Summary:
Before you plunge your house or belongings into pesticide oblivion, it's important to know that many ant issues can be resolved without a drop of insecticide spilled. Often, knowing the habits of ants will tell you exactly how to get rid of ants.
A reader asks: I need help! I have been getting bitten everyday by ants that have invaded my car. What is an easy, quick, and odorless way to get rid of both the black and red ants?
Dear Reader: You have to identify ants to effectively control them. Different ants are attracted to different types of ant baits. If you don't want to do that I would suggest purchasing several different types of ant baits that come in little "cup" containers. Some will say they are for sweet or sugar seeking ants and others will say they are for protein or grease seeking ants. You can purchase them at most hardware or grocery stores. Place the bait cups in the
areas of your car where you are seeing the ants. Then, watch to see which baits the ants are attracted to.
Now, you need to determine where the ants are coming from. Are you parking your car directly over an ant nest? Are you transporting something that is attracting the ants like boxes of fruit or other types of food? Or, perhaps you put something in your car that had ants living in it.
Ants often require a water source, so I would think your ant infestation is being caused by something you are doing to attract them, rather than thinking that the ants have created a permanent nesting area inside your car.
Do some sleuthing and let me know if I can offer any more suggestions?
Comments
Samantha
17 Jul 2009, 03:14
I have ants in my car, i bought the car about a week ago, i put bait traps
in, iv'e been spraying the tires and im still seeing them. The dealership
is going to have it detailed tomorrow, do you think this will work or is it
just a waste of time?
Brittany
21 Aug 2009, 14:47
I have ants in my car. They are most active around noon and 5:00 PM. They
are small and black and don't bite, but I'm about to lose my mind. I've
covered my floor mats in cayenne pepper and it almost seems as if they
actually LIKE it. I've used Terro liquid ant killer - they love it - but
I'm not sure that it's killing them? Tonight I am going to try (again) to
vaccuum them out, spray my tires with ant killer and wipe down all surfaces
with some kind of cleaner...Any ideas?
Samantha
21 Aug 2009, 18:18
I got rid of my aunts by finding their nests. I had one in the door hinge
of the drivers door and one under my spare tire, i have a rav 4 and the
tire hangs on the trunk door. Look where you see them the most and you
will find it. It looks like mulched up dirt and leaves.
David Gordon
05 Nov 2009, 13:26
Just a question about a question.Jodi from coastal MA from march second
seems to have termites not ants.She says the droppings are like finely
ground pepper.That doesn't sound like ants to me.
Nicole
06 Apr 2010, 16:12
I have ants in my truck, they started showing up about 2 weeks ago, I do
not eat in my car, there is no food. I find the little scavengers crawling
around on the dash, just appearing from around the windshield, today i
found them around the floor coming from the dash that leads down to the
floor. They are freaking me out!!! I sprayed raid around the vents on the
dash, and I have check up in the engine, how do I get rid of them, HELP ME
PLEASE!!!!
Laurie
23 Apr 2010, 07:43
I will look for "nests" but these would have to have come from the
dealership, because our car is less than 2 weeks old! And there has been
NO food or anything in there yet, so why the ants? All I can think of is
that there must be some kind of glue, greaser or some other compound used
in a brand new car that they are attracted to. We have a 2010 Subaru
Outback, and I do NOT expect it to come with ants...
Ginabean
31 Aug 2010, 23:42
We have 4 cars in our family and they all have ants in them. We sprinkle
SevinDust under the floor mats and in little crevices around the car. This
helps a little. We do not see near as many ants but there are 2 cons to
this way of dealing with ants: #1- Once you vacuum car, if you do not
reapply SeviDust immediately you get invaded again within a few hours. #2-
If you put too much, even people not sensitive to powder or poisons
(non-asthmatics)start to become affected by the poison powder...with itchy,
sore throat or respiratory system...coughing...sinus issues, itchy eyes,
etc. When will these little jerks go away?
Ask the Exterminator
01 Sep 2010, 12:25
Getting control of ants begins with getting the ants identified. There are
many species of ants, each one with its own nesting and feeding habits. If
you know the ant species you will know what ant bait to put out to kill the
nest.
