Where do ants come from in an apartment and how to deal with them?

Where do ants come from in an apartment?

To find out where ants come from in the house, you need to understand their lifestyle. After all, few people know that each individual ant belongs to one or another colony. An ant always finds a way to its colony, no matter how far it goes from it. It is not by chance that ants appear in an apartment. Basically, they either enter the house in order to search for food, or even settle there altogether, since they are not predisposed to survive in the wild. Where do ants come from in an apartment, as well as the features of fighting them, we will find out in this material.

20 effective ways to fight ants in an apartment

Tips from the people's treasure trove of wisdom

If you read the reviews on the forums, you can identify several good ways to combat red ants:

1. Sprinkle baking soda in corners, baseboards, and cracks in the floor. Leave the substance for 2-3 days, after which carry out general cleaning.

2. Use ammonia to treat the paths along which insects move, as well as the places where food is stored. Ants are guided by the smell, and ammonia completely interrupts it.

3. Sprinkle semolina or corn grits in the areas where pests appear. Once inside the body, the grains swell, damaging the digestive system.

4. Prepare a solution of the drug to combat the Colorado potato beetle. It is better if it is a powdery substance. Dilute it in water; you can slightly increase the concentration by reducing the amount of water used. Pour the liquid into a spray bottle and treat the room: spray on the walls, floor, ceiling.

5. If you have dried tangerine or orange peels, you can place them in places where ants accumulate.

6. Make a honey trap. Pour water into a jar, add honey, 1 tbsp will be enough. spoons. Place the container where you see ants most often. The insects will crawl into the jar, but will not be able to get out of it.

7. Sprinkle baby powder or cornmeal on paths, near the trash can, sink, and baseboards.

8. Grind chamomile, wormwood, cloves and anise. Sprinkle where insects gather.

Types of ants

An ant is a small insect with 3 pairs of legs, an abdomen and a head. It is quite difficult to confuse such an insect with any other pest, but still below is a photo of a domestic ant.

There are more than 50 species of ants in nature, but in the regions of Russia only two types of domestic ants are found. These include:

• Pharaoh ants. It is no coincidence that they are presented first, since these ants are the most popular household pests. Colonies of such ants are not able to survive in the wild, so they find refuge mainly in human homes.

• House ant thieves. This type of ant is adapted to survive both in the wild and indoors. But most often, house thief ants enter living quarters with only one goal - to find food and deliver it to the colony for the female.

• Red and black ants. These are types of insects that live exclusively in the wild, and finding them in an apartment only speaks of an accident. They live in the wild, only in rare cases can they enter an apartment in order to search for food.

Ants that live in the house are predominantly yellow or orange, which is why you can often see the name red ants. If you are faced with the problem of the presence of these insects in your apartment, then first you need to find out where the ants come from.

How types of ants exist

In the climatic conditions of Russia and Ukraine, you can find more than 260 species of ants, but not all are able to live near people. Basically, those families of insects that cannot live in frost and cold remain in a private house.

These include:

1. 
   Red (pharaoh) ants,

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   They are popularly known as “house ants”, since they are the ones who most often appear in the neighborhood of people. These pests are small in size, with working individuals reaching 0.2-0.25 cm in length, and queens from 0.4 to 0.6 cm. In cold conditions they die, so they try to settle only in well-heated places.
2. Yellow and brown, thief ants. They can most often be found in a private home. Worker ants are small, from 0.1 to 0.3 cm, and the body is colored bright yellow or light brown. Due to their small size, they try to build their nests in hard-to-reach places, for example, in various crevices.
3. Red (turf). Like species number 2, especially red ants are very small. Insect dace has a dark red or even black color. They choose cracks and crevices as their habitat.
4. Big black ant. Their lair may not be located in the house itself, but, for example, on a plot near it, while you can see working individuals on your territory, since they are the ones who are able to travel long distances to search for food.
5. Carpenter ants. The insects are large, black, usually live in the forest, but their appearance in a private house is very possible if it is built of wood.

