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Argentine Ants and Argentine Ant Control

Complete Ant Bait Kit


complete ant kit

Complete Ant Bait Kit


ant kit

Taurus SC

taurus sc


9.1% Fipronil


Packaging : 20 oz and 78 oz. Bottles
(20 oz -Yields 25 gallons

, 78 oz yields 100 gallons)

Taurus SC
20 oz

Taurus SC

Taurus SC
78 oz

Taurus SC

 

Non Repellent Aerosols

Packaging : 20 oz

Alpine Aerosol
20 oz

alpine pt

phantom aerosol

Packaging : 17.5 oz

Phantom Aerosol
20 oz

alpine pt

 

 

All Ant Bait Products  |  Insecticide Sprays
All Ant Control Products

You will find Argentine ants mostly in southern United States and in California.

The general consensus is that they may have entered the United States aboard ships carrying coffee or sugar from Argentina during the 1890s, then expanded throughout California and the southern parts of the United States.

Because the fire ant is such a strong competitor to the Argentine ant they are not as populated in the south east part of the United States

These types of natural competitors are largely absent in California and this state has seen them thrive in the temperate and damp coastal regions. They have killed and displaced native ants, many of which are ten times larger in size.


Click on image to enlarge
Image courtesy of : ucsdnews.ucsd.edu

 

You won't find winged forms because mating usually is found in the nest. Argentine ants are aggressive, often eliminating other types of ants in the same area. They also destroy and eat other household pests such as cockroaches and exposed termites.

However, they prefer sweets and are often found tending aphids or scale insects on plants, using them as source of honey dew.

They usual habitation is outside, but can present a problem when they come inside foraging for food. They rarely nest in walls of buildings, as the pharaoh ant. They more often than not, enter to forage and then exit.

Argentine Ant Apperance

The wingless worker ant(most commonly spotted), is light to dark brown, about 1/12 to 1/8 inch long . The antennae are strongly elbowed(12 segments) and there is a single node in front of the abdomen(a waist). Queens are 1/6 to 1/4 inch long.

How to Identify Argentine Ants:

  • Uniformly dull brown
  • Petiole with 1 erect node
  • Thorax uneven in shape when viewed from side
  • Musty odor emitted when crushed
  • When identifying Argentine ants, be sure to look for the uneven thorax and 1 erect petiole node.

Photo and ID text courtesy of UC IPM Online

Argentine Ants Life Cycle

Worker ants carrying pupae The winged queens can produce fertile eggs for up to 10 years after mating once with a winged male. Another difference in this type of ant compared to other ants, is that several productive queens can share the same colony.

One or more of these Argentine productive queens may leave with some of the workers to form a new colony when it gets crowded (this is known as "budding").

The grub like larvae are fed and tended by the workers, pupate, then emerge to join their sisters in the colony (worker ants are all sterile females). The eggs are white,laid in summer;larvae emerge after about 28 days.

The larval stage may be completed in from 11-60 days. The pup al period may go to over 10-25 days. Development from egg to adult usually takes about two months, but it may be 4-5 months.

During the summer months,satellite nests are usually established close to food sources and these satellite nests are highly mobile.

Ant Trails

An excellent article by Univ. of Florida Extension Service can be found at  Ant Trails:Baiting. It gives an overview of management with baits.

How to Get Rid of Argentine Ants

Baiting would be the preferred treatment over typical residual spraying, so you can eliminate the entire colony, unless you use a non repellent spray. When choosing ant baits, it is best to choose from both the sugar based baits and protein based baits .

 

Why Ant Bait ?

The use of residual sprays or dusts will cause stress on the colonies, causing them to split into sub-colonies that scatter to other areas in the structure. This is also called budding.

After spraying, your problem can be worse than at the beginning. When you bait, you will want a slow acting bait. Quick kill insecticides and baits will only kill the foraging ants, not allowing the foraging ants to take the bait back home to feed the queen, nest workers and brood.

If the current ant bait that you are using is not acceptable to the ants, if they are not visiting the bait, it is recommended that you change the baits. They find a variety of these sources in nature. Examples are: other insects(proteins and greases), nectar, aphid honeydew , plant products(sugar and carbohydrates)

Choosing a bait would require knowing what they are currently feeding off of, according to the nutritional needs of the colony. To be sure that you have all the baiting needs met, you may want to be ready with a sugar-carbohydrate bait, a grease-fat bait, and a protein based bait.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMOVE ANY OTHER FOOD COMPETITION WHEN BAITING AND LEAVE THE BAIT ALONE ONCE THE ANTS START FEEDING ON IT.

Argentine Ant Habits

Argentine ants can persist in conditions where other ant species could not survive.

They like to nest in moist soil next to buildings or under them. They can be found near sidewalks or plants. They nest near water and food sources.

Foraging ants will enter the house when outside conditions are extremely dry or wet.

Colonies are large, often containing hundreds of queens. The queens and larvae form will eat the protein / grease combination almost exclusively, while the workers will eat the sugar based baits.

They are extremely mobile, will move colonies frequently. Argentine ants generate strong pheromone trails when foraging. They can be easily tracked. In many areas, you will see them patching three and four abreast.

 

Diet

Argentine ants prefer sweet foods such as syrup, fruit juices or plant secretions as well as protein. They gather food day and night. The workers will only eat the sugar. Of all the smaller sized ant, this one prefers sweet more than protein.

Recommended Ant Baits (Sugar and Protein Feeding Cycles)


When in doubt of which one to choose, choose one from each category. We also carry baits that feed both cycles.

For the protein and grease feeding cycles:

 

Sweet Feeding Cycles:

 

 

Baits that feed both protein and sweet cycles:

maxforce complete granulars
Maxforce Complete Bait Granulars(for protein/grease/sugar feeding cycles)

 

invict ab insect paste

InVict AB Insect Paste is an all around insect bait containing 0.05% Abamectin (botanical insecticide)
Invict AB Insect Paste has a range of attractants including sweet, oil, and protein attractants (but no peanut products). Not only will it kill ants, killing the whole colony quickly, but it effectively eliminates roaches, reducing the need for two different bait formulations.

 

Non Repellents For Outside and Inside Ant Control:

Spraying for Argentine Ants: Non-Repellents

The best insecticides for ant control are non repellent insecticides such as Taurus SC, Termidor SC, Optigard Flex, Alpine Aerosol, and Phantom Aerosol. Termidor SC and Taurus SC are labeled for inside usage.

Unless you can treat the nest directly, spraying is not an effective solution for Argentine Ants, unless you use a non repellent insecticides or "undetectable" liquid treatments Phantom Aerosol or Alpine Aerosols labeled for the inside. Optigard Flex is another very good non repellent labeled for inside for Argentine Ants(ants popular in California)

Unlike older insecticides, non repellent insecticides can't be smelled, tasted, or even felt by pests. So they crawl through the treated area, not knowing that by ingesting treated materials or merely contacting the insecticide, they'll die.

Again, workers must eat the bait, take it back to the nest, and feed to the queen and larval ants. This type of control is incompatible with treatments(such as repellent sprays)that prevent workers from returning to the nest with the bait.

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