How to get rid of ghost ants is as easy as if you do it the right way. Ghost ants are common ants found throughout the U.S and can infest indoors or outdoors.
They are related to odorous housings meaning they will also produce a foul smell when crushed. In this article we will show you how to identify and treat ghost ants in and around your property so you can maintain a clean environment.
How Do I Identify Ghost Ants?
The first thing you should do in any Pest control plan is identify what exactly you are dealing with. Wrong identification can lead to wrong treatment methods, costing you time and money.
Ghost ants are relatively easy to identify thanks to their small size and unique body coloration. Ghost ant workers grow to about 1.5 mm in length.
The head and thorax of a worker ghost ant are dark brown or black in color, while the abdomen and all appendages are translucent or creamy white.
Read also:Â Want to Get Rid of Ants in Your House and Yard? Take These Steps
How Do I Inspect For Ghost Ants?
Inspection is the next phase of any good pest control plan. Once, you know what your pests look like, check around your property to confirm the presence or find hot spots of activity.
Ghost ants are known to establish large colonies in moist areas outdoors and indoors. Outdoors, you can find colonies in soil, dead wood, or piles of leaves and other plants.
Indoors, colonies can infest cracks, crevices, and wall voids, flower pots, cabinets, baseboards, and behind tiles.
They may also infest small containers like cardboard boxes for appliances. Indoor foraging can take place in any room, but most foraging activity can be observed in the kitchen.
When ghost ant activity is founded, follow the trails to find nest locations or entry points. Take care not to crush any ants to avoid colony budding by their fellow ants.
Read also:Â How to Get Rid of Lawn Ants: 5 Effective Ways
How To Get Rid of Ghost Ants?
After identifying your pests and inspecting for activity on your property, it is time to start treatment. Before starting any treatment, be sure to wear your personal protective equipment or PPE and remember to keep all people and pets off the treated areas until dry.
Ghost ant control starts with cleaning up indoors:
- Seal loose foods like cereals, flour, and pet food, etc in airtight containers
- Regularly take out the trash
- Wipe down the countertops and mop or vacuum the floors
It is important to get rid of any crumbs and food residue that can attract ghost ants to your home.
Once you have cleaned indoors, you can start chemical treatments. In addition to foraged foods, ghost ants also feed on dead or alive insects and honeydew produced by aphids or scales.
For this reason, we recommend you start treatment with a broad control insecticide like Supreme IT. Supreme IT is made with 7.9% bifenthrin and will treat many pests including the ants themselves as well as the insects that serve as food sources.
Mix and apply this product at a rate of 0.5%Â of products in one gallon of water, to treat 1,000 square feet with your solution trench.
Any colonies you find outside then conduct a barrier treatment by spraying along your home’s outer perimeter by spraying 3 feet up the wall and 3 feet out.
Be sure to also spray pest entry points, like doors, windows and eve’s.
Next, conduct a broadcast treatment over your lawn and spray any ornamental plants or shrubbery. Be sure to coat the upper surface and underneath the leaves as well as the insects that serve as their food sources will die in several hours after being exposed to Supreme IT for its residual effects.
Once you have sprayed outdoors, you can treat indoor ant colonies by laying an ant bait like ant attractants which mimics forged foods that contain attractants encouraging ants to spread the product throughout their nests.
Apply a pea-sized drop on countertops, near window frames, in cracks and crevices, near baseboards, etc and where you have seen ant activity. You will also set bait near where you have seen ants emerge from their colonies.
Place bait 1 foot apart and allow 7 to 10 days for the ants to consume the material and die out.
Read also:Â Longhorn Crazy Ants: How to Identify and Get Rid
How Do I Prevent Ghost Ant Infestation?
Prevention is essential to keeping pests in check. Even after you have applied pesticides, the best way to stop pest activity is to make sure it can’t happen. Ghost ants are vulnerable to desiccation or being dried out.
- So the first step to preventing ghost ants is to address any moisture issues such as plumbing leaks. Fix leaky pipes or faulty air conditioning inside of your home
- Next, be sure to maintain a regular cleaning schedule. Continue to reduce food sources, vacuum, or sweep often.
- Finally, keep up with quarterly applications of supreme IT.
Conclusion
Supreme IT will protect your property from ants and insects that serve as their food sources. When applied properly, this product leaves behind a residual that lasts up to 90 days.
Under normal weather conditions, make reapplications every three months to ensure protection. Year round, ghost ants can infest homes and establish colonies, but there are ways to manage and control any pest infestation.
With these professional products, and tips from pest clue you can stop ghost ants from invading your home.
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