In addition, in addition to ordinary ants, flying individuals may also appear in the house. Where do they come from? The statement that winged ants are a separate type of insect is completely erroneous. This is the same genus of individuals, but wings grow only in those who are in the mating phase. Most often this can be noticed at a time when all conditions are ideal for reproduction, in warm spring or summer. After adult ants have finished mating, they most often bite off their wings.

The main ways ants enter the house

Red ants can appear in an apartment due to the following factors:

• Insects move into the apartment from neighboring rooms, as well as from basements, front doors and garbage chutes. Each ant colony has its own scouts who explore new territories with the aim of further settlement. For pharaoh ants to settle in an apartment, the presence of heat, water and food is enough for them. These are the main factors that attract pests, which will be much more difficult to get rid of. In frequent cases, when a colony lives in a neighbor's apartment, it eventually moves to new places in search of further food. To prevent such pests from settling in your home, it is necessary to periodically clean the house and keep it clean. When the first ants are detected, appropriate measures must be taken immediately.

• Insects entering the apartment through things, food, furniture. The banal purchase of used furniture can cause ants to breed in the apartment. To prevent this from happening, always check the things that are brought into the house. Furniture items must be disinfected before being brought into the house.
• Another common way for ants to enter an apartment is through cracks, window openings, and other types of openings in a house or apartment, which are the main entrance for insects. It only takes a few hours for an entire colony of ants to enter your home, so unlocked windows can be a serious problem to deal with.

Having discovered ants in an apartment, it is necessary to take appropriate measures to exterminate them. If you hesitate, the problem will only multiply. The main source of reproduction by an ant is the queen, around which a whole colony of ants actually works. Red ants often have one female. If she dies, then the entire colony will soon die out. Therefore, if you notice that small ants are appearing more and more often in your apartment, this indicates the initial stage of their reproduction.

How to prevent the appearance: preventive measures

Undoubtedly, it is easier to prevent the appearance of insects in the house than to fight the ants that have already settled in the neighborhood. For prevention purposes:

• do not leave products in the public domain;
• Throw away trash promptly and keep your pets' dishes clean;
• immediately sweep away food crumbs from the table and floor;
• Check for cracks in the walls in the kitchen and bathroom. Eliminate them if necessary;
• Clean the house on time.

Ants in a private home are a common occurrence. Using improvised means or purchased chemicals will help you get rid of “annoying neighbors.” Complete destruction of the entire colony is possible with proper preparation for the hatching procedure, as well as by following the recommendations for the preparation of baits and repellers.

The danger of house ants for household members

Quite often, apartment owners are faced with this question: is it necessary to fight ants? Of course, fighting such insects is a rather complex and expensive process that can take a long time.

Domestic pharaoh ants have one difference from other species - they do not bite humans, since they are simply unable to bite through the skin.

If an ant bite is detected, then with 99% certainty we can say that it is not from the pharaoh family. But the absence of an aggressive type of ants does not mean that they are harmless and do not need to be destroyed.

Ants are pests that pose various types of threats to humans:

• Insects carry food, which is presented not only in the form of fresh products, but also waste from their bins and garbage chutes. The insects carry this food to the queen, that is, to the habitat of the colony. Numerous food reserves in the wall, in the floor, in the cracks of the apartment will emit an unpleasant odor from which the residents will suffer. In addition, the transfer of waste from garbage chutes and toilets by insects entails the formation of pathogenic microorganisms in the apartment.
• They spoil food. Insects can sneak into any cupboard to feast on fruits, bread, honey and other sweets. This leads to the fact that these products containing insects will have to be disposed of.

• In an apartment, ants create their own excrement storage facilities, which will negatively affect the atmosphere in the room.
• Storing stale food in the walls, under baseboards, behind wallpaper, etc. will lead to mold and mildew appearing in the apartment. This is very dangerous for apartment residents, so you need to take the presence of ants in your apartment seriously.

Despite the fact that there are very few known cases of infection of hosts by various pathogens, this phenomenon should not be excluded. It is better for you to defeat the ants than for them to evict you from your apartment after a while.

