Argentine Ant Control

• Typcially found in southern United States and parts of California
  
• The most common type of Argentine Ant you will see is the wingless worker ant, which is 1/12 to 1/8 inch long (see picture at top right)

• Light to dark brown in color

• Single node in the waist

• Antennae has 12 segments

• The Argentine queen ant is 1/6 to 1/4 inch long
  
  
  

Argentine Ant Behavior

The size of an Argentine Ant colony may number from one dozen to many thousands, with one or hundreds of queens. There is typically a large increase in argentine ant colony size in midsummer and early autumn. During the summer, several highly mobile satellite nests are established close to food sources. Unlike other pests, Argentine ants do not actually nest indoors, but establish their nests outside and enter homes and buildings in heavy trails in search of food-sources.

Feeding Habits

Argentine ants will invade homes in search of food and stop at nothing to get what they desire. Preferred cuisine of the Argentine ant includes other household pests (such as cockroaches and termites), aphids, plants, sweet foods such as syrups, and honeydew.

Life Cycle

Argentine Ants lay elliptical, pearly-white colored eggs in the summer. Argentine Ant eggs are white in color. Larvae will emerge within 28 days after the eggs are laid. The larval stage may then last anywhere from 11 to 60 days, followed by a pupal stage of 10 to 25 days. Thus, the entire life cycle of an Argentine Ant from egg to adult takes 2 to 3 months time on average.

Damage

Argentine ants will invade homes in search of food and stop at nothing to get what they desire. These pests have been known to go so far as including enter refrigerators, find their way into unopened food packages, and follow the spiral inside screw-top jars to taste its sweet contents. Argentine ants may also enter beds at night, seeking moisture provided by human bodies. They rarely bite, but they get inside your home they can be a nuisance to live with and difficult to control.


Argentine Ant Control

1. Wait, don’t spray! With Argentine ants and most ant species, the use of dusts or residual sprays will only cause stress on the colony, causing it to split into a larger number of sub-colonies. This will actually worsen the infestation.
   
   
   
2. Better to Bait- Baiting is preferred and a far mare effective method of control than spraying or dusting. Try a slow-acting bait labeled specifically for Argentine Ant control:
   

Displaying 1 to 4 (of 4 products) Result Pages:  1      Product Name+   Price   Buy Now      Maxforce Ant Bait Gel  Effective against Argentine, Odorous House, Ghost, Pavement, and Little Black Ants.  $33.95      Maxforce Ant Bait Granular  Maxforce Insect bait offers a combination ingredients which satisfy the insects' changing tastes and nutritional needs.  $16.50      Phantom Termiticide Insecticide  Kills termites by ingestion and contact. Powerful insecticide for ants and cockroaches.  $61.95      Uncle Alberts Ant Bait Gel  Uncle Albert's is effective for virtually all ants  $9.95  Displaying 1 to 4 (of 4 products) Result Pages:  1

Argentine Ants hungrily feeding off of Maxforce Ant Bait Gel:

For More Information

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