Big Bitey Ants in Lawn - Guerrilla Forces - Tactics!

[whiterussian]

I've been battling these large ants for a few years now - hoping one day to find the mother lode in the garden... However they use guerrilla units - lots of little bases in the soil.

They hunt worms, insects as well as kitchen scraps. They sting like crazy - I have a 3 year old child that would like to use the lawn too!

Does anyone know how to get rid of them?

I have cats so a meat bait might not be best - I have boric acid, but that will kill my lawn/plants - plus they go for live critters. The boric acid works a treat on ants going for sugar water.

Tried drop-fall traps.

Can flood them out and spray - but they still remain and multiply.

Thanks!

Picture is a stock photo of similar ants - mine are darker...

[NickJ]

I had the same problem. It was on a plot of land I was building a house on. I bought one of those back pack poison sprayers, the metal ones witg the long lever you pump to pressurize. Filled it up with poison and pumped the biggest hole with the whole load. The white water based poison was soon coming up thru about 100 holes in a 20 foot radius. The next day I could shovel up millions of them. I did it every three days for three times. Didnt see a. ant for close to a decade.

Bought all the stuff I needed at a lawn and garden shop. Use the sprayer for keeping bugs off my other trees.

Store the tank empty and dry and it wont rust.

Edited July 27, 2015 by NickJ

[NickJ]

All those little holes are connected........

[whiterussian]

LOL! Thank you Nick!

The nuclear option!

Yes - those holes ARE connected - I often wonder if the main base is under the foundations of our house...
Incredible things these ants - they hunt in packs too, if I see huge earthworms feeling for their lives across our tarmac - I usually find hundreds of these ants chasing them out of the tunnel system.

I'll try and find a local with sprayer I can borrow. Cheers

[NickJ]

You will need a wheelbarrow to cart the dead ants away! Let me know how it goes.

[whiterussian]

You will need a wheelbarrow to cart the dead ants away! Let me know how it goes.

Just got another hundred or so - chasing an earthworm!

I'll do it for sure and post back.

I had thought about diatomaceous earth sprinkled around the grass - but the gloves are off now

[sammygood]

SALT

[dotpoom]

Red Ants, I suppose? I had them in a tree (they're still about the place) cut down the tree as it was very old, they don't like anybody interfering with their trees and branches, had to jump into the stream beside me to get them off me.

Edited July 27, 2015 by dotpoom

[whiterussian]

SALT

Thanks, but that might kill my lawn & plants

Red Ants, I suppose? I had them in a tree (they're still about the place) cut down the tree as it was very old, they don't like anybody interfering with their trees and branches, had to jump into the stream beside me to get them off me.

If they were the red tree ants (weaver ants) they'd be welcome here, the in-laws collect the eggs to make soup! (peng mak mak!)... my foes are like carpenter ant/fire ant cross - big, smart and very painful - they will make you hop skip and jump away from them!

I'll post a picture once I flush some out with the poison

Normally with other smaller ants here if you find the main colony you can wipe 'em out pretty well... these big ones here have bases everywhere underground and scattered bands looking after small clutches of eggs

[anthobkk]

Looks like weaver ants. My friends had them in their garden and I always loved to spent time looking at them hunting for hours.

Unfortunately after some time their colony got bigger and infested the whole garden, their bite are painful and they can also spray venom from their abdomen.

We found the nest, poured gasoline on it and set it on fire. Since then a few remain there but this is ok.

[NickJ]

There is an ant museum in Bangkok. Thailand having such a huge variation. I think the number is 40,000 kinds. Or something like that.

[MrBrilliant]

Boiling water down the nest does the trick or the spray can with the long nozzle attachment works. Give it a good long blast though.

[whiterussian]

Boiling water down the nest does the trick or the spray can with the long nozzle attachment works. Give it a good long blast though.

NickJ hit the nail on the head - this is a well organized, viet-cong style labyrinth covering 3/4 of the property - probably tunneling under the cement foundations too - I know flooding them out does work but takes a good hour or so to saturate a portion of the lawn - It's going to have to be gallons upon gallons to get this lot... trouble started after having soil put down where there used to be just sand - these Thais have method to their madness

[Gulfsailor]

Boiling water down the nest does the trick or the spray can with the long nozzle attachment works. Give it a good long blast though.

NickJ hit the nail on the head - this is a well organized, viet-cong style labyrinth covering 3/4 of the property - probably tunneling under the cement foundations too - I know flooding them out does work but takes a good hour or so to saturate a portion of the lawn - It's going to have to be gallons upon gallons to get this lot... trouble started after having soil put down where there used to be just sand - these Thais have method to their madness

Napalm.

