Fighting ants & Successfully driving away

Ants are not welcome guests in the house. However, they can also be fought effectively in a gentle manner and without poison.

They become active again in the warm summer months: The ants (Formicidae) are out and about looking for food, shelter and material to build their nests. The interior of our houses and apartments often has a lot to offer them. If you have an ant plague, you can learn how to fight it successfully here. In the following you will learn when it makes sense to fight ants and how they can be safely fought with home remedies or ant remedies.

When does it make sense to fight ants?

Ants perform a number of important tasks every day, unnoticed, from which we humans benefit. Unfortunately, they also like to invade our habitat - although of course you can also look at it the other way around. If ants suddenly appear more frequently in the house or apartment - perhaps even in sensitive areas such as the kitchen or bedroom - then action must be taken. In this case, it makes sense from a hygienic and sometimes also a he alth point of view to take measures to combat or drive them away. All ants can cause a painful burning skin reaction with their bite. This is uncomfortable, but not dangerous. We introduce you to three ants that are interested in sharing a flat with us humans.

	Lawn Ants	Road Ants	Pharaoh Ants
Lat. Name	Tetramorium caespitum	Genus Lasius	Monomorium pharaonis
Description	Small domestic ant, red-brown	Group of various small black ants	Worldwide cultural successor
Behaviour	Looking for leftovers, supplies, sweets in the house	Looking for sweets around the house	Only indoors with us; build nests in warm, humid areas
	Can build nests indoors	Rarely build nests in the house, ant streets possible	Omnivores, proteins and sugars preferred
	Are relatively aggressive and bite quickly	Low aggressive	Hygiene pest in hospitals, kitchens, private homes
	Penetrate Storage Vessels	Nutrition: Mainly honeydew from aphids	Preference for narrow gaps: PC cases, catheters, bandages, reservoirs
Why fight?	Presence unsavory and unsanitary	Presence unsavory and unsanitary	Pest of hygiene, carrier of diseases

Ants are much more common in the garden or on the balcony, but usually they don't bother us there. If they don't get in our way, they are actually a fascinating sight. However, if you are bothered too much by them on the terrace, you still have a few options to do something about it.

Note: Many of our native ants are not only enormously useful, but are also protected by the species protection law for the same reason. They should therefore really only be fought if they massively invade the human comfort zone.

Fighting Ants: Instructions in 4 Steps

The following steps will get rid of ants:

1. Remove potential food sources; store food in sealed cans; Secure pantry cupboards and fridge with tape barriers.
2. Find the entrances of the ants into the house and seal them with silicone, plaster or clay; remove any nests in the house - or get an expert to do this; However, nests in the house are quite rare.
3. Rooms where ants were crawling must be wiped.; for this, the use of a strong-smelling cleaner is optimal; Vinegar essence or lemon vinegar will cover the trail of scents left by the ant trails.
4. An ant remedy is then applied: At the former entrances of the ants, at potential new entrances, on routes and around former or still existing food sources; we recommend our Plantura ant remedy, which can be used in living areas.

Tip: To combat ants in damp places, for example planters, the use of specific nematodes, such as the speciesSteinernema feltiae, is perfect . You canFor example, use our Plantura SF nematodes against fungus gnats, codling moths & ants on patios or in greenhouses.

In the case of a small infestation, you can first try to fight ants with home remedies and get them under control. If you are wondering why the ants appeared in the house or apartment, you will find it in this article. If the home remedies have failed, professional means or maybe even an exterminator will be needed to defeat the ant plague.

Fighting ants with home remedies

Once you have discovered the first scouts, its origin should be traced back immediately and the access sealed with silicone. In any case, you should prevent the intruders from returning home: if ants return to the nest, this leads to more and more visitors and the emergence of an ant trail. For example, they can place sticky barriers around their food source to collect the little critters efficiently and with little effort. Or you can suck up the animals running around with a vacuum cleaner and cover up the trail of scent with a strong-smelling cleaning agent, which you use to wipe the affected areas. Many strong-smelling herbs or spices also disturb the ants' olfactory orientation: lavender, marjoram, thyme, cinnamon, tea tree oil or citrus fruit peels can help in any form. In this special article, we have compiled detailed tips on how to drive away ants with home remedies.