Tips to help fight ants in your apartment (video):

Fighting ants in the house with folk remedies

Most folk remedies are designed to repel, not kill, ants. Nevertheless, most of them have proven themselves to be effective methods of exterminating insects. In addition, such products are much cheaper than special chemicals, and are sold in any store or pharmacy, and are also less harmful or completely harmless to humans.

Fragrant plants

Strong-smelling substances can repel pests forever. Ants cannot tolerate strong odors. Place small bouquets of dry or fresh herbs in the suspected habitats of insects:

• tansy;
• wormwood;
• lavender;
• mint.

Change plants periodically as the smell dissipates.

Herbs, spices and spices

Spices, herbs and esters with a pronounced odor perform no worse than aromatic plants in the fight against ants. You can use:

• various types of dry pepper;
• chopped bay leaf;
• garlic;
• cloves;
• lemon;
• coffee grounds.

Simply apply the substance to the ant paths and add more as the smell dissipates.

Boric acid

Boric acid is harmful to ants. Its action causes paralysis and intoxication in the insect, after which the individual dies. The product can be used either in its pure form, scattered along ant paths, or by preparing fragrant baits, which the hunters will definitely transfer to the nest, thereby infecting other relatives.

Minced bait

The smell of meat attracts ants very well, so poisonous baits are made from it. For example, meat balls with boric acid. To prepare poisoned balls, ground poultry, beef or pork is suitable. Mix 100 g of minced meat with a bag of boric acid powder, form small lumps and spread around the perimeter. The ants will be attracted by the aroma of meat and will carry the meat balls to the nest, where they will suddenly die.

Yeast

When wet, the substance tends to increase in volume, therefore it is destructive for the ant, since, once in its food system, it swells and causes injuries to the insect that are incompatible with life.

Prepare a thick, sour cream-like mixture of yeast, water and sweetener (1 teaspoon of honey or jam), and spread it in places where ants accumulate.

Vinegar

Ordinary table vinegar can deal a double blow to an insect, since it acts not only as a substance repellent with a strong odor, but also as an insecticide that corrodes the chitinous cover of the insect upon contact. If you know where the anthill is and can get to it, simply pour undiluted vinegar directly into the nest. If it is not possible to find the ants' lair, dilute vinegar in water and spray all surfaces and ant paths.

Essential oils

Citrus, juniper or fir oils will repel insects well. The good thing about this method is that it not only exterminates ants, but also acts as an air freshener. Dissolve some essential oil in water and wash the floor with the solution or spray it with a spray bottle. For direct effect, pour undiluted oil directly into the anthill.

Semolina

The grain tends to swell when exposed to a humid environment, so it causes injury to the ant if it eats several grains, since they will become larger than an insect when swelling. Even if it does not die, the ant will greatly increase in size and get stuck in the passage, thereby blocking the delivery of food to the queen.

To attract insects, add a little powdered sugar to the cereal and scatter it along the ant paths and pour it into the anthill.

If you don’t have semolina at home, you can use millet or corn flour as an alternative. The principle of influence and method of application does not change.

Petrolatum

Mainly used for the purpose of prevention and prevention of ants. It does not have any effect on insects, but only serves as a barrier, since ants will not be able to move on a slippery and sticky surface.

Apply the substance to the sides of drawers, the sides of dishes, or other vertical surfaces. Unfortunately, the product has not proven itself well, as it can ruin clothes, leaving greasy marks. In addition, Vaseline applied to horizontal surfaces will not be effective, since ants can build a bridge through the artificial barrier.

Eggshell

You can use a raw egg shell as an ant trap. Carefully open and remove the insides from the shell, leaving a little protein on the walls. Place egg traps around the house. The ants will be attracted by the aroma of the protein and will climb into the shell, from where they will no longer be able to get out. For best results, use this method in combination with other means of fighting ants.

Orange peel and geranium

Fresh orange peels or geranium flowers are actively used in homes where small children live. The substances are completely harmless to humans, but strongly repel ants with a pungent odor. Place orange peels in the affected area and replace them with new ones as they dry.

