust, Comet

®, boric acid, borax or diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint and/or with borax.

LITTLE FIRE ANT - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The little Fire Ant's Latin name is

Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger). The Little Fire Ant is less than 1/16” long with two nodes and two spines near the end of the thorax. It is not shiny and is yellow to brown in color with a darker abdomen. The ant is established in localities in Florida and California. It usually nests out-of-doors, tends honeydew producing insects, and feeds on insects. This tiny ant can sting and sometimes infests your bedding. It is not related to fire ants in the genus Solenopis and does not make mounds. This little ant can sting you 3 - 4 times before you can swat it. Look under partly covered bricks and stones. Flood with copious amounts of diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaners with Peppermint and/or diluted orange juice. Bait with honey or light Karo Syrup and (1%) boric acid or borax or 3% food-grade DE or aspartame.

ODOROUS HOUSE ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The odorous house ant's Latin name is: Tapinoma sessile. Odorous house ants a/k/a "stink ants or coconut ants" are native to the United States and can be found all over the country. The tiny Odorous House Ant is slightly broad and measures from 1 /16” to 1/8” long, soft-bodied, pedicel one-segmented, dark reddish brown to brownish-gray to black in color and covered with a velvety sheen. This ant has a slit-like opening on the underside of the gaster and is similar to Argentine ants in appearance. Their antennae have 12 segments. They are most likely to invade buildings during rainy weather. Each female in the nest lays one egg a day; young reach adulthood in an average of 24 days; workers and females can live for several years. Because odorous house ants tend to forage inside homes, they can easily contaminate human food supplies. While odorous house ants do not sting or bite, they can become persistent pests, traveling indoors in large numbers. Odorous house ant workers are all monomorphic. Monomorphic worker ants mean that all the worker ants are all of one form and one size. Odorous house ants have an unevenly shaped thorax when viewed from the side. The most distinguishable characteristic of odorous house ants is the pungent, nauseating, rotten coconut or rancid butter odor or pine smell. that is emitted when their bodies are crushed

Like all ants, odorous house ants live in colonies. An average Odorous House Ant colony will have several queens and can range in size from a few hundred to over 100,000 members. Mating and swarming takes place in the nest and new colonies are formed by budding. They are opportunist nesters, nesting anywhere that provides them shelter. Outdoor nests are shallow and are located under stones and boards. Inside, a colony can nest in many types of cavities, usually around a heat/moisture source. They have no sting. If there is a dependable food source nearby, there are also possibilities of super colonies which actually are many small individual colonies that interconnect. The queens of an odorous ant colony can produce thousands of workers and hundreds of reproductives. The reproductives are the future queens. Odorous house ants travel in trails, foraging for food night and day. Outdoors they prefer honeydew from aphids and mealybugs. When the honeydew supply is reduced in autumn, they often move indoors for food. Indoors, they eat meats, sugary foods, dairy products, pastries, cooked or raw vegetables, and fruit juices. When alarmed by a predator, worker odorous ants will move in quick, erratic motions, raising their abdomens into the air. They will defend their nest, but not their food source or foraging territories.

The odorous house ant has become a common and very difficult ant species to control throughout much of the United States. The ant is often mistaken for the pavement ant, which is far easier to control with most baits. The most accurate diagnostic difference, visible under magnification, is the absence of a noticeable node or "bump" along the constricted area between thorax and abdomen of the odorous house ant. Pavement ants have two obvious nodes, and fine grooves or striations along the head and thorax. Pavement ants also are more likely to displace bits of soil from their typical nesting location under sidewalks, driveways and other paved areas. Odorous house ants emit what's been described as a rotten coconut or pine scent when crushed with a finger and sniffed.

Odorous house ants are opportunists and will nest in virtually every imaginable location both indoors and outdoors. Outdoors, odorous house ants place their shallow nests beneath soil as well as in logs, mulch, debris, under rocks, pavement, stones, mulch, woodpiles, flower pots, and house siding, foraging indoors for food and moisture. Outdoors, odorous ants will feed on almost anything. They can kill and eat small insects and forage for honeydew, seeds, other plant sap and secretions. They also feed on meats, nuts, honey and other sweet materials. Odorous house ants will travel distances that are as long as thirty feet to forage for food. Nests also occur indoors within wall crevices and cavities, near heaters, water pipes, under carpets, beneath floors or sometimes behind paneling or in appliances and potted plants, especially near sources of moisture. The nests tend to be mobile; colonies relocate fast and often in response to changes in weather and disturbance. Odorous house ant colonies tend to have numerous, egg-laying queens and the primary colonies may split into smaller ones for no apparent reason. Ants foraging indoors feed on all manner of foods, ranging from the trash can, pet foods to your cereal bowl.