[whiterussian]

Here they are...and one of the many foxholes... should have taken a photo of a gang of them wrestling a huge earthworm...

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

By nuking them you are disturbing the balance and will pay the price later on. These big red ants keep termites and the smaller black ants under control. If you kill off all the red ants the population of termites will eventualy explode, the only problem is you will not see it untill its too late. The black ants are the ones that attack electronics and electrical wiring, they also are responsible for carrying aphids onto plants. Live and let live.

[maderaroja]

I had the same problem. It was on a plot of land I was building a house on. I bought one of those back pack poison sprayers, the metal ones witg the long lever you pump to pressurize. Filled it up with poison and pumped the biggest hole with the whole load. The white water based poison was soon coming up thru about 100 holes in a 20 foot radius. The next day I could shovel up millions of them. I did it every three days for three times. Didnt see a. ant for close to a decade.

Bought all the stuff I needed at a lawn and garden shop. Use the sprayer for keeping bugs off my other trees.

Store the tank empty and dry and it wont rust.

What poison?

[whiterussian]

Normally I live and let live, I nuke the small ants that infest the kitchen, trailing bacteria all over the place - usually after I get tired of fishing them out of my hot water boiler or fridge. I use boric acid and honey solution in a hamster water drip bottle... Other species I ignore as they stay out of our way... But these ones take the fun out of having a nice garden, if they hurt me they must really hurt my 3 year old son - I like to be able to walk barefoot... Termites I can handle... house is all teak.

[mikiea]

By nuking them you are disturbing the balance and will pay the price later on. These big red ants keep termites and the smaller black ants under control. If you kill off all the red ants the population of termites will eventualy explode, the only problem is you will not see it untill its too late. The black ants are the ones that attack electronics and electrical wiring, they also are responsible for carrying aphids onto plants. Live and let live.

ehhhh....... go save a whale or a baby seal ......do not let the door smack your keester onna da way out ............

[waynposs]

Chaindrite 30 SC works on the ones you see. Haven't found their headquarters yet. Any visual clues to look for.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

By nuking them you are disturbing the balance and will pay the price later on. These big red ants keep termites and the smaller black ants under control. If you kill off all the red ants the population of termites will eventualy explode, the only problem is you will not see it untill its too late. The black ants are the ones that attack electronics and electrical wiring, they also are responsible for carrying aphids onto plants. Live and let live.

ehhhh....... go save a whale or a baby seal ......do not let the door smack your keester onna da way out ............

No just practical and don't need to destroy everything that annoys me. For example before I killed all the red ants and then had to spray liters of chemicals on my grapes and fruit trees that was attacked by aphids. Since I allowed these red ants to make nests in my granpevines and trees I dont have any aphids. By the way do some research on the effects of the ant poisons thats widely used in Thailand. Oh and I am not a vegan or vegetarian nor a bunny hugger.

[NickJ]

The poison I used I bought at a local garden supply shop. It was white when mixed with water.......

[RapidMethod]

We also have an army of these ants encamped on our land and in all the leafier trees. So far, they haven't bothered us much and even the 2-year-old manages to avoid them when in the garden. However, if I find myself in their territory then I become a jabbering puppet on a string, they seem to just stick on you and bite! Even one little runt can be irritating and painful.

I don't really like the idea of destroying them, just some way to keep them out of harm's way. Surely, they are useful also - what insects do they eat? Do they help to protect the trees? Are they useful against termites, say?

Any ideas? We thought about water channels around the areas we want to keep clear of ants, but I'm not sure if that'll work...

Edit: I just saw southernstar's post now - we must have been writing simultaneously. We have a serious termite problem (anything wooden is doused in preservative, but they've already eaten through irreplaceable art works and countless books). And black ants have already destroyed several computers, computer adapters and other appliances to the extent that I've smothered all our electronic devices and switches in ant powder (and even that only seems to help a little). So I'm all for keeping my red ant friends, even if they bite a little.

Edited July 27, 2015 by RapidMethod

[Gandtee]

I had the same problem. It was on a plot of land I was building a house on. I bought one of those back pack poison sprayers, the metal ones witg the long lever you pump to pressurize. Filled it up with poison and pumped the biggest hole with the whole load. The white water based poison was soon coming up thru about 100 holes in a 20 foot radius. The next day I could shovel up millions of them. I did it every three days for three times. Didnt see a. ant for close to a decade.

Bought all the stuff I needed at a lawn and garden shop. Use the sprayer for keeping bugs off my other trees.