Geranium in a pot serves not only as decoration and air purification, but also as an insect repeller. In addition to ants, the plant is capable of exterminating cockroaches, midges or woodlice.

Tar

Suitable for controlling ants in the garden or garden. The product can also repel other pests, such as aphids, mole crickets or midges.

There are several ways to use tar in the garden:

• Wrap the trees with gauze or a bandage soaked in the substance.
• Apply the product to the tree bark, in a thin layer of about 5 cm. In this case, you need to retreat 3–6 cm from the ground.
• Spray the bushes with a solution of tar and water, at the rate of 5 tbsp. spoons of substance per 10 liters of water.
• Place sawdust pre-soaked in tar on the beds. Before laying out, fill the sawdust with tar and then boiling water. They will be ready when they swell well.

Repeat treatment as the smell dissipates.

Mustard powder

Insects cannot tolerate the smell of mustard, so they quickly disappear when using this product. Please note that it is not recommended to use the powder at home, as it can cause respiratory irritation. The treatment can be carried out in the garden or indoors where you will not be for a long time.

You can sprinkle dry mustard powder on ant paths or spray mustard solution on surfaces. To prepare a liquid product, dilute 100 g of dry mustard in 10 liters of warm water. Carry out the procedure with rubber gloves, and do not allow the substance to come into contact with the mucous membranes.

Kerosene

The substance will kill insects on first contact. An effective option is to pour the solution of the substance directly into the anthill. To prepare the solution, dilute 1 tbsp. spoon of kerosene in 1 liter of water. To repel pests, soak unnecessary rags in kerosene and place them around the perimeter of the house or garden.

Lime

You may have noticed that tree trunks in parks or squares are treated with lime mortar. This procedure is carried out precisely to repel ants, so the method can be used in your garden. The maximum destructive effect for insects can be achieved by pouring dry lime directly into the anthill.

Ash

Used to destroy pests in garden plots. To begin, soak 1.5 kg of wood ash in 5 liters of boiling water and let it brew for several days. Then strain the infusion and add 50 g of soap to it. Mix well and spray garden crops.

Pepper

To repel insects, you can use red, black pepper, and even hot pepper tincture. Simply scatter the dry pepper mixture in places where the pest often appears and on ant trails. First dilute the alcoholic pepper tincture in water in a ratio of 1:7 and spray the surfaces.

Both ground cinnamon and sticks are suitable for the procedure. Sprinkle the spice along ant paths or directly into the anthill. The sharp spicy aroma of cinnamon will force insects to leave their habitat.

Urine

Ants cannot withstand contact with acidic substances, so if you pour urine into an anthill, they will quickly leave it.

Sugar syrup

Sugar-containing products are mainly used to make poisonous baits, but there is an opinion that even just excessive consumption of sugar is harmful to insects.

Prepare a thick sugar syrup by taking 2 parts sugar and 1 part water, pour into containers and place in ant habitats. To make the product more effective, pour the syrup directly into the anthill.

Soap solution

When soap gets on an ant, it corrodes its cover, which leads to the death of the insect. Laundry or tar soap is best suited for the procedure. Prepare a solution of soap and warm water and spray all areas that the ants come in contact with. To enhance the effect, you can grate the soap and scatter it in the affected area.

Coffee grounds

The most effective is considered to be the grounds from freshly brewed coffee. Ants cannot tolerate this aroma. Place the thicket in the expected places where ants appear or near their nest, and soon the insects will leave the house.

Features of the existence of domestic ants

A colony of domestic insects can be divided into nests containing up to 2 queens and several hundred worker ants. This phenomenon is characteristic of red ants or pharaoh ants. Thief ants have one colony, which is supported by one queen. If the queen dies, then the entire colony is hatched. It is much easier to remove such ants than with pharaoh ants.

