Annoyed by ants?

Appearance and behaviour

  • There are several thousand varieties of ant of which, there are approximately 47 British species. The most common types are black ants (lasius niger) and red ants (myrmica rubra or myrmica ruginodis).
  • Most ants reproduce during nuptial flights, so winged ants are the same insects, just in their breeding state. The ants will fly up into the air, become fertilised, then return to earth. The females will chew their wings off and make new nests but the males will die.
  • Ants leave pheromone scent trails which other ants are able to follow to a food source, so if you have a spillage in your house or garden that is attractive to ants, you may soon find large numbers of them around it!
  • The size of an ant colony can vary from a hundred individuals, up to a few thousand. A single queen lays all of the eggs and when she dies, the colony dies.  If left untreated, an ant colony can survived for many years.

Control

The Council does not offer a service for the treatment of ants.

The best method of eradicating them is:

  • Use an insecticidal powder. These powders are available in hardware stores, garden centres and supermarkets. Follow the instructions on the packaging to ensure proper use of the product.
  • Crawling insect sprays are also very effective and will kill any ants that are sprayed directly.
  • Good housekeeping is essential. Make sure kitchen surfaces and floor areas are kept clean and are wiped regularly. Clean up any spillages immediately so that ants are not attracted.

A red ant variety which is best treated professionally is the pharoah ant (monomorium pharonis). They live indoors and breed throughout the year. The application of an insecticidal powder or spray may cause the ants to 'bud', where the colony divides and each separate part starts a new colony. If red ants are present it is best to seek advice from a professional pest controller, unless there are red ants with wings present, in which case it is likely to be one of the other red ant species, and they can be treated with powder.