Resistance is Futile

[PPI Brian]

Well, it's official; spaying pesticides in hopes of preventing Argentine ant infestations is a waste of time. A fairly recent study established a connection between weather and ant infestations. Huh. Never would have thunk that, would you? 

I know many of you have been battling you own broods of these nasty little critters all summer, so when I awoke to yet another infestation this month I was inspired to share the results of my research with you.   One thing that may creep you all out; all of these ants in California are members of a global super colony. They are genetically related to all of the other Argentine ants in the state, so they mingle freely with other colonies. They also have multiple breeding queens in their colonies. They are not native to California; they were brought here accidentally and now they're literally taking over the world. Now doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy all over? Oh, wait. That's probably just the ants crawling on you.

http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2001/april25/ants-45.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_ant

[PPI Tracy]

Wow Brian. That was heartwarming. In a creepy skin crawl sort of way.  Ewww.

We bought our house 6 years ago and every year, without fail, these little versions of the grim reaper invade my house.  It always happens when the temp gets above 85.  It's like a sale at Bloomingdales....they stampede, knock down the door, tear through everything and don't leave until the last black strappy high heel is gone.  This year however, it has been quiet.  Eerily quiet.  No invasions.  Not sure why.  Maybe this is the calm before the storm? 

[PPI Karl]

Brian, thanks for sharing this.  As you know, I've been at wits end with this probem and could share a number of Outer Limits stories about the behavior of Argentinian ants this summer.  If you can keep the little bastards from getting back to the nest, you're doing all right because, if you kill their queen, they'll just make another colony and compound the problem.  Unlike other ant species, they form queen enclaves out of colonies as small as 25 ants!!!!  In addition to the quick-kill ant baits lying around the house (basically, anywhere your eyes rest, you'll see them), we're laying down a suppressive fire of . . . wait for it . . . talcum powder--cheap, Gold Bond powder.  They hate the stuff:  can't get a grip on it, and don't like the invigorating menthol rush.  It's a solution we hit upon by accident back when we lived on Georgia Street, but now, it turns out, this is exactly what they're recommending instead of pesticides.  However, it's not very attractive to have powder everywhere, and guests think I'm suffering from a morbid case of foot fungus.

[PPI Tracy]

Wow Karl!  Thanks for the hot tip.  I'd rather put Gold Bond around on counters, under sinks, floorboards and outside the doors than use pestisides.  Awesome!  Thank ya kindly!

[PPI Tracy]

Damn, Brian!  You ARE the ant whisperer and warrior, all rolled into one fierce combat vest wearin' lawn legend!   :o


[60 seconds later]: Hey...Yo!  Were did your post go?  It disk-a-peered!

[PPI Brian]

Tracy, I loved your analogy regarding ant invasions and sales at Bloomingdale's; almost made me laugh coffee out my nose!  

Karl, I never thought of using talcum powder. That's worth a try the next time we get invaded. And there will be a next time. Some of the research papers I've read on Argentine ants indicates that pesticide exposure causes the queens to go into egg laying overdrive. Isn't that wonderful? We'll have to trade ant horror stories over a beer.  

We got hit twice this week with thousands of the little bastards coming out of the wall in the master bathroom and making a trail into the dry cat food bowl. Poor Dusty has been very upset by these invasions.  

My solution to this ongoing problem consists of two phases.

Phase one: Goop the ant trail at its source with Combat ant gel (usually the exit point from the wall) and Windex the rest of them. Windex kills the ants immediately and is relatively safe around pets. In the bathroom I wipe the dead ants up with toilet paper and flush 'em. The Windex also eliminates the ant's pheromone trail and they can't find their way back to the food. They wander around lost, looking for the trail and end up feasting on the goop. Usually knocks them out in a day. Sometimes this is sufficient, but when it's not, I go to Phase two.

Phase two: An all-out environmental assault that involves a combination of spraying the exterior of the house with Malathion (a pesticide which has an extremely low human toxicity rate and doesn't linger in the soil), installing Raid outdoor ant stakes at strategic locations in the yard and finally spreading a bag of Ortho Summer Guard on the lawn. This usually lasts through the hot weather and kills fleas in the lawn too. But they always come back when the rainy season begins.

I used to feel guilty about killing them, but now that I know a little more about them I don't feel so bad. They are an alien species that has negatively impacted our environment and they're driving the Coastal Horned Lizards to extinction. I used to catch Horned Lizards when I was a kid, and I can't remember the last time that I saw one. The Argentine ants swarmed the red harvester ant colonies and killed them, and the Horned Lizards eat the harvester ants. The only good thing about them is the fact that they feed on colonies of termites. When we bought our house it was quite literally uninhabitable. We worked on it constantly for 30 days before we moved in. During this time I witnessed first hand the worst ant infestation I have ever seen in my entire life. Amazingly, the house only had $250.00 of termite damage. Now I know why.  

Gee, I don't sound bitter at all, do I?  

[PPI Brian]

Damn, Brian!  You ARE the ant whisperer and warrior, all rolled into one fierce combat vest wearin' lawn legend!   :o


[60 seconds later]: Hey...Yo!  Were did your post go?  It disk-a-peered!

Post? What post? 

Sorry 'bout that. I saw a bunch of typos and figured I shouldn't make Karl suffer with my poor grammar. 

[Brigham]

Those guys swarmed my sister's place. I spent a few hours pulling and rinsing sealed foods from the kitchen cupboards, and tossing anything they'd actually gotten into. Turns out, they were swarming a bag of dry cat food. I got the main onslaught killed and cleaned with a natural cleanser, and then my sister brought home raid spray and bait traps. That seems to have gotten most of them, though I did find a couple more near the table... I normally don't like to kill bugs, especially spiders, but there's some things you just don't want alive around you.

Ants are so creepy

[PPI Brian]

I normally don't like to kill bugs, especially spiders, but there's some things you just don't want alive around you.

Ants are so creepy

It's okay to kill them, Brigham. They're invaders from another continent. They do not belong here, and they're disrupting the ecosystem. They must be eliminated. 

[PPI Brian]

Here's a video about invasive species like the Argentine Ant:

http://www.youtube.com/v/VJNQMygrmj8&hl=en_US&fs=1&
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJNQMygrmj8