Ants invade the home to forage for food or seek shelter or both. The following information will help you to understand this insect and give you suggestions on how to use the TERRO® line of products to control most pest ants.

Ant Behavior
All ants live in colonies, consisting of an egg-laying female (queen), short-lived males, and workers (sterile females). The ants you see foraging in your garden or kitchen are workers. Workers that find food communicate with other workers by depositing a chemical message on the substrate as they crawl back to the nest. Although we cannot smell it, this "trail pheromone" sticks to the substrate for long periods of time and helps other ants find the food at the end of the trail.

In the spring, ants develop wings and fly to new locations and invade homes to forage for food or to establish a new nest. Termites also develop wings and swarm during the spring and look similar to flying ants. Examine them closely to make sure that you have the correct pest! Ants are thin-waisted and have elbowed antennae. Termites have thicker waists and have antennae that resemble strings of tiny beads. You may need a magnifying glass to examine antennal features.

Part of the reason that ants become a nuisance in our homes is that they often like the same kinds of food that we do. The most widely accepted food for ants will contain some sweets. TERRO® Ant Killer has been specially formulated to appeal to the majority of pest ants that will invade your home.

Control - Hate 'em? .....Bait 'em!!!
There are two categories of ants that will be encountered with an ant problem. The control strategy that you should take depends on your type of infestation.

Ants that live outside and forage in the home
Ants that live outside will travel inside the home to search for food. Some species may ultimately reside in houses. To prevent both of these scenarios, follow these procedures: First, cracks and crevices should be sealed to eliminate passages into the home. If you do not seal entry points, ants will probably find their way into your house at some later time.

TERRO® Ant Killer can be used to control ants outside the nest. To be effective TERRO® must be placed in areas where ants frequent. The ants will eat the bait and take the bait back to the nest. Because the ants must get back to the nest for satisfactory control, TERRO® Ant Killer should not be used with insecticide sprays. These harsh chemicals may kill worker ants before they can get back to the nest with the bait. The successful use of a TERRO® Ant Bait may take several weeks.

Ants that live (nest) inside your home
Yes, there are some types of ants that actually establish a nest inside your home instead of merely entering to forage for food and returning outdoors. Ants in this category may be present year round, although they will be more active in the warmer months. Ant species that may live indoors include crazy ants, odorous house ants, pavement ants, pharaoh ants, thief ants, and carpenter ants. All of these ants may infest food products. Spraying a residual insecticide to control foraging workers may provide only short-term control. Even when over 99 percent of foraging workers are killed by insecticide sprays, the colony may rebuild to its original numbers. Location and the use of a bait like TERRO® is the only proven method that will provide total destruction of the nest and eliminate this ant infestation.

Again, workers must eat the bait, take it back to the nest, and feed to the queen and larval ants. This type of control is incompatible with treatments that prevent workers from returning to the nest with the bait.