Flying Ants

[prettejohn]

What are the latest theories on getting rid of pesky flying Ants?Any product recommendations? At the moment I am using a combination of chemical warfare in the form of spraying the blighters or squashing them. They appear to live behind a panel in our kitchen.

Thank you in advance

 

[EricLovesBA]

I wonder if they are ants or termites. Don't ants only fly/swarm for a short time to establish a new colony?

How to tell an ant from a termite:
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/diff.htm

 

[Crema Americana]

When my parents moved into their house in Florida they had carpenter ants - big flying ants, and yes, they like to live behind paneling (their house had that awful cheap 'wood' paneling from the 70s.)

Their solution was to take the paneling out and spray. Eventually they all died off, but it took a while.

They do use a professional exterminator, though... so you may have to go that route until they're gone.

 

[TomAtAlki]

If they are carpenter ants ( I don't think they fly ), they like wet and rotting wood. If they were in my house, I'd remove that panel and explore. Also, watch those ants, where they're coming and going. That will give you a lot of info.
N

 

[polostar88]

What about using large spiders?

 

[prettejohn]

Thank you to all the advice. I'm fairly certain they're carpenter ants.

http://www.orkin.com/ants/

Have been spraying the area they come out from each day and they seem to be a lot less. Am going to try some ant bait too if they come back.

They're actually fairly useless as they can hardly fly and walk fairly slow. Not very far up the food chain it seems...

 

[EricLovesBA]

For ants I usually have good luck with following their marching line back to the point of entry and spraying a good thick puddle of raid ant spray such that they have to walk through it. I don't waste my time trying to kill the ones that are walking around in my house, but rather just let them do their thing knowing that their instinct will lead them back along their scent trails to the poison trap. I suspect that some of them may survive long enough to bring residue to the nest. They might change their point of entry and reappear a time or two, but this has pretty much always worked for me within the course of a few days.

 

[TomAtAlki]

The ants are there because there is a problem. The ants are NOT the problem. You should watch and follow them. There's a leak or rotting wood, both probably.
N

 

[mulderfox]

i have seen flying ants before but they usually appear in spring and they are males.

 

[Girino]

We have Argentine ants (according to that page) and they are giving us a hard time. I can't figure out where they come from and where they are going to. We have a wooden ceiling and then the metallic roof (penthouse-like) and I think they like the wood or that they live there.

They are often found on the kitchen top, especially if there are crumbles or cat food (even 30 or 40 at time). I found them also on the kitchen stove, they were walking to the back of the appliances. I also found them in the kitchen secondary sink (the kind they have here in Argentina, an utility sink). I found some (3-4) in the kitchen cabinet where we store dry cat food (sealed in plastic bags like those they use here for vegetables, might have tiny holes).

One day I had dirty dishes that had been sitting there waiting to fill up the dishwasher and there were maybe 60 ants in the dishwasher (which was of course closed, but apparently the bastards can find their way in anyway).

We also found ants walking on the wall of our bedroom, up to the ceiling (we have carpet in the bedroom, which was professionally washed twice in 7 months, so it is CLEAN).
Today I found an ant wandering in the bathtub (in the bathroom with the wooden ceiling).
We have a professional exterminator coming to our building once a month, and we spray our share of raid whenever possible (i.e. not near cat food or in the kitchen, but on the external walls, on the balcony, on the creeks in the ceiling, etc.)

They are tedious to say the least!