I'm in formicidae hell. (ot)

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Messages 21 - 40 of total 47 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
mountainlion

Trad climber
California
May 22, 2013 - 09:13am PT
Be glad they are not biting you!! the fire ants in the Philippines begin biting as soon as they are on you and it BURNS LIKE HELL!! the next day you will have little "zit" where they bit you.
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Topic Author's Reply - May 22, 2013 - 09:37am PT
Pretty funny Steve.. they are insidious and will find any weakness in the perimeter.

So..er Steve.. Nice house.. Might want to take a level to that garage though.. it appears to be leaning to the right in that photo. Is that so you can park the sports-car on the right and the SUV on the left? ;)

Ancient thread bump BTW. We're gearing up for ant season again. Mid summer is usually when the real battle resumes. Mr E is pretty passionate about ant abatement. Hunts the scouts down one at a time to give them the squishing-finger-o'doom and obliterates any trail he finds. We've since repaired a pipe under the house that evidently had been leaking for years creating a nice moist ant summer-haven in addition to the sink hole that nearly swallowed my laundry room (you see.. I do know a little about off-level houses).

Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
May 22, 2013 - 10:53am PT
JTM, just wait til the newly discovered Phillipine Pirate Ants get here!

YAAR!!!!!!


Scientists have discovered a strangely patterned new insect in the Philippines, dubbing it the pirate ant because of a dark stripe over its eyes that makes it look like it's wearing an eye patch.

The formal name of the newfound creature is Cardiocondyla pirata, and belongs to a group of species that are found from Thailand across the whole Indonesian-Malaysian region.

"On a collection trip to the Philippines we looked for different species of the genus Cardiocondyla that is known for its astonishing morphological and behavioral diversity of male ants," Sabine Frohschammer, a doctoral student at Germany's Universität Regensburg, said in a statement.
brotherbbock

Trad climber
Alta Loma, CA
May 22, 2013 - 11:38am PT
Pics please.
Don Paul

Big Wall climber
Colombia, South America
May 22, 2013 - 11:48am PT
My office is in the jungle, in Apartado, Colombia. The ants rule and that's just how it is. When you're eating, a row of them will climb up the leg of the table and onto your plate. You only have about 15 minutes before they smell your food and then you have to watch what you're eating. What I do to combat them is to put some kind of ant poison on their trails, this makes them turn around and go somewhere else. To protect food on a table, you put a bowl of water under each table leg. The ants cant cross the water.

We also have huge cockroaches and a lot of mosquitos. They carry various diseases like dengue and malaria. I think its instinctive to be grossed out by them, but they're not going to go away. Maybe where you live they might but insects really thrive in heat and humidity.
benzo

Big Wall climber
tacoma wa.
May 22, 2013 - 11:59am PT
ants do not like citric acid... (who does really). toss your orange peels about around their entrance holes when you find them.
purely a deturant, not a solution. $.02
survival

Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
May 22, 2013 - 12:09pm PT
F*#KIN' BUUUUGGGGSSSS!!!!! AAAHHHH!!!!!

[Click to View YouTube Video]
steveA

Trad climber
bedford,massachusetts
May 22, 2013 - 12:48pm PT
Justhemaid,

The garage is very level, on a poured concrete foundation. It must be the photo. Hope you beat the ant problem.
G_Gnome

Trad climber
Pebble Wrestling.... Badly lately.
May 22, 2013 - 03:04pm PT
Skip, prior to 1994 we had a terrible ant problem with 12" wide lines of ants in the house all the time. After the Northridge earthquake we don't have any ants anymore and we haven't for almost 20 years. We don't know if the vertical movement of the earthquake crushed all of the hives but it has been great not dealing with those little black buggers for the last 20 years.
guido

Trad climber
Santa Cruz/New Zealand/South Pacific
May 22, 2013 - 03:09pm PT
Simple Green for a quick and simple short term solution for wee simple folks before the long term solutions.............................
Anastasia

climber
Home
May 22, 2013 - 03:23pm PT
What is up with bugs these days?

Luckily we are doing good here "for now." But at the old apartment. We had some new renters and wham... Bugs... At least three types of cockroaches had moved in with them overnight. The company had an exterminator there spraying the place down almost every other week. It did look like they were winning, slowly. When we moved... We unpacked outside just to make sure we weren't bringing anything here.

Scary stuff... The fact that they were taking care of it and... We still had problems. Craziest stuff I have ever experienced.

I think they are adapting to the poisons, seams we are poisoning ourselves more than them.





Elcapinyoazz

Social climber
Joshua Tree
May 22, 2013 - 03:33pm PT
I use a lactic acid based general purpose cleaner on them and it works a treat. Kills virtually on contact and ends the trail. Combined with regular poison baiting outside, I rarely have any issues here.


ants do not like citric acid... (who does really). toss your orange peels about around their entrance holes when you find them.
purely a deturant

Don't know about that one. I remember leaving a bowl full of grapefruit carcass on the vanity one day in my JT house, and a few hours later it was covered in ants.
mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jul 3, 2013 - 06:31pm PT
As a youngster I'd take a rubber mallet and work my way down the bottom 2 x 4 of the back fence and smash the little formic felons IN THEIR HUNDREDS. Well, trespassers.

Later days, they got gasoline poured into the holes and lit off. Ain't sayin' where, but it doesn't satisfy like a rubber mallet.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Jul 3, 2013 - 06:55pm PT

Maidy
I've never had problems with ants in Denver once I started dusting
my doorways with talcum powder. They don't seem to like to cross it,
and my cats avoid it. . .might be worth a try for you guys.
phylp

Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
Jul 3, 2013 - 07:06pm PT
There is something up with the ants this year. Over Memorial Day week, I saw a few solid lines of them in the middle of a couple of routes in the Owen's River gorge!
Jan

Mountain climber
Okinawa, Japan
Jul 3, 2013 - 07:13pm PT
I've heard people in Colorado dust the edges of their decks with talcum powder to keep the racoons off as well.
justthemaid

climber
Jim Henson's Basement
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 3, 2013 - 08:52pm PT
We actually use diatomaceous earth to keep them at bay.. works pretty well.. similar to the talc. I think it clogs up their little respiratory systems. Ants no like and doesn't kill your pets.

I actually broke down and called an exterminator for the first time in my life last week.. not because of the ants.. because of the f*#king giant cockroaches that had completely taken over the back yard. We had a sewage line break under the laundry room 2 years ago and now we've got roaches. Citric acid's no good on them.. they are feasting on my grapefruits every night.

I can tolerate the ants.. there's actually a method to their madness.. Huge damn roaches invading from the yard.. I proclaim the chemical warfare is on. Let the napalming begin. I've run out of patience with eco-freindly alternatives.


mouse from merced

Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
Jul 3, 2013 - 09:03pm PT
I'd say I'd volunteer to smoke them roaches, but that would be false advertising, because I'm not really an Exterminator but I am a qualified, certified and certifiable volunteer instigator.
TGT

Social climber
So Cal
Jul 3, 2013 - 09:05pm PT
We've had big invasions by the Argentine illegal immigrants at the shop in the past.

The Combat brand gel slow acting bait seems to be the most effective solution. Don't put any other poison or spray out and let them take it all back home.

Since the Argentinians are effectively one gigantic hive from Baja to Monterrey, you will never get completely rid of them, only control them.
Dr. Christ

Mountain climber
State of Mine
Jul 3, 2013 - 09:32pm PT
fuk the poison... use diatomaceous earth... tis mechanical, not chemical. Might fuk up your lungs if you breath it... just don't breath it.
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