This particular ant is difficult to control, the best baits to try are often sweet, syrupy ones. As with all ants, activity indoors can sometimes be reduced by removing ready access to food and moisture (water leaks, spillage, trash cans, pet food dishes, etc). Temporary relief can sometimes be had by wiping away the invisible odor trails with a kitchen cleanser or dish detergent or better yet Safe Solutions, Inc.'s Tweetmint enzyme cleaner or Bug Mojo. If you are using any baits - do not disturb any foraging trails. Sealing, screening and caulking all of the obvious ant entry points also will help, along with trimming back shrubs and limbs touching the building. In nature, this ant feeds extensively on plant nectar and honeydew excreted by plant-sucking insects such as aphids.

Whether they are infesting indoors or a nuisance outdoors, finding all of their nests or breeding sites is crucial for a successful odorous house ant elimination. You will be able to find all of their nests if you closely observe them. As odorous house ants will leave a trail that will lead directly to their nests. Odorous house ant nests must be directly and thoroughly treated with a liquid concentrate that has a quick knock-down kill effect. That is why the Author floods these nests with diluted Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaners with Peppermint. Indoor treatments require a wall void dust treatment. Odorous house ants will most likely be nesting inside the wall void area, therefore areas like outside the ground-floor walls and interior walls should be treated with food-grade DE. Carefully use a bulb duster and inject the food-grade DE into the wall void areas using access points like cracks and crevices, utility or plumbing pipes, and electrical outlets. Wear a dust mask!

Mop with 1/2 cup borax per gallon of hot water. Make Vaseline

® barriers. Control populations of honeydew producing insects on plants near the structure using Safe Solutions, Inc.'s Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner.

Remember, odorous house ants can move their nests once every three weeks, usually in response to rain so, it is very difficult to find,

locate and destroy all of their nest(s). If the nest(s) cannot be found, you need to conduct proper baiting for successful ant management. Toxic baits using borax, boric acid, aspartame or Splenda® - make your own 2 to 5% ant baits and carefully place them out of the reach of children and pets - yet close to all entry points as well as in areas that are close to the nest or potential water and food sources. You may also apply ant baits directly along ant trails. Odorous house ants are known for changing their diet quickly and without any warning, therefore, you may need to change ant bait formulations and toxins according to how they are changing their diet. If the ants are dying by the baits - the baits are too strong. If the ants are still eating the baits after 3 weeks the baits are too weak!

Pavement Ants: Facts, Identification & Control

The pavement ant's Latin Name is Tetramorium caespitum. Pavement ants are small, about 1/16” - 1/8” long, hairy, robust, hard bodied with a sparse array of small (stiff) hairs all over. They originated in Europe and now are found throughout the U. S. and can bite and sting. They have two nodes or segments in the pedicel and no antennal club. The shiny abdomen is light to dark brown to blackish in color and the appendages (legs) pale or lighter. Dull red-brown, head and thorax are visibly grooved with fine parallel lines or ridges and there is a pair of small spines on the posterior portion of the thorax. Queens are about 3/8” long - with a 12-segment antennae. They normally invade a building while foraging for food throughout the year. Nests are normally outdoors under stones, along curbs or in cracks of pavement.

These ants are omnivorous and will eat many things, but they prefer greasy and sweet foods. The queen produces five to 20 eggs per day; brood develops in about 40 days; young go through three larval stages. These ants are found throughout the Eastern United States and are major pests in the Upper Midwest. Pavement ants earned their name because they nest in cracks in driveways and under sidewalks, piling the resulting dirt in a mound on top of the pavement. Pavement ants also dwell in the undersides of logs, bricks, stones, patio blocks and boards. Pavement ants may also nest under mulching or open soil close to building foundations. They rarely nest indoors, but when pavement ants do enter buildings, they are seen under floors, inside insulation and within walls.