Note - Baking soda with powdered sugar against ants: Using baking soda and sugar against ants is relatively effective. It's not necessarily the most animal-friendly way to fight back, though. If ants ingest the mixture, it foams up in their stomachs and they die from internal injuries. The high pH value of the powder also burns the limbs of the insects on contact. But other animals also like to nibble on the sweet powder. In order to protect bees and native butterflies and especially your pets, it is better not to use this remedy.

Get rid of ants effectively with InsectoSec®

InsectoSec® is a biocide suitable for use against pests in the home and garden. It is pure diatomaceous earth that can fight insects and arachnids alike. Its effect is nonechemical, but purely mechanical: Due to the large surface area of the fine powder, the lipid layer on the chitin shell of insects or arachnids is absorbed. Without the protective layer of fat, 95 to 100% of the dusted animals wither within four days. In addition to this effect, the very sharp-edged small particles damage the membranes between the segments of the chitinous armor, clog the respiratory openings (tracheae) and damage the gastrointestinal tract if ingested. Even with repeated use, resistance cannot develop. Other living beings are not harmed if used correctly. Because we are convinced of the effective control with InsectoSec®, our Plantura ant control consists of this pure substance. You can use this not only against ants, but also against woodlice and silverfish - the powder is particularly effective in dry places, such as in the house, in garages and sheds.

Fighting ants with nematodes

If you have problems with ants in damp places such as the terrace, lawn, in the greenhouse or in planters and window boxes, certain nematode species can be used to combat the ants. For example, our Plantura SF nematodes against fungus gnats, codling moths and ants are well suited. The tiny roundworms of the genus Steinernema feltiae parasitize the larvae of the ants and thus encourage the ants to move their nests further away. In contrast to InsectoSec®, these are living organisms that are natural enemies of ants. This is also the reason for the difference between the two remedies in terms of the area of application. Nematodes need a moist environment that is not too cold to survive. An advantage of nematodes over synthetic insecticides is that they are harmless to both humans and other animals and plants. So you don't have to worry about pets or small children. The exact application of our useful nematodes against ants can be found in the enclosed leaflet.

Fighting ants in the garden

If ants become a nuisance or even aggressive in outdoor areas, we recommend a few very practical measures first.

Measures against ants in the garden:

• Avoid creating food sources.
• Clean the surfaces regularly.
• Point paving surfaces with paving grout or grit; both cannot be penetrated by ants, so no nests are formed on the surface.
• Ants should only be fought in the garden if they are causing a massive disturbance by biting or robbing food. Ants are not plant pests and therefore do not have to be fought on plants or in beds. Because it tends to be damp in the garden, nematodes such as our Plantura SF nematodes are ideal against ants, fungus gnats and codling moths.

Fighting ants with poison

Chemically active biocides against ants have many side effects that you shouldn't expect from yourself or the environment. Below we list some products and give you information in keywords. Because we are very critical of the harmful effects of these toxins on the environment and people, we compare them to the Plantura ant remedy that we recommend. Our Plantura SF nematodes also have no harmful effects on the environment.

Comparison of different biocides:

• The DFNT Anti Ant Spray is toxic to aquatic organisms - with long lasting effects. It can also cause allergic reactions in humans.
• The agent Compo ant-free contains the substance tetramethrin, which is not only poisonous for all insects but also for humans.
• Neudorff's Loxiran-S ant remedy contains pyrethrins from chrysanthemums, which, despite their natural origin, damage aquatic organisms and do not harm beneficial organisms either.
• The Celaflor ant remedy is very toxic to aquatic organisms - with long-term effects; it can cause allergic reactions in humans; the active ingredient fipronil is not harmful to beneficial organisms and (in relatively high doses) is also dangerous for mammals and thus also for humans.

Fighting Ants: The Exterminator

It's time to consult a professional if your house is infested with pharaoh ants, the nest just can't be found, or you see little piles of ground up structure in your rooms. Such an "exterminator" is a better option than reaching for the poison bottle yourself. A responsible pest controller will determine the species of ants, deduce where the nest is located, and target or remove it. He's also better at locating the origin of insects.

If you have now decided to eliminate your ant plague with our Plantura ant remedy or our Plantura SF nematodescombat, see more info here.