Queens in anthills differ from worker ants in size, which is approximately three times larger than that of the bulk. The queen is constantly in the nest and lays eggs. Nutrition, care and protection - all this lies on the shoulders of working ants. Any colony begins with a queen, which quietly settles in the apartment, after which it lays eggs, and after a while the first pests appear. Often you can find entire colonies of ants crawling out from the walls of an apartment, which have wings. These are the young females of pharaoh ants, which crawl out of their nests in order to find new places to create colonies. If such offspring are not destroyed, then the owners of the apartment risk getting four times more pest ants after a while.

The fight against ants must be organized quickly enough, otherwise, soon you will have to exterminate millions of individuals

Ants of any species multiply very quickly; within a month the number of one nest increases hundreds of times, and after a year by several thousand.

Ants are not demanding when it comes to food, so they consume almost all types of food that humans eat. The lifespan of parasites is up to several months, and females live up to a year. By providing optimal conditions, it will be very difficult to exterminate or evict ants.

How to get rid of red ants yourself

As in the situation with red pests, the fight against red ants must be carried out with chemicals. When choosing an ant control product, there are a number of important factors to consider. It is important to understand: how contaminated your home is, what budget you are willing to spend, what requirements you have for the safety of the product and the conditions for its use. The main thing is how urgently disinfection is needed and who will do it.

Disinfection with chemicals will help get rid of red ants. Choose stronger ones to deal with insects faster.

The drugs can be divided into 5 groups (based on complexity of use and speed of response):

1. Ant traps . The method is ineffective when there are a large number of insects, but it works well when the first scout ants appear. Ultrasonic and magnetic resonance devices have no effect on ants, so they are not worth spending money on.
2. Folk remedies . Traditional methods were effectively used by our ancestors, so it’s still worth knowing how to remove ants without using chemicals. Of course, if you live in remote areas and villages, there is no opportunity to buy drugs in the store and the folk method is best suited.
3. Insecticidal pencils . To achieve the desired result, they will have to be used for quite a long time. The difficulty lies in regularly applying the drug to hard-to-reach places. However, if you do everything correctly, after some time you will be able to defeat the insects.
4. Insecticidal aerosols . Very effective, since the speed of spread of poison particles in the air is very high. A couple of hours after treatment, the ant population decreases tenfold. Moreover, there is no need to specifically look for an anthill, because the aerosol penetrates into all hard-to-reach places.
5. Insecticidal gels . The way it works is very simple - the ants eat and bring the gel to the anthill as food. After a while, the queen and all the ants become infected and the colony dies out. This explains the effectiveness of this method. It does not matter at all where the anthill is located, because the worker itself will bring poison into it. The only disadvantage of this remedy is the time it takes for the nest to die. It is long enough for the ant to bring the poisoned gel into it.

Trace to discover a colony

You can answer the question of where ants come from in an apartment or house after monitoring them. This is the most reliable and sure way that will lead apartment owners directly to the source of the problem. If you find out where the nest of insects is located, it will not be difficult to overcome them. But, as practice shows, finding a nest is an almost impossible task for a person.

The appearance of ants from one place does not always indicate that there is a nest nearby. You can only verify this visually, which will often require destroying half of the apartment. The easiest way to kill thief ants is to find and kill the female. It is more difficult with red ants, which have several females in a nest. But they can also be overcome if you approach the problem correctly. Let's look at the main options.

Danger of ants

During their life, insects leave feces everywhere, which provokes allergies in humans. Depending on the body’s inclination, the reaction to allergens can manifest itself to a greater or lesser extent, up to anaphylactic shock.

In addition, ant bites are quite painful and can also harm human health. Crawling in various places, ants become carriers of bacteria and infectious diseases, which is fraught with serious consequences for people.

There are ants: how to destroy them

You can’t delay dealing with ants, because they multiply very quickly, so within a month you will need to take global control measures. To kill ants, you can use special types of insecticides. Let's look at the form in which such insecticides are produced.

