How to Get Rid of Ants

Does your home turn into an ant farm once summer rolls around? Here's how to identify common household ants -- and send them marching!

It's not your imagination: summer's heat does tend to lead ants indoors, where they seek food and a cool place to take shelter. The good news is, once you eliminate their creature comforts and devise a bait system that's targeted toward the species under your roof, you'll likely solve your seasonal ant problems once and for all.

IDENTIFY THE ANT
Once you figure out the specific species of ants in your home, you can then figure out where they're nesting (inside or out), what's attracting them inside your home, and how best to eradicate them once and for all.

Carpenter Ants: Large (up to a ½-inch long) black or red-and-black worker ants.

What they eat: Meats, honeydew, sugars, jelly. (Contrary to what you may have heard, they don't eat wood, they chew it into sawdust to create tunnels for foraging.)
Where to look for them (indoors): Primarily in the walls. Also, in attic beams, roofing materials, insulation, behind bathroom tile, around bathtubs, sinks, showers, and dishwashers, inside doors and curtain rods.
What to do: First, find the nest -- exterminators recommend following the insects' path (especially at night, because they're nocturnal; use a flashlight to see where they're entering your house from outside); they'll lead you directly to their nest. Then treat the nest directly. The least toxic method is to use carpenter ant baits, strategically placed near the nest. An insecticide meant specifically for carpenter ants, like Terro Ant Killer Dust, is an effective, non-aerosol solution; use it in or near the nest.

Pharaoh Ants: Small (about 1/16-inch long), light yellow to red workers with darker thoraxes. (If you're seeing more and more tiny ants, even in winter, they're probably Pharaohs.)

What they eat: Grease, fat, sweets, toothpaste, soap, foods other ants don't usually go for. They're also attracted to water sources in bathrooms and kitchens.
Where to look for them: Only indoors, because they're a tropical species; in walls, appliances, linens, and heating ducts, behind walls, countertops, baseboards, and light switches and fixtures, and near moisture. Nests are notoriously hard to find.
What to do: Pharaoh ants live in large colonies, and when they detect poison, they pick up their nests and scatter throughout the house (this phenomenon is called budding). Because of this response, it can be hard to get rid of these ants yourself; you'd have to bait the nest itself, and anywhere else the ants might choose to nest when they flee. You can try using a bait like MaxForce in various corners of the home and hope for the best, or you can call a pro.

Thief Ants (a.k.a. Grease Ants): Very, very small (1/20-inch long) yellow to light brown workers. Often confused with Pharaoh ants, they curl up into a ball when they die.

What they eat: Greasy foods, peanut butter, cheese, meat, nuts, sweets.
Where to look for them (indoors): Under counters, behind walls and baseboards, in cabinets. As with Pharaohs', their nests are also hard to find.
What to do: Since they usually come in from the outside, you can effectively treat your home's perimeter to control them in a variety of natural ways, or place baits near hotspots of activity. If you know the nest is inside, you can best solve the problem with bait that's marketed to destroy grease-feeding ants, like MaxForce granules.

NATURAL ANT CONTROL
Although ants seem like a scourge we'd like to do anything to eradicate, it's healthiest for your family and pets to try non-toxic alternatives (which are actually highly effective) before bringing pesticides into the home. After all, your home should be a safe-haven not a no-fly zone. Here's a recipe for natural ant bait:

In a small, unlidded plastic bottle, combine ½-teaspoon boric acid, honey, and aspartame (artificial sweetener) and set on its side as a trap for unwanted visitors. Intruders will be attracted to the sweetness, but must traipse through the all-natural borax to get to it, which when brought back to the nest, will destroy colony members' exoskeletons. It's important to keep borax away from kids and pets; although it's relatively harmless, it shouldn't be ingested.

PREVENT FUTURE ANT INFESTATIONS
In most cases, you'll need to reach the root of the problem (i.e. the nest) and destroy the queen to get rid of the whole colony. Nests can usually be located by following trails, or movement patterns, of foraging ants.

While it might be tempting squash the ten-odd soldiers that take a wrong turn onto your kitchen sill, live ants are actually attracted to the scent of dead brethren and will come running by the dozens to come collect the carcasses. Try instead to work toward an ant-free home with these everyday practices:

-- Store food properly: Store staples in airtight containers, wiping down countertops; seal up and immediately storing leftovers; regularly vacuum up pets' food niblets; don't leave dirty dishes in the sink.

-- Manage your waste: Take out the trash frequently (every day, if you can) and rinse recyclables before storing.

-- Seal up openings: If you see an ant column (a line) of ants, follow it to its beginning, and seal up the entry point, and any cracks and crevices around it, with caulk. No caulk? Use petroleum jelly. Then vacuum up the workers with a cleaner equipped with a HEPA filter. Vacuuming (as opposed to squashing) prevents ants from releasing the chemicals that alert other workers to their demise. Safely dispose of the bag immediately. Wipe up leftover chemical trails (just go along where they were walking) with a mild soap-and-water solution.

-- Block the perimeter: Draw a chalk – yes, chalk – line around windows and doorways; ants looking to invade from the outdoors won't cross the line.

-- Find a nest: Bait a pill-bottle cap with a dab of peanut butter, jelly or bacon grease. Stand watch and follow the critters back to their lair.

-- Guard the pantry: Dip a few bay leaves in mouthwash, let dry, and place haphazardly on shelves to repel ants and keep them from raiding the sugar, flour and paprika.

Clean countertops: Use a vinegar-and-water solution (mix one, equal parts, and store in a spray bottle) as your go-to multipurpose surface cleaner; ants despise vinegar and it's a powerful all-natural disinfectant.

Doing these things meticulously and relentlessly for three to seven days should reduce the numbers of workers marching indoors to forage for sustenance. Keep in mind that ants are inclined to follow chemical trails laid down by other ants who've found food in the past. In time, trails will go cold.

WHEN TO CALL A PRO
Of course, if you've got bigger problems (i.e. you suspect a nest is hidden behind a wall) ant removal may best be left to a reputable pest management pro, because the application of an insecticidal dust via small, drilled holes may be the only way to go. While baits could work in this case, as workers feed on its contents and take it back to the hidden nest, they act slowly, and may take up to several months to work their magic. Remember: different ant species are attracted to different bait.