Store the tank empty and dry and it wont rust.

What poison?

S-85 When I had a bloke come to trim my trees he would sprinkle S-85 in the branch clefts near the red ant runs the night before he started the pruning. No ant problems the next day. Over the years I have done my own garden work and Get bitten multiple times. After a while I got used to it and now just brush them off. If you grab a handful and rub your hands together to crush them and lick your hand you get quit a strong acid taste. None of the above helps with posters young daughter, but it may help others with red ant problems.

[whiterussian]

We also have an army of these ants encamped on our land and in all the leafier trees. So far, they haven't bothered us much and even the 2-year-old manages to avoid them when in the garden. However, if I find myself in their territory then I become a jabbering puppet on a string, they seem to just stick on you and bite! Even one little runt can be irritating and painful.

I don't really like the idea of destroying them, just some way to keep them out of harm's way. Surely, they are useful also - what insects do they eat? Do they help to protect the trees? Are they useful against termites, say?

Any ideas? We thought about water channels around the areas we want to keep clear of ants, but I'm not sure if that'll work...

Edit: I just saw southernstar's post now - we must have been writing simultaneously. We have a serious termite problem (anything wooden is doused in preservative, but they've already eaten through irreplaceable art works and countless books). And black ants have already destroyed several computers, computer adapters and other appliances to the extent that I've smothered all our electronic devices and switches in ant powder (and even that only seems to help a little). So I'm all for keeping my red ant friends, even if they bite a little.

Different ants! Happy with ants in trees, swarms of controllable small black ants, tiny electricity loving ants... all ants that bother us in the house can be dealt with using boric acid/honey water... will sterilize the colony fast. These particular carnivorous ants attack with such a sting that they can't be tolerated - not to mention hunting & killing my earthworms! I was here first, these ants have moved in and increased in number - they are not peaceful tree ants. If they kept to an unused place in the garden or far corners I wouldn't mind, but they've recently crossed the line and walk freely on my lawn and cement walkways

Critter love in Thailand has limits - reminds me of my Brit cousin coming to visit and the look on his face when an amazing giant centipede was found outside the back door - and was promptly decapitated to much merriment by all!

We have plenty of termites too - but they stay well away from the house - eating the (non teak) shack/barn instead!

Edited July 27, 2015 by whiterussian

[vogie]

By nuking them you are disturbing the balance and will pay the price later on. These big red ants keep termites and the smaller black ants under control. If you kill off all the red ants the population of termites will eventualy explode, the only problem is you will not see it untill its too late. The black ants are the ones that attack electronics and electrical wiring, they also are responsible for carrying aphids onto plants. Live and let live.

ehhhh....... go save a whale or a baby seal ......do not let the door smack your keester onna da way out ............

No just practical and don't need to destroy everything that annoys me. For example before I killed all the red ants and then had to spray liters of chemicals on my grapes and fruit trees that was attacked by aphids. Since I allowed these red ants to make nests in my granpevines and trees I dont have any aphids. By the way do some research on the effects of the ant poisons thats widely used in Thailand. Oh and I am not a vegan or vegetarian nor a bunny hugger.

Bobble hat brigade?

[vogie]

By nuking them you are disturbing the balance and will pay the price later on. These big red ants keep termites and the smaller black ants under control. If you kill off all the red ants the population of termites will eventualy explode, the only problem is you will not see it untill its too late. The black ants are the ones that attack electronics and electrical wiring, they also are responsible for carrying aphids onto plants. Live and let live.

ehhhh....... go save a whale or a baby seal ......do not let the door smack your keester onna da way out ............

No just practical and don't need to destroy everything that annoys me. For example before I killed all the red ants and then had to spray liters of chemicals on my grapes and fruit trees that was attacked by aphids. Since I allowed these red ants to make nests in my granpevines and trees I dont have any aphids. By the way do some research on the effects of the ant poisons thats widely used in Thailand. Oh and I am not a vegan or vegetarian nor a bunny hugger.

Bobble hat brigade?

[notmyself]

[Farang99]

The pick you show is of red ants (a Thai delicacy). Their bite is painful but not toxic. If your problem is the big black ants (mot tanoi) they are something else - their bite contains something hyperallergenic - can cause at the least painful swelling and often more severe reactions,

[goltec]

just dish washing soap mixed with water will kill ANY ant.

No poison needed......

to keep them away from places like electrical breaker boxes or your water pump etc, just throw some flea/tick powder that you use for dogs and cats in it. (which is poison of course).

They 'll never go there again.