esrosedotblog

Ant season is upon us.

For most of the year we are insect free. No flies. No mosquitoes, ever. Nothing of the creepy crawly type.

I suppose there would be roaches inside if we were not clean but there are none of those either.

What we have are Argentinian Ants.

They are small and come in multitudes. They invade in a line. Outside you can see ¼ to ½ inch bands of them industriously moving from one place to another. Almost endless.

Inside, they send scouts who find a smudge or spill, any cup or glass not rinsed, any food source at all.

Once the scout reports back, the long black line advances to the target. It is done with pheromones. See the video below.

There is only one remedy. Johnson and Johnson's Raid.

We will use a large can during the summer.

I do not like the idea of bug poison in the kitchen but I don't like ants either. A hard choice.

So I go for the Raid and then wipe it up. The first shot kills the scouts and the line as far as I can spray. Then I wipe it up and let the small residual be a prophylactic against further invasion.

This doesn't work very well because they almost always find an alternative route.

By the end of the season, I will have neutralized every invasion route. But by then it will be the fall and they will retreat to wherever they go for the 6 months of cooler weather.

It is not a big deal but big enough to get vexed every season and a bit surprised when we get attacked.

Labels: condo, nature, Palm Springs, wildlife