Pavement ants undergo complete metamorphosis, passing through the egg, larval and pupal stages before becoming mature adults. Unlike other ants, pavement ants mate for many days, and the period of their mating is lengthened by heat and humidity. Mating swarms can include an extremely large number of reproductives. A typical colony of pavement ants includes multiple queens and numerous workers. A queen establishes a new colony of pavement ants by laying eggs. Pavement worker ants then tend the queen’s brood until they develop into adults. During their development, broods are transferred from location to location to protect them from fluctuations in moisture and temperature. They forage for up to 30 feet from the nest.

They are major pests in the Northeast and Midwest, and they sting and bite.

Pavement ants will feed on a wide variety of foods, including meats, grease, live and dead insects, seeds and honeydew from aphids. They prefer to eat greasy foods, and can eat most foods consumed by humans. They forage for food up to thirty feet from their colonies and set up trails to food sources from their nests. Pavement ant workers enter houses to forage and can become a nuisance when large groups infest a kitchen or garden patio. They are not aggressive, but they can sting and bite. The nests of pavement ants are difficult to locate so bait them!

Lightly dust food-grade DE into cracks under slabs and sidewalks where pavement ants are nesting. Alternatively, flood the cracks with diluted Tweetmint Enzyme cleaner with peppermint. Apply borax, boric acid or aspartame bait stations where ants have been seen foraging. Both sweet and protein foods are attractive to pavement ants.

A closely related species,

Tetramorium guineense (Fabricus), with good trailing habits and rapid movement is commonly introduced with tropical plants and flourishes in warm moist environments.

PHARAOH ANTS - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The Pharaoh Ant's Latin Name is Monomorium pharaonis. The pharaoh ant is a common household ant that is distributed worldwide and is considered to be the most difficult household ant to control. The Pharaoh Ant was described by Linnaeus in 1758 from specimens collected in Egypt. Linneaus incorrectly noted the Pharaoh Ant was one of the 10 plagues. Pharaoh ants have now been carried by commerce to all inhabited regions of the earth! These ants are very small—about 1/16-inch long. Light yellow to reddish-brown in color with black markings on the abdomen - their thorax is typically darker, helping to identify these ants. The Pharaoh ant colony consists of queens, males, workers, and immature stages (eggs, larvae, pre- pupae, and pupae). Nesting occurs in inaccessible warm (80 to 86°F), humid (80%) areas near sources of food and/or water, such as in wall voids. The size of the colony tends to be large but can vary from a few dozen to several thousand or even several hundred thousand individuals. Pharaoh ants can have hundreds of small nests within a single room! Approximately 38 days are required for development of pharaoh ant workers from egg to adult.

Mating takes place in the nest, and no swarms are known to occur. Males and queens usually take 42 days to develop from egg to adult. The males are the same size as the workers, are black in color and have straight, not elbowed, antennae. Males are not often found in the colony even though they mate in the ant nest! Hospitals frequently require professional control for pharaoh ants, as they can quickly spread disease and contaminate sterile equipment and rooms. Pharaoh ants rely on artificial heating in buildings to survive. Infestations commonly occur in food service areas. Pharaoh ants will nest in any well-protected and hidden areas throughout a structure. In southern latitudes they will also nest outdoors in lawns or gardens. They will eat food of all types including insects, but especially sweets. Unlike some other ant species, pharaoh ants have multiple queens and are able to quickly move their colonies from place to place when disturbed. Workers can grow from eggs to adults in as little as 38 days and may live for nine to 10 weeks. Queen pharaoh ants can live for four to twelve months and can lay about 400 eggs, but male pharaoh ants die within three to five weeks of mating. Pharaoh ants begin new colonies by budding out. This means that a small group – a minimum of five workers, ten preadults and a single queen – migrate from their colony to start an entire new colony.

Pharaoh ants can build nests in walls, cabinet voids, behind baseboards, refrigerator insulations, the hollows of curtain rods, the folds of clothes, sheets and paper and virtually any other undisturbed dark space. A colony of Pharaoh ants will scatter if any toxic substance disturbs it.

Conventional pesticides, in addition to their potential human health risks, have been shown to cause pharaoh ant colonies to disperse and split up into multiple colonies, making them even more difficult to control.

Pharaoh ants are primarily nocturnal and prefer to feed on food items they have not recently encountered and dead insects.

