HALP! Ants!

General Questions
#1

About two weeks ago, we did the annual bug bombing at Casa Wheeljack and got a huge number of ants. They continued to come out and die for about three days, and then the anticide stopped. We figured they were all dead.

Now all of a sudden, they’re rolling out of the shower wall (they’re coming out through the holes that the valves poke through) and dying all over our bathtub. In the last hour we’ve had about forty of them. We watched as they crawled out of the wall, fell into the tub (smack!) and died.

What in the world is going on? New eggs hatching? These look like adults, they’re very big. Invading newcomers? Joke’s on them. :slight_smile:

Any ideas would be appreciated.

#2

Most of my experience with ants is anecdotal and would be borderline WAG as to why you’re seeing a resurgence. However, if the offenders are grease/sugar ants, coat the gaps they’re crawling through with petroleum jelly (Vaseline). I’m not sure if this would work for big ones like carpenter ants, but the Vaseline should block the little guys from getting out.

#3

Thanks! I’ll try that.

#4

I have had great luck with bait traps. I’ve tried several and they all seem to do the job.

#5

The resurgence could be a new colony moving into the area recently vacated by the ones you killed 2 weeks ago. The stuff they put in those bug bombs tends to have a residual effect, so it would kill of the new ants as they walked in.

We get an ant invasion every 5 years or so. I spend some time being particularly tidy and placing chalk lines around big tempting items, like the trash can, and putting the cat’s food dish in a pan of water. A couple days and they move on.

#6

Yup.
Ant bait.
Real good.

Also, set off some foggers inside the house. Remember–be elsewhere for a few hours.

#7

Isn’t there a foam or caulk you can put in spaces like that to kill/deter ants? I might try using something like that, and maybe investigating whether or not you might have a colony in your wall.

#8

Does that really work?

If so, how?

#9

And make sure your pets are too. My mom almost had to get me a new cat after a bug fogging incident. Lucky for Coco, she’s a resourceful cat.