I've always said that if I ever get the chance to talk to a bug scientist, I'll only have two questions.
1. What chemical is banned because, if introduced to the ant population, it would spread and cause the death of every ant on the planet?
2. Where can I get it?
My uncle swears by the ant bait Terro makes, but he described the powered bait, and it seems like now all they have is the liquid.
The internet seems to belive they've changed their forumla from the old, super-effective mix to a mix that's now just sugar and borax.
Anyone else have any method they love for killing ants?
I mean, not just spraying them with bug spray, but something that will destroy the colony and keep more from coming back?
Full-on anticide?
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I quite admire ants. Beyond that though, I wonder what the ecosystem would do if every ant was simultaneously rendered dead.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I'm pretty much the same way with mosquitoes.
Now that the hobo spider invasion has begun, I wish there were an effective way to wipe those out, too.
Posted by odouls268 (Member # 2145) on :
That seems excessive.
Posted by BlackBlade (Member # 8376) on :
I like ants just fine, but when I learned that wasps, hornets, yellow jackets, etc are all ants that evolved, I realized that there is no limit to the horror ants can unleesh on us unless they are stopped.
Ants are like gremlins so to speak.
Posted by Pablo Pavlovich (Member # 12617) on :
quote:The internet seems to belive they've changed their forumla from the old, super-effective mix to a mix that's now just sugar and borax.
That's like the dishwasher soap situation. The old effective formula was too effective, I guess, so now we are stuck with the kind that doesn't really get your dishes clean, and leaves a film.
I'm interested in this question myself, as the ants have taken over the patch of ground by my grapefruit tree and when I go over there, I can't get that Macgyver episode out of my head. *shudder*
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I am tempted to make a thread titled "I want to kill every one on the planet" but that might not go over so well.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
I have 4 ants, and they are all very nice ladies.
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
Oh God hobo spiders... they keep invading my house...
If they were just... if there were no more spiders, I'd be so happy. Just thinking about spiders freaks me out. Seeing them is worse.
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: I'm pretty much the same way with mosquitoes.
With good reason!
quote:45 billion people, over half that have ever lived, have been killed by mosquitoes.
Source. Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Does this change your opinion any?
Posted by Jeff C. (Member # 12496) on :
Lol SW, that source isn't exactly the best kind (wiki answers). I seriously doubt its validity.
Posted by Samprimary (Member # 8561) on :
quote:Originally posted by Stone_Wolf_:
quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: I'm pretty much the same way with mosquitoes.
With good reason!
quote:45 billion people, over half that have ever lived, have been killed by mosquitoes.
Ahaha. No.
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
You mean you can't just blindly trust the internet? Who knew!
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
We're getting hobo spiders everywhere this year. In the past, we've just had them in our basement. Now we're finding them upstairs. Trouble is, the wisdom seems to be that if you spray a general pesticide, you're just eliminating the hobo's competitors and giving them even more free rein. We've put down plenty of traps, but so far they don't seem to be working. Argh. One thing I don't want is hobo spider bites.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
In Vegas I see Black Widows (not often) as well as ants. Most common however are crickets and roaches.
Oh.... And Solifugae are starting to multiply here too. They hitch rides on military planes from the middle east and when the planes land at Nellis they make their escape into the desert. It is pretty scary how quickly they are spreading. I only live about 4 miles from the base, and there has been some see in the desert up the street from my house.... It sucks because playing in the desert was fun when I was a kid, and now it looks like it won't be safe for kids to do the same.
Posted by Dobbie (Member # 3881) on :
There is a way to kill all the ants, but be warned. You will be hailed as a hero right away but eventually you will be considered the worst mass-murderer in human history; also, you will have to spend the next thousand years carrying around the queen of all ants in your backpack.
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
I expected the "I want to kill every aunt on the planet" Dobbie, but not "kill every one."
Those rainbow ants are terrifying, but I think the bait makers like Terro should add the color in so you could tell which ones have dabbled.
I love that one of the ants eating from the blue puddle is green. I want to know if it already ate from the green, or if it's mixing colors.
I was considering the Ender implications when I made the thread, and I want to tell the ant queen that if she wants to let her species die while she leaves her body for me to carry around, I totally will not hack it into peices with an ax the minute I find it, cross my heart.
Posted by DDDaysh (Member # 9499) on :
I don't actually mind ants in general. They're kind of cool.
Fire ants, however, are the devil. If you could wipe all those off the planet I'd kiss your feet! The little suckers invaded my BATHTUB earlier this summer... took forever to get them out, and I've almost given up trying to eradicate them from the yard.
Posted by Yebor1 (Member # 1380) on :
GRANTS ANT BAIT took care of my ant infestation in three hours
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
If you moved to a colder climate, you wouldn't have to worry about ants then, right?
Posted by docmagik (Member # 1131) on :
Reading the reviews on amazon for Grants and Terro ant bait, they reiterate the thing I've read elsewhere--that the problem started when they stopped being able to use arsenic. Although some people seem to think other states besides mine might still use arsenic. I don't think Terro does, but Grants might. Who knows.
Posted by Tim_Ferno (Member # 12628) on :
quote:Originally posted by Geraine: Oh.... And Solifugae are starting to multiply here too. They hitch rides on military planes from the middle east and when the planes land at Nellis they make their escape into the desert. It is pretty scary how quickly they are spreading. I only live about 4 miles from the base, and there has been some see in the desert up the street from my house.... It sucks because playing in the desert was fun when I was a kid, and now it looks like it won't be safe for kids to do the same.
.
This slightly worries me. Your opinion of solifugea, that is. Wiki says they're pretty harmless, as does Cecil Adams. "Completely harmless and beneficial critters, like the desert equivalent of a praying mantis."
I'm not saying kids will be safe playing out in the desert; the world is still a dangerous place, but not because of this particular invasive species.
Posted by Stone_Wolf_ (Member # 8299) on :
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