Once food is located, at least three different pheromone trails are laid down at 60 degree angles, normally along edges and behind baseboards, refrigerators, appliances, furniture and cabinets. Make your own baits and inject them into a soda straw, cut the straw into 1" segments and place wherever you see ant activity, or use 1% - 2% borax or boric acid or (DOT) or food-grade DE - peanut butter oil or Kroger’s mint jelly or honey or sucrose water or light Karo Syrup in red packing slips or in bottle caps or in pieces of tin foil installed in out of the way places. The baits are attractive as long as they stay moist and do not crystallize. Baiting may take a few months to over a year.

Control of Pharaoh ants is difficult, due to their nesting in inaccessible areas. Treatment must be thorough and complete at all nesting sites, as well as at all the foraging areas. Your treatment must include dusting food-grade DE in walls, ceilings, floor voids, and electrical wall outlets. Slow acting baits are now considered the preferred method of control for Pharaoh ants. A Pharaoh ant infestation of a multifamily building requires treatment of the entire building to control the infestation. Ants nesting on the outside may be controlled by spraying the area with diluted Tweetmint Enzyme cleaners using a hose-end sprayer. Toxic baits cannot be placed in just any location and be expected to work. Pharaoh ant trails and their resources (both food and water) must be located for proper placement of baits and effective control (Klotz et al. 2000). Non-repellent baits (such as boric acid,) should be used, as repellent baits can worsen the situation by causing the colony to fracture and bud. Remember this when you make (1% or less) boric acid or (1% or less) sodium borate baits. The higher boric acid or borax rates, 5% or more, are consumed at significantly lower rates. Keep boron baits out of the reach of animals and people.

PYRAMID ANT - Facts, Identification & Control

The Latin name for Pyramid ants is

Dorymyrmex pyramicus (Roger) & D. bi-color (Wheeler) The pyramid Ant workers are 1/5” - 1/8” long and dark brown to black to reddish brown in color. One segment is present in the pedicel and the last thoracic segment has a distinct tooth or pyramid (hence the name) on the upper surface. Their nests are usually found in open sunny places in the soil and can appear in lawns as ugly mounds. They frequently enter buildings along distinct foraging trails. Workers are very aggressive predators of ants and other insects. They also are fond of honeydew and other sweets. Bait with a sweet bait with aspartame, Splenda® or borax. Common in the southern states and California.

THIEF ANTS OR GREASE ANTS: FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The Thief ants' Latin Name is Solenopsis molesta. The thief ant is another small ant, only about 1/32- to 1/16-inch long. Antennae have 10 segments. They range in color from yellowish to brown. They will nest in a great variety of locations outside, especially under rocks. May nest indoors in cracks and cupboards. Thief ants feed on immature forms of other ants and insects. Also attracted to greasy or high-protein foods, such as cheese and animal matter. Thief ants are also known as grease ants and sometimes “sugar ants”, thief ants are one of the tiniest household ant species found worldwide. Their name is derived from the ants’ habit of stealing larvae and pupae from neighboring ant colonies. They are omnivorous and feed on food that is high in protein, including the larvae and pupae of other ant species, as well as other insects. When thief ants die, they usually curl up into a little ball.

While thief ants and pharaoh ants resemble one another, several characteristics of the thief ant can ensure proper identification. Thief ants have petioles with two nodes, one thorax without spines, ten segmented antennae with two-segment antennal clubs and small, compound eyes. The thief ant also tends to forage in well-defined trails, while Pharaoh ants are less likely to make trails but do so after food or water sources have been established. Thief ant colonies tend to be smaller than those of other species, but can contain two or more queens and several thousand workers. Thief ant queens lay eggs constantly. On any given day, a queen can lay between a few dozen to a few hundred eggs, the average being about 100. The eggs turn into larvae after 2-4 weeks, then, take about 3 weeks to pupate during warm temperatures.

Larvae born in the fall will over-winter and emerge as pupae in the spring. The thief ant queen is capable of establishing new colonies without the help of her workers, though she may still choose to include two or more workers after mating. Thief ants feed on protein and greasy foods such as nuts, meats, cheese, peanut butter and sweets. Because worker thief ants are small enough to enter food packaging, they can become a nuisance in the kitchen. Outside, thief ants forage for dead insects and rodents. Because of this, it is possible they can transmit pathogens from a contaminated food source to human food. Try baiting with bacon grease and honey and boric acid or aspartame. Clean often with diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint and/or borax.