1. Aerosols or sprays. Such insecticides are very convenient and easy to use. To kill ants, you simply need to spray a can of aerosol into the insects’ habitats. First you need to find out as accurately as possible where the nest is located. Even if there is no direct access to the nest, you can treat the area next to it. The main preparations of aerosol insecticides include:

• Raid;
• Dichlorvos;
• Combat;
• Raptor.

The effectiveness of such drugs reaches 100%, but only if they are sprayed directly onto the nest. When using products, precautions must be taken.

1. Concentrates. Preparations that need to be diluted with water, and then treated in the area where insects live. Such drugs are more effective than aerosols, but are not convenient to use. To treat an area with concentrates, you will need special spraying equipment. Anti-insect concentrates include the following:

• Karbofos;
• cucaracha;
• Get;
• Executioner.

When purchasing concentrates, you need to make sure that they are intended for household use.

1. Powder insecticides. Powdered types of insecticides are also due to their effectiveness. To use them, just sprinkle the powder in places where insects appear. The disadvantage of powders is that they have a long-lasting effect. Due to the fact that the powder sticks to the legs of insects, there is a possibility of the extinction of entire colonies without unnecessary costs. Powder types of insecticides include:

• Pyrethrum;
• Clean house;
• Phenaxin.

1. Gels. They are the most effective and rational means, since they allow you to remove entire colonies of insects without much expense. The gels contain a bait for ants, so when they eat it and transfer it to the colony, a massive infection of insects occurs. The ants die off within a few days after one worker ant brings the bait to the nest. The main effective insecticide gels include:

• Storm;
• Fas;
• Dohlox;
• Globol.

Folk methods. If you don’t have a modern insecticide from the above at hand, but you need to quickly use any destructive agent, then folk options will become useful. To combat ants, you can use boric acid, which is as powerful as powdered insecticides.

For more details, watch the video:

You can also use the following home remedies:

• borax;
• yeast;
• kerosene;
• turpentine;
• boiling water.

Boric acid and yeast are excellent and long-tested methods of combating ants and other harmful insects in your home.

If you can’t kill ants, you should find out that certain smells repel insects:

• garlic;
• sunflower oil;
• onion.

If you don’t have anything at hand, and you come across a whole flock of ants, then you can use sunflower oil and pour it over them. Insects cannot tolerate the smell or consistency of oil, so they die almost immediately.

If you really decide to exterminate ants once and for all, then you cannot do without insecticides. Moreover, it is important not only to purchase the most expensive products, but also to use them correctly. Having taken up the solution to a bothersome problem, it is necessary to conduct a survey of neighbors about whether they suffer from small parasites. An integrated approach to the problem in most cases allows you to obtain the desired result.

If the store offers to use ultrasonic or electromagnetic repellers, then you should not fall for such tricks. The seller simply receives revenue if he sells such products, but the effectiveness of such drugs is zero. The ants will not leave the colony, they will not die, but will not crawl out when the device is in operation. Therefore, ask yourself whether you are ready to constantly change cassettes for such repellers and keep them plugged in.

Special chemicals to combat ants

Special chemicals are widely used in a number of ant control methods. Hardware stores always have a large assortment of substances with different spectrum of action and price categories.

Gels

The substance requires application to places where ants appear most often. The insect brings the poisonous agent on its legs and body to the nest, and subsequently infects the queen and the entire colony. From the start of using the drug until the population is completely exterminated, it will take approximately 30 days. You can find gels on sale:

• Dohlox;
• Raptor;
• Trap;
• chops;
• Absolute;
• Clean house;
• Brownie;
• A great warrior.

Aerosols, sprays

They are often used by housewives, since the method of application is to spray the substance, so it penetrates well into cracks and other inaccessible places. You can increase the effect by directing the stream directly into the anthill. Please note that aerosols with tetramethrin and cypermethrin are considered the most effective.

In the range of products you can find sprays from the following companies:

• Raid;
• Raptor;
• Clean house;
• Combat;
• Bros;
• Varan.

Chalks and dust powders

They are not considered the most effective methods, but they still cope with the destruction of pests. All surfaces with which ants may come into contact are treated with chalk or powder. In hardware stores you can find Mashenka chalk, as well as brand powders: Reid, Raptor or Clean House.

