I have pretty much solved the problem that I had with rats eating my plants. I now need any advice anyone has about how to kill ants that have invaded my Chinese pistache tree. Where limbs had been cut off years ago, woodpeckers had made a few holes. Ants are making a colony in 2 limb stumps. They are probably carpenter ants; however, they are small. I sprinkled cinnamon into the colony entry and around the bark which hasn't helped. I have sprayed ant spray around the trunk to kill the foraging ants which has not helped. Has anyone used Sevin dust to solve this problem? One sites state that the ants won't hurt the live part of the tree; however, I don't want to take any chances and I don't want the ants to move on to my house which already has siding damage. Any advice would be appreciated especially any eco-friendly suggestions.
Ants colonizing tree
I don't know of any eco friendly fixes. I have tried a few to get rid of ants in various places without success. Have you tried dusting diatamaceous earth all around the tree and on the infected areas?
C
I haven't tried that, but it is worth a shot. Thank you for the idea.
Argentine Ants are taking over my yard and my home. Even coming from the drain in the shower. Have had a professional exterminator 3 times, which I don't agree with, but I am desperate. Nothing appears to work and I have ant bites on my feet and legs that are much like Fire Ants. I have read that these tiny black ants will actually kill the Fire Ants. How much worse can it get? They don't make hills that are evident. Just all in the beds and grass and you don't know they are there until you are covered. Any suggestions?
Christi
oh hell that is way too scary!
LouC, wow! Those sound terrible! I found the following suggestions at:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ww0403.htm
"Empty your trash often and make sure your house is free of crums and food particles that might attract ants. Make sure that food containers are tightly closed, without residual traces of the food on the sides of containers. These ants can even get into screw-top jars without seals. They follow the spiral threads until they are inside! (easier said than done!)
Try spraying a deodorant detergent (Pine Sol® or peppermint Castile® soap), Windex® or rubbing alcohol on ant trails in your home. This may erase the scent trail and cause the ants to become confused and disoriented.
Go on search & destroy missions around your home, spraying Diazinon® on ant colonies beneath stepping stones and other cool, damp places."
Thank you, htop. I have done almost all of these things and now have Terro baits placed here and there, inside and out. The website says there could be millions under a concrete slab. Well, our house is on a concrete slab. Poison around the base would not help as they tunnel all over the yard. Exterminator already tried that. Did some power cleaning in the shower drain and they have stopped. Drano.
My brother and sister-n-law have used Terro and swear by it. I have a love bird as do they so I am unable to use harmful pesticides. It is supposed to be safe around children and pets. I hope that it does the job for you. At least you can shower without fear of being eaten alive now at least for awhile! :o)
I put Sevin dust in a small squeeze bottle that has a long tip. After filling it 1/3 full with the Sevin dust, the tip was inserted into the holes of the ant colony. After squeezing the bottle a few times, the ants came pouring out of the colony and started to die. I believe that this has solved the ants colonizing in my tree problem for at least a little while. The problem I had was that several lizards came to eat the scurrying ants before they died. I tool a broom handle and beat on the tree attempting to scare the lizards away. I pray that I have not killed any of them or any other critters.
One of the best things we have had in the garden this season is a population explosion of anoles lizard. Hadn't seen them for years. There is a dark side to that though. We have a butterfly garden with tons of host plants as well as flowers (mostly native Texas plants). A few butterflies but no cats. Only once have I seen cats of the Giant Swallowtail and they were gone by the next morning. No signs of cats dining on anything. I do not spray so that cannot be it. Also have huge mounds where the cicada wasp has tunneled. Those are really big wasps. Don't know if they get the cats as well or not.
Thanks LouC - I found the biggest wasp I've ever seen the other day and I just looked it up and this "cicada wasp" appears to be what it was. It was dead in a potted plant. I'm glad to learn that they aren't a threat to humanoids even when they're alive. :D
We haven't had lizards, unfortunately - even the gecko population seems down this year. A few very large frogs or toads and a few very small snakes - and thank you Jesus for not letting them be big ones, I'd never go in the back yard again! :)
LouC,
Cicada killer wasps do feed on caterpillars and spiders as well as cicadas. Birds and my neighbors' free roaming cats (felines).have eaten a lot of the butterfly larvae here. However, I have read that birds hardly ever eat giant swallowtail cats. The cats produce a glandular secretion that is a highly noxious, pungent mixture of chemicals which serves as a repellent and is toxic to small predators, such as ants and spiders. Birds are not repelled by it. However, it is thought that larvae may have internal toxins which have been obtained from their food plants that protect them against bird predation. Don't really know what probably feasted on them.
That also explains where my ladder spiders went. I have protected them and they have multiplied in my flower garden for the last 3 years. Started the season with them busily spinning. Now they have disappeared. Must be the monster wasp. There must be a dozen mounds scattered around the yard. At first I didn't know what it was and was afraid it was a snake as the hole is quite large. Have read that they are very difficult to eradicate. They are currently at the top of my bad bug list.
Losing the spiders is so sad. I don't remember ever seeing one of those wasps. Sure hope that they don't find my yard! I hope that you have good luck with eradicating them.