Pharaonic ants: features and methods of struggle

Despite the fact that by their nature the pharaoh ants are tropical insects, today they can be found in the human home. At the same time, they spread to almost all continents and became frequent guests of not only country houses, but also modern apartments. These pests are very unpretentious in food and are very small in size, which makes it difficult to fight them. But it is quite possible to drive them out of your home on your own, you only need to be patient and arm yourself with the right drugs.

Characteristic

Pharaonic ants are tiny insects whose body length is not more than 2 mm. The uterus is slightly larger - about 4 mm, and the males - 3 mm. The vast majority of individuals in the colony are working ants. It is them that we notice in the kitchen, where they penetrate in search of food.
The integument of the pharaoh ant has a light brown color, often close to yellow. It is because of this that they are also called red ants. All members of the colony on the abdomen have yellow stripes, but at the same time in working insects they are almost invisible.

They usually equip their nest in a place inaccessible to humans, so their eggs rarely catch their eye. Plus, they are very small - about a third of a millimeter, have a white color and a translucent structure.

The uterus of pharaonic ants is the largest representative of the colony. Her body is painted in a darker, almost black color, due to which her appearance is similar to the usual black ant, which is often found in gardens.

On a note! Pharaoh ants, who live in our country, are not able to exist outside the human home. For this reason, they never meet with other representatives of their family!

Lifestyle

The colony of pharaonic ants is very numerous. Under favorable conditions, the number of individuals in one nest can reach 350 thousand, among which there will be about 200 females ready for further breeding. In just one year of its existence, the ant family is able to produce 1-3 thousand heirs. The growing proportion of insects takes care of developing young animals, and the labor force is about 10%.

Inhabited in apartments and warm houses, these insects do not hibernate. They remain active year-round and tirelessly work to increase the number of colonies. Before mating, males and females have wings, and after it, working ants bite off the wings of females. When the nest becomes crowded, resettlement occurs: several queens, together with a small group of working individuals and larvae, move to a new place where they settle and continue to breed.

Since the pharaoh ants are originally tropical inhabitants, warm places are preferable for them. They are thermophilic and not capable of normal life at temperatures below + 20 ° C. However, in the conditions of apartments, these insects can experience short-term inconvenience even at lower rates - up to + 10 ° C.

On a note! But at the same time, in the southern regions with such thermometer values, the pharaoh ants freeze!

Pharaoh ants in the dwelling of man

The struggle with the pharaoh ants in the apartment is complicated in that while their nest is small, it can be located only a few centimeters in the most inaccessible place, for example:

• under the floor;
• in the cavity between the skirting boards;
• under the furniture;
• in the cracks;
  
• in pantries under the rubble of things;
• in the folds of stale clothes;
• in boxes from under disks;
• sometimes between books.

After resettlement, new nests appear and they are always located in places hidden for the human eye. At the same time, the "budged" clans constantly maintain contact and do not quarrel. In addition, the pharaohs ant is omnivorous and can be content not only with products of plant and animal origin, but also with rotting residues.

In modern apartments, these insects feel quite comfortable. If the owners did not find them on time, then the ants quite actively breed, build new nests and have a constant source of food. They find food in the bin, on poorly cleaned tables, in the sink where unwashed dishes lie, and also behind a stove, refrigerator and kitchen set.

Some "budded" families can also settle outside the apartment, but along the trodden paths, they will again and again return to the source of food. By the way, to find pharaonic ants most often it turns out at the very time when they are moving along a path along a chain.

Recommendation! Seeing the system of ants, do not rush to kill them. Better to trace where they are going - so you can find the nest and destroy the entire colony!

Methods of struggle

Since with a large number of individuals a huge clan is formed, consisting of several anthills, it is often quite difficult to get rid of pharaoh ants. Plus, they are far from always able to come to your home for food. These insects are quite capable of feeding from the chute and organics on the street. And if in the course of the struggle not all budged "branches" are destroyed, then the surviving ants will quickly recover their losses, having immediately mastered the liberated territories.

It is only possible to destroy all pests immediately if their nest is the first and only begins its development. In this case, it is enough to use a vacuum cleaner and this is the end of the struggle. But if the Pharaoh ants live in the house for a very long time, then here you will have to work hard and at the same time it is advisable to secure the support of neighbors. Otherwise, the pests that survived in the neighboring premises will return to your home again.

Professional drugs

You can fight pharaoh ants yourself with household insecticides.

Aerosols. "Dohlos", "Combat", "Raptor", "Dichlorvos" and any other similar remedies for crawling insects. These drugs are convenient to use and do not require any additional preparations. The insecticide is sprayed in the infected room with the windows closed, paying particular attention to hard-to-reach places where the nest of ants can be located. Further, the room is closed for several hours.

Gels. “Brownie”, “Clean House”, “Raptor”, “Absolute”. The composition of such drugs contains very powerful poisonous substances. In addition, working ants will carry droplets of poison in their nest, and therefore there is a high probability of the complete destruction of the entire colony, including the uterus.

Dust. “Fas-Double”, “Mashenka”, “Clean House”, “Absolute”. The tool may be in the form of a powder or so-called chalk. The drug is distributed in places of movement and accumulation of ants and from time to time renewed erased areas. Insects collect poison on their paws, begin to cleanse it and die.

Folk remedies

Now let's figure out how to get the pharaoh ants out of the apartment using folk remedies. The most popular include:

• Repellent herbs are peppermint, elderberry, cloves, wormwood and tomato tops. A decoction is prepared from the selected raw materials and all surfaces in the infected room are rubbed with it. Two weeks later, the treatment is repeated to scare away the newly hatched individuals. This tool is not able to destroy a colony of ants, but very successfully scares them away.
• Sticky traps - they can be made independently from adhesive tape sprinkled with sugar, or purchased at the store ready-made. But remember that in this way you can exterminate only a small part of the working individuals. Traps cannot affect the uterus and other ants in the nest.
• Garlic juice is another deterrent used to lubricate ant pathways. As a result, insects cannot find their way to food and due to the persistent smell they can leave your apartment for a while.
• Sunflower oil - with its help ants block the way to banks and other containers with products. Unrefined oil must be used to lubricate the edges of the containers and a repelling insecticide will prevent pests from reaching food.
• Syrup - it is prepared from water with the addition of sugar, honey or jam. The resulting liquid is poured into small jars and saucers and placed around the perimeter of the room. Ants attracted by the smell fall into the trap and die. But this method, as in the case of garlic, works only against those individuals that move outside the anthill.
• Boric acid - it can be used individually, sprinkling powder around the perimeter of the room, or preparing poisoned traps by adding raw yolk and sugar to the mixture. From the resulting mass, it is necessary to roll up small balls and spread them near the cracks and corners.

But nevertheless, the best protection of the apartment is prevention: try to maintain cleanliness in the house, take out the trash on time and conduct regular cleaning. Let your house always be clean and then it will become uninteresting for pharaoh ants and other domestic insects.