Ant Myths
You should not believe
1. Ants only go into dirty homes.
Whilst we always try keeping our homes clean from any leftover food, crumbs or clutter we still somehow manage to have the odd mess โ not enough to be classified as dirty! Ants are very persistent and extremely good at sniffing the smallest drop of food โ so even a thoroughly clean house is susceptible to have ants.
2. A cinnamon and lemon mixture will prevent Ants from entering your home.
Ants and other insects do find certain smells and aromas to be very repulsive sure โ and it might even assist a little to smear it across the doorway to prevent them from entering, however Ants will merely find another entrance into your house as they are expert scavengers.
3. Pouring boiling water on Ants/down the ant hole
Firstly, this can be very dangerous to use hot water excessively. Secondly it requires you to find the ant hill. Thirdly It will only harm the ants at the very top of the ant hill โ the rest will be very deep underground including the queen. A portion of the colony is also always away from the rest and will return rebuilding the damaged hill caused by the water.
4. Oatmeal will implode in an Ants stomach.
This myth was used a long time ago as a technique by pest controllers. The theory was that the Oatmeal would be digested and expands when the Ants drink water โ rupturing the ant from inside โ but this is very untrue! Ants store their food in a pouch while eating โ this is called the intrabuccal pocket. This strains the food to prevent too large particles to pass through the digestive system. So, the Oats would merely be broken down to pass through the digestive tract
5. Using Vinegar to control Ant infestation.
Ants are like any other insects โ even us humans are not very attracted to the smell of Vinegar! A lot of people believe that applying vinegar to our floors or ant infested areas will prevent them from entering or even kill them โ this is not true. It might be very ineffective and COULD POSSIBLY throw them off the scent trail but not for long- they will find another route to their food source.
6. The wood structure in your home gets eaten by Carpenter Ants.
Most people believe that Carpenter Ants share the behaviour of Termites and these two are always confused with one another. They do cause very similar distractions to wooden structures, but they do not eat or consume wood. They merely tunnel through it and will leave a trail of dust behind
7. Drawing Chalk lines will prevent access into your home.
Chalk lines merely covers the scent trail ants use to get to food. By walking over a chalk line or finding away around it will put the ants back on that trail.
8. Club soda will deter and kill ants.
Many think that carbon dioxide โ which is ingredient of club soda โ will kill Ants. This might be slightly true however the concentrate of the carbon dioxide needs to be very high and far more needed than what is in a can of soda.
9. Termites and Ants are never at the same spot
This is very debatable as yes โ they do not share! Both are very territorial and will โbe in constant warโ with each other, fighting to see who wins the land, however you will find that at one part of the house termites will be eating away at the decks whilst ants are contained mostly to the kitchen areas โ Thus resulting your home to be infested by both.
10. I only saw one ant, so I probably donโt have an infestation.
This is probably the biggest myth regarding ants! Ants release an invisible trail to other ants so they can locate their food โ sort of like a direction of where to go! One Ant usually means he is scavenging and leaving the trail for thousands to follow!
There are a lot of other myths that might have proven very little effect. It is best to contact the โprofessionalsโ when you think you might have an ant infestation.
Give us a call at Sydneys Best Pest Control to eradicate your home from these little critters. You can find our contact form by clicking here, alternatively call us on: 1300 760045
Further Reading
My Ants are worse since it was treated
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