Jul 20, 2011 – Sugar Ants?
QUESTION:
I've recently moved from California to Texas and am now hearing about sugar ants. Never dealt with these in California. Can't find any info as to what a sugar ant's actual name is - carpenter, argentine, fire ant, etc? Can you please help with this? Also what are the best treatment methods for these ants in a residential kitchen? Thank You
ANSWER:
I've always heard of and talked about "sugar" ants too, but always in general terms to mean ants that are fond of sweet substances. So, I went to that vast library in the sky - the Internet - to see what sense it could make of this and it pretty much confirmed my opinion. Sugar Ant seems to be simply a colloqualism for any ant that is attracted to sugary or sweet foods. On Wikipedia it even depicts a carpenter ant and calls it a sugar ant, another website refers to Argentine ants and other small black ants as sugar ants. While I am always open to being corrected, my opinion is that this is just a general name for many different species of ants that are drawn to carbohydrates (sugar), but in different geographic regions you may find the term more entrenched in the language.
With this in mind the proper control is exactly what you used to do for Argentine, Odorous House, Honey, and even carpenter ants back in California. Evaluate the account to determine what food resources the ants are finding inside and where possible eliminate these opportunities, determine where the ants may be entering the home and if possible permanently seal up the openings, trace the ants back to the nest opening itself and if possible treat directly into the nest with dust, aerosol, or mist. Since the ants are so fond of sugars we also can have excellent results using bait products containing carbohydrates, and for the small ants the liquid baits may be particularly attractive to them. If it turns out to be carpenter ants you can also have great success using granular baits applied near their foraging trails outside, although you may have to inspect at night to find them.
If these ants are in a residential kitchen then nearby wall voids could be dusted with a desiccant dust and a non-repellent residual material sprayed to selected areas where the ants are trailing. If you use baits encourage the customers to avoid spraying the ants they see for a few days to allow them to work at the bait. You could also apply the baits to locations that are a bit out of sight so the customer does not have to watch the little buggers feeding and trailing in what seems to be a happy event for them, but which hopefully is actually their last stand. Outside you can use a non-repellent that provides a good Transfer Effect, and we have several great products for this now. Since most colonies will be located outdoors, and the ants are only foraging inside, treating outside where you know the workers are traveling can be very effective.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
I've recently moved from California to Texas and am now hearing about sugar ants. Never dealt with these in California. Can't find any info as to what a sugar ant's actual name is - carpenter, argentine, fire ant, etc? Can you please help with this? Also what are the best treatment methods for these ants in a residential kitchen? Thank You
ANSWER:
I've always heard of and talked about "sugar" ants too, but always in general terms to mean ants that are fond of sweet substances. So, I went to that vast library in the sky - the Internet - to see what sense it could make of this and it pretty much confirmed my opinion. Sugar Ant seems to be simply a colloqualism for any ant that is attracted to sugary or sweet foods. On Wikipedia it even depicts a carpenter ant and calls it a sugar ant, another website refers to Argentine ants and other small black ants as sugar ants. While I am always open to being corrected, my opinion is that this is just a general name for many different species of ants that are drawn to carbohydrates (sugar), but in different geographic regions you may find the term more entrenched in the language.
With this in mind the proper control is exactly what you used to do for Argentine, Odorous House, Honey, and even carpenter ants back in California. Evaluate the account to determine what food resources the ants are finding inside and where possible eliminate these opportunities, determine where the ants may be entering the home and if possible permanently seal up the openings, trace the ants back to the nest opening itself and if possible treat directly into the nest with dust, aerosol, or mist. Since the ants are so fond of sugars we also can have excellent results using bait products containing carbohydrates, and for the small ants the liquid baits may be particularly attractive to them. If it turns out to be carpenter ants you can also have great success using granular baits applied near their foraging trails outside, although you may have to inspect at night to find them.
If these ants are in a residential kitchen then nearby wall voids could be dusted with a desiccant dust and a non-repellent residual material sprayed to selected areas where the ants are trailing. If you use baits encourage the customers to avoid spraying the ants they see for a few days to allow them to work at the bait. You could also apply the baits to locations that are a bit out of sight so the customer does not have to watch the little buggers feeding and trailing in what seems to be a happy event for them, but which hopefully is actually their last stand. Outside you can use a non-repellent that provides a good Transfer Effect, and we have several great products for this now. Since most colonies will be located outdoors, and the ants are only foraging inside, treating outside where you know the workers are traveling can be very effective.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
