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Click on image to enlarge APPEARANCE:Ghost ants look like tiny, white apparitions who suddenly appear and seem to disappear just as quickly. Workers are are 1/16 inch/1.5 mm in length. The legs, pedicel, gaster, and antennae are pale, almost translucent, in color and the head and thorax are darker. For this reason, the ghost ant is also known in some areas as the black-headed ant. REPRODUCTION:Colonies of ghost ants tend to be moderate to large in size and multiple queens are present.New colonies are started by "budding" where one or more reproductive females, several workers, and possibly some brood(larvae and pupae) migrate to a new nesting site. Their biology in similar to the Pharoah ant. 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.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. Ants require carbohydrates-sugars, proteins and greases. 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. Ghost ants tend to forage in a more random pattern than does the pharaoh ant, so that feeding trails may be more difficult to recognize. These ants have a high need for water and may be commonly found in or around kitchens, baths or other moisture sources. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMOVE ANY OTHER FOOD COMPETITION WHEN BAITING AND LEAVE THE BAIT ALONE ONCE THE ANTS START FEEDING ON IT. Ant baits recommended for the GHOST ANTS: Baiting is the preferred treatment over typical residual spraying, so you can eliminate the entire colony. Argentine ants generate strong pheromone trails when foraging. They can be easily tracked. In many areas, you will see them pathing three and four abreast. The recommended products for the protein/grease eating cycle would be: For the protein and greese feeding needs:
For the sugar feeding needs:
Unless you can treat the nest directly, spraying is not an effective solution for small ants, unless you use a nonrepellent insecticides or "undetectable" liquid treatments such as Termidor or Phantom. Unlike older insecticides, nonrepellent 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.
Termidor For Outside Ant Control:Termidor offers the most effective, low-dose control of outdoor ants available, with proven control of a number of nuisance ant species, even with outdoor perimeter applications at the low rate of 0.06% active ingredient. Termidor is labeled for carpenter ants, argentine ants, big-headed ants, odorous house ants, and pavement ants Ants foraging on Termidor-treated surfaces, ingesting Termidor through normal feeding activity, or that are sprayed directly with the product will die, but not before spreading Termidor through contact throughout the ant population via the product's unique "Transfer EffectT." Termidor is easily picked up by ants, and has a quick speed of kill - 1 to 3 days - but is slow-acting enough to ensure transfer throughout the population. Termidor is only to be used outside and will yield 12-24 gallons
Phantom For Inside and Outside Ant Control:For Ant and Roach control inside use the nonrepellent insecticide product Phantom. Phantom will yield 8 gallons for ant control.It is highly suggested that you use a non repellent such as Termidor Sc for the outside in conjunction with the Phantom.
Phantom is long-lasting, and effective at controlling entire ant and roach populations at low doses. Phantom provides superior ant and roach control by striking ants inside your home where they cause the most trouble. But if you have an ant problem, the ants in your house probably have their nests outside-they travel back and forth More Information: Phantom Termite/Insecticide
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RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS AND TREATMENTBaiting is the preferred treatment over typical residual spraying, so you can eliminate the entire colony. Ghost ants generate strong pheromone trails when foraging. They can be easily tracked. In many areas, you will see them pathing three and four abreast. The recommended products for the protein/grease eating cycle would be:
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