Traps

They are highly effective and safe for people and pets. There are glue, poisonous and electric traps, which differ in the nature of their effects. For example, adhesive ones have a fragrant bait in the center, the passages to which are covered with an adhesive substance. Ants come to the smell of food and stick to the surface. Poisonous traps also have bait in the core of the body, but unlike the previous one, it is already poisonous. The insecticide slowly poisons the hunter and as a result of all his relatives.

Ultrasonic repellers

Such devices emit special radio waves that affect the ant’s nervous system. Under stress, pests stop feeding and reproducing, and as a result, leave the uncomfortable habitat.

The use of ultrasonic repellers against ants is quite controversial, since it is believed that such waves have virtually no effect on the sensory and nervous systems of ants.

Microcapsules

Before use, dilute the substance with water. Next, spray all surfaces that insects come into contact with. The uniqueness of the product lies in its transformation into microscopic poisonous capsules after spraying. Subsequently, the microcapsules adhere to the chitinous coating of the ant and are transferred to the nest, where they have a detrimental effect on the entire colony.

Preventive measures

If you are lucky enough to remove or destroy ants from your apartment, then this is only half the battle. To prevent them from starting again, it is necessary to ensure reliable prevention. The main preventive measures against ants include the following methods:

• Complete sealing of walls, pipes, ceilings, floors, etc. It is necessary to provide and limit all possible paths through which at least one ant can get through.
• For reliable protection, you can putty the walls.
• Ensure cleanliness and order in the house. Products must not be left on the table, on the floor or in the bin. The bin must be disposed of daily. Carry out wet cleaning in the house.

• To prevent insects from entering the apartment through windows or ventilation ducts, it is necessary to treat them with special means (for example, “Mashenka” chalk) or hang special “scents” against pests.
• Periodically conduct a survey of neighbors about whether uninvited guests are disturbing them.

You can remove ants from an apartment at any stage, but the smaller their number, the easier and faster it is to do it than to destroy an entire colony of red parasites.

See also: An effective way to get rid of ants in an apartment (video)

How to destroy an ant colony

If you manage to find the nest, then you should destroy it in any way convenient for you:

• using traditional methods (pouring water, boiling water, etc.);
• using chemicals (aerosols and sprays);
• using insecticides (concentrated liquid emulsions will effectively rid you of insects).

If you cannot find the nest, you can use chemical gels and powders. These remedies do not cause instant death of parasites. By contacting them and returning to the nest, the ants spread poison inside the anthill, contributing to the death of other individuals.

How and why insects appear in an apartment

The ants themselves are quite nice people, and getting rid of them is not very pleasant. It is not because of a good life that mosquitoes are born indoors - it is much more comfortable for them to live in nature, in their own anthill, built somewhere under a stone or in the soil.

Here they perform useful and necessary work for humans - they destroy insect pests and promote natural soil air exchange. That is why experienced gardeners and market gardeners, when they see an anthill on their site, carefully monitor its development and try not to touch the little workers.

But if it became cold and hungry outside, and scout ants unexpectedly discovered that there was a warm and nourishing place nearby, an invasion of a human home could not be avoided. And even if it is a large apartment building, ant expansion can spread to the very top floors, where ants suddenly turn from devoted helpers into malicious pests.

And you can get a lot of damage from them. House ants, like forest ants, are very good at adapting to new conditions to their advantage, and therefore often conflict with their true owners. So, they create a number of problems and inconveniences:

• when building nests in wood, they damage furniture, windows, doors and walls;
• settle in cracks and cracks, gradually enlarging them;
• migrating between apartments, they carry human viruses and infections;
• not averse to profiting from trash bins, after which they contaminate good products;
• By taking food into nests, they contribute to the spread of mold fungi.

Not all types of ants are classified as household pests, but only a few - turf ants, pharaoh ants, carpenter ants, myrmics. You should get rid of them immediately - if this is not done in time, the family will multiply, and it will be much more difficult to cope with it.

