![]() Proprietary ant powder/liquid, or bait stations can be bought at many hardware stores, garden centres and supermarkets. Line waste bins with plastic bags and empty them regularly. Indoors, ensure that all sugary products are held in sealed containers. When the area has dried, this should be followed by the application of an insecticide, preferably a powder, obtainable from garden centres etc. Trace the ants back to the nest, which should be dug up, and large quantities of boiling water applied. In the garden, try to identify how the ants are gaining entry into the building and seal the point(s) with cement mortar or silicone sealant. However, garden ants neither carry germs nor do they spread disease and hence their presence does not constitute a risk to health. ImportanceĪs a consequence of foraging activities garden ants often appear indoors in great numbers this is unpleasant and unacceptable to most people. The eggs are laid in April and the larvae hatch in 3-4 weeks. A new nest is started the following spring. ![]() When mating has taken place the males die and the females remove their wings and dig a cell in the ground where they spend the winter. Mating takes place in the summer when the winged males and females are seen in large swarms. Their attraction to sweet foods also causes them to invade houses and other premises through doorways, windows and gaps in brickwork and foundations. Workers leave the nest on foraging expeditions to gather nectar from flowers and sugary solutions produced by aphids. The worker ants are responsible for building the nest usually outdoors in walls, under paving stones, in flowerbeds and under grass. One or more queens will lay eggs and feed the larvae, which develop into fertile males, sterile females (workers) and fertile females. Biology and habitatĪnts are socially complex insects living in colonies in large nests. ![]() It is yellow in colour and at 2mm in length is significantly smaller than the garden ant. The Pharaoh Ant (Monomorium pharaonis) is also occasionally found in the UK in hospitals, prisons and the like. It has a black, dark brown/red segmented body of about 4mm length the queen is brown and upward of 10mm length. The Garden Ant (Lasius niger) is by far the most commonly encountered species of ant in the UK. ![]()
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