Thief ant mating swarms appear from July to September, though these reproductive ants may also be seen indoors in the summer. When thief ants enter homes and buildings, they form trails from the food source to their nests. Thief ants nest in rotting wood and soil. They may also nest indoors in small spaces, including wall crevices, cabinet voids, under countertops and behind baseboards. Because thief ants nest in hidden areas, their nests are difficult to locate. If a group of foraging insects is found inside your home, it is possible to follow their trail to locate the nest so you can destroy it.

When you inspect outside, look closely for thief ant trails on walls near windows and doors. Foraging thief ant workers may be found trailing onto the building from tree and shrub branches which touch your home. Any items in contact with the soil, such as rocks, logs, and debris, can harbor a thief ant colony. The Author has discovered thief ant trails by pulling the grass away from the side of patios and foundations. Infestations of thief ants are sometimes difficult to eliminate because their colonies and the thief ant workers are small and often hidden. Thief ant colonies living in the soil or under items such as stones or logs should be treated by drenching each individual colony with diluted Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with peppermint using a hand held sprayer or backpack sprayer or a hose-end sprayer Thief ant colonies living in wall voids above or below cabinets can be treated by drilling a small hole into the void where the ants are living and injecting a small amount of food-grade DE with a bulb duster. Wear a mask!.

Clean your home on a regular basis. Thief ants and other pests are attracted to dirty places in which they can hide easily and obtain a little food. Caulk and/or seal any crevices or cracks in the foundation or siding of your home. Replace any torn or ripped screens in windows and doors immediately. Clean up any spills of food, grease or drinks quickly with soap and water or at least wipe them up with a paper towel. If you have shrubs or branches of trees touching your house, trim them so they do not touch the building.

WHITE-FOOTED ANT - FACTS, IDENTIFICATION & CONTROL

The Latin name for the White-footed ant is Technomyrmex albipes

(Fr. Smith). The White-footed Ant is related to the Ghost Ant and the Odorous House Ant. It is a very small, dark brown ant that may look black to the naked eye. The “feet,” called tarsi by entomologists, are creamy, pale yellow, giving the ant a distinctive “white-footed” appearance. The colonies may contain from 50,000 to a few million adults residing in several different “nests” or satellite locations. Like many ants, they are drawn to electrical connections. They may short out these connections causing serious damage and electrical outages. Homeowners can find large bands of thousands of white-footed ants marching across their front entry and into their homes. The pests have been known to form piles of ants 5” high, with members walking on and consuming their dead companions to reach their objective. These ants often nest in landscape trees and bushes where they farm or tend insects such as aphids and scale that produce honeydew. They are common on nectar-producing plants in the subtropical landscape, such as gingers and orchids, and have been found in mulch and ground nests as well. Unfortunately, they are also known to take up residence in walls and ceilings once they enter a structure in search of food sources.

The sharing of regurgitated food (trophallaxis) does not occur in white-footed ant colonies. White-footed Ants must eat your toxic baits directly to be killed or affected by them. White-footed workers and wingless females also produce infertile or trophic eggs, which are used to nourish immature ants as well as other adult members of the colony. Half of the colony is fertile and capable of reproduction. This high level of fertility allows for continued supply of replacement ants, even when a large part of the colony is eliminated.

Prune back trees and shrubs around problem buildings so they can no longer touch or overhang the structure. This eliminates one important route that the ants often take from landscape to house. Nests can be as deep as 2’ below ground. Flood them with diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint enzyme cleaners or Bug Mojo. This ant can be found in its native Japan and now resides in Florida, California and Hawaii. Put it on a sheet of black paper to see the white feet. It looks like a black ant, but neither bites nor stings. It can have extremely large colonies (in the millions) nesting inside your building. About half the colony is made up of sterile female workers; the rest are males and females who lay an abundance of fertile eggs. The sterile females lay sterile eggs which are eaten by the colony. Lightly dust with talcum powder or Comet® or food-grade DE, bait with sodium borate or borax (5% or less) or aspartame in light Karo syrup or honey and routinely clean and/or spray with diluted Tweetmint enzyme cleaners. Soak mulch routinely with diluted Safe Solutions Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaners and DE.