However, there is no need to panic at the first visit of a lost ant - under certain conditions, your home may seem uninteresting to an ant scout, and as soon as he appears, he will go home. But watch carefully - if you notice ants busily managing things for the second or even third time, it’s time to sound the alarm and find a way to get rid of the aliens.

How to bring it out on the site

The invasion of red ants causes a lot of trouble for owners of summer cottages. They appear not only in the house, but also in the garden, eating root vegetables and berries, flower buds, undermining the roots of herbaceous plants, trees and shrubs. But the biggest problem is that they are breeders of aphids in the area with which they are in symbiosis, and together they occupy fruit bushes and trees (apple trees, plums, gooseberries, pears, currants and others), leading to the destruction of the crop. In addition, they spoil flower beds and lawns by building their anthills. Often, owners of garden houses bring red ants to city apartments with clothes and other things.

The fight against red ants should begin with creating unfavorable conditions for them, that is, with cleaning. Insects should not have access to food: there should be no garbage pit or waste bags nearby.

Next, you should take care of destroying the anthill. You can place the “Combat” product in the insects’ home. Toxic chemicals in the garden should be used with great caution. It is better to use boric acid and borax baits. To get rid of annoying pests, you can spread a poison made from them in the garden along the ant trails. These can be balls made from 10 g of boric acid, a spoon of sugar, three boiled egg yolks and two boiled potatoes. You can arrange saucers with bait: put 2 tablespoons of honey, 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar, a third of a spoon of boric acid powder in a glass of water and mix.

Red ants cause great damage to the garden plot, and fighting them requires an integrated approach

Preventing pests in the home

To avoid problems in the future, you need to follow simple rules:

• The house should be clean and dry (especially in the kitchen, bathroom and toilet).
• All holes and cracks must be sealed.
• Products and animal feed must be stored in packages.
• It is necessary to wash the dishes immediately and take out the trash on time (you cannot leave it overnight).
• As a preventative measure, you can install Velcro baits indoors.

In a multi-storey building, residents of several apartments may suffer from an ant invasion, so it makes sense to cooperate with neighbors and fight insects together. If you cannot remove the insects yourself, you can always call an exterminator.

Using improvised means

Ants do not live in places with an unpleasant odor. Lemon juice, mint, lavender, parsley, and wormwood have ant-repelling aroma. The herbs are cut finely and placed in areas where ants move. It is better to use fresh plants.

You can get rid of unwanted guests using regular baking soda. When insects come into contact with it, they release acid that kills them. To make the poison more attractive to them, soda must be mixed with sugar and water.

Ammonia is no less effective. To make a solution that repels ants, you need to take 100 ml of alcohol per 1 liter of water. The mixture will have a pungent odor, which will quickly dissipate and become noticeable only to ants. This liquid can be used to treat all surfaces - tables, chairs, cabinets and shelves. If the ants return, the procedure should be repeated.

Ammonia is often used by gardeners to fight ants.

If there are children and animals in the house, you should use safe repellents - for example, salt. A solution of salt and water sprayed over surfaces will prevent ants from staying in the house. The mixture will give better results if you add hot pepper to it. Bulk ingredients are mixed in equal proportions and dissolved in water.

Soap is another available remedy against red ants. It is used in both solid and liquid form. To scare away ants, just make a soap solution and spray it all over with a spray bottle. This method will help not only clean the house, but also get rid of insect pheromones that attract other pests. To enhance the effect, add a little essential oil of coniferous trees - pine or spruce - to the solution. Soap can also be grated and scattered in areas where ants are active.

Insects cannot tolerate pepper, so you can get rid of them by scattering ground pepper in their habitats. Fresh, dried peppers will also work. They need to be scattered along the paths along which insects move.

Eggshells will help get rid of red ants in your apartment. It contains substances that have a repellent effect on ants. The shell will be effective both whole and crushed.

To forget about ants forever, many housewives use millet. You can scatter the cereal indoors - after this the insects will disappear.

The main condition when using millet: it must be dry.