The original colony can then adopt a new queen and continue breeding. Endless colonies can be produced this way. The way RAID! When the pesticide comes in contact with an ant, it dies. This can make it seem like the problem is being contained!
After all, bug corpses scattered on the ground usually indicate the ant prevention is working… But this is not always the case. Unfortunately, repellent gets carried back to the nest. This creates panic amongst the ants, who then try to overcompensate in response to the panic. If repellent gets to the colony, the ants will try to breed back their lost soldiers or bud. As a result, the performance on such surfaces is greatly improved.
Surface chemical attributes — certain surfaces react with insecticides breaking them down, shortening the duration of performance.
Concrete and brick surfaces, which are alkaline, break down most insecticides and so treatments will not last as long. Painted surfaces can also shorten the residual performance of treatments.
Weather — sunlight UV and rain will shorten the residual performance of insecticide treatments. The ultra-violet rays in sunlight break down insecticides.
Although some insecticides are more resilient than others, all treatments on areas exposed to the sun will have a far shorter duration of protection. Obviously treatments exposed to rain have the potential to be washed away. Time — As a function of the surface and weather conditions, the amount of insecticide remaining on a surface will diminish over time.
This means that the longer it is has been since treatment, the longer an insect needs to remain on a surface to pick up a lethal dose. At a certain point after treatment the insect will not pick up enough insecticide to be affected — the treatment is no longer effective.
The duration of protection will depend on the product, but typically months performance is likely in shaded areas such as indoors or under the eaves , but as little as one month may be more likely in areas exposed to sun and rain. Cover a large enough area — when spraying the external perimeter of the house, it is generally advised to spray 1m up the wall and 1m out from the wall.
This provides a significant treated area such that insects walking over this area will pick up a larger dose. Ensure even coverage — make sure you apply the correct amount of product as directed by the label and ensure even coverage with no gaps. Shake the product before and during use — if the insecticide is not evenly distributed within the container, you will not get an even dose coming out of the container. Re-apply when necessary — for most homes an indoor and outdoor treatment twice a year is enough to keep the insects at bay.
However, for floors inside the home that are washed frequently or for exposed areas outdoors or on aggressive surfaces like concrete, more frequent applications will be necessary to maintain a pest free home. Although the gels are designed so you can squeeze them into cracks, you can also use them in a way that keeps the material off floors and other surfaces.
Set out short pieces of masking tape, sticky side down, and put a pea-size dab of pesticide on top. Ants tend to follow edges, so look alongside baseboards, countertops, shelf boards and similar surfaces. To figure out which ant trails are headed back to a nest, put a dab of honey or jam on a piece of stiff paper next to where the ants congregate. Once they dine, they will head back to the nest. Because the bait stations and gels are designed to attract ants, you may see more of them than you did before.
Be patient — and do not resort to spraying, which will just warn other ants to stay away and search for food somewhere else in your house. You want the ants to love the bait you set out and take it home to share. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies.
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