ORGANIC ANT CONTROL PRODUCTS

The Author has been working with Ron Guthrie, Owner of Mojo Distributing, to develop an EPA exempt pesticide. In 2012, we managed to develop a non-toxic, non-staining but highly effective product that is now ready for the national market as "Bug Mojo". This EPA exempt product is approved to be used over or near water without toxicity to fish, humans, pets, plants or the environment. This EPA exempt product is also non-staining and leaves no sticky or oily residue(s). Bug Mojo actually cleans and has a pleasant fragrance. This new product is unlike any other competitive ant control product currently available whether registered pesticide POISON or any other organic controls that are on the market today. Quick kill with repellency makes the best combination. Bug Mojo offers you an effective and safe ant control solution without any known negative health or environmental effects. Call Ron Guthrie @ Mojo Distributing if you would like more details on Bug Mojo or food-grade DE. They are located at 3400 S. Water Street, Burnet, TX 78611. 1-512.756.7100

Contact Safe Solutions, Inc on their website at http://www.safesolutionsinc.com to get more information on their Tweetmint Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint or their food-grade Diatomaceous Earth (DE). Safe Solutions, Inc. has other environmentally friendly products for nontoxic pest control, sustainable organic gardening, natural detoxification, and holistic health care. They are located at 2530 Hayes Street, Marne, MI 49435 - 1-616-677-2850.

Good Hunting!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

STEPHEN L. TVEDTEN was President of Stroz Services, Inc. (an alternative pest control company) for 25 years and is currently President of Get Set, Inc., an integrated pest management company and is also currently President of PEST (Prevent Environmental Suicide Today) an environmental group, and Steve is the founder of the Institute of Pest Management, Inc., Prescriptive Nutrients, Inc. and TIPM and the Natural Pest Control Association.

Steve is the consultant and advisor for Safe Solutions, Inc. Steve is Head of the Advisory Board for the Natural Pest Control Council of America. Steve was licensed as a Michigan Residential Builder and Maintenance Alteration Contractor and holds or has held Michigan pest control certifications in the following categories: Forest Pest Management, Wood Preservation, Turf, Ornamentals, Seed Treatment, Aquatic, Swimming Pools, Cooling Towers, Right—of—way, Structural Pest Management, Wood Destroying Organisms, Vertebrate, Interiorscape, Mosquito and Public Health. Steve also holds or has held Texas pest control certifications in General, Pest Control and Termite control, New York certifications in termite, structural, pest and rodent control. Ohio pest control certification in the following categories: seed treatment, general aquatic, swimming pool, general forest pest, timber stand improvement, wood preservation, industrial vegetation control, ornamental plant and shade tree, interior plantscape, vertebrate animal control, turf pest control, domestic, institutional, structural and health related pest control, general pest, termite, mosquito, house fly and vector control and Wisconsin certifications in forest, ornamental and turf, seed treatment, aquatic, right—of—way, general industrial, institutional, structural and health related, termite and wood preservation; State of Illinois certifications in seed treatment, right—of—way, ornamental and turf, forest, aquatic and mosquito pest control; State of Indiana certifications for seed treatment, wood preservative non—pressured, forest, ornamental, aquatic, right—of—way, residential, institutional and non—food industry pest control.

Learn more at www.stephentvedten.com

OTHER BOOKS BY STEPHEN TVEDTEN

Natural Roach Pest Control: How To Get Rid Of Roaches Without Toxic Chemicals or Insecticides

How To Get Rid Of Lice and Nits Without Combing or Toxic Chemicals

Natural Bed Bug Treatment: How To Get Rid Of Bed Bugs Without Toxic Chemicals or Insecticides

Organic Spider Killer: How To Get Rid of Spiders Fast Without Any Pesticides, Chemicals or Toxic Poisons

How To Get Rid of Fleas: Kill Fleas Fast Without Any Pesticides, Chemicals or Poisons

Natural Mosquito Control: How To Get Rid Of Mosquitos Fast Without Toxic Chemicals or Insecticides

WANT FREE KINDLE BOOKS?

Looking for free Kindle books? Come join the fan page at www.facebook.com/FreeBookClub.org to get the latest updates on free Kindle ebooks you can download right now!

ONE LAST THING...

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this book or found it useful I’d be very grateful if you’d post a short review on Amazon. Your support really does make a difference and I read all the reviews personally so I can get your feedback and make this book even better.

If you’d like to leave a review then all you need to do is click the review link on this book’s page on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/16hv5Bt

Thanks again for your support!

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

About The Author

Other Books By Stephen Tvedten