The other morning while sitting in our small library enjoying reading my spring flower catalogues, surrounded by my five cats, I was smacked in the forehead by a black flying object. At my age, I didn’t know I still had it in me to scream, jump and run at the same time. The cats and I nearly trampled one another trying to escape! After a few moments I bravely went back into the room to see if I could find the culprit. It was then that I saw ‘it’ wasn’t alone. There, in my sanctuary was what looked to be a dozen or so flying termite kings and queens. They’re huge and scary, sort of like a Wasp! I got the fly swatter. I swatted and swatted but they just kept coming! Finally, I closed the door on them and went to do research on flying termites.
I immediately called my county extension agent and relayed the story to him. To this day I still don’t see what it was that made him choke with laughter. After several minutes of his jokes about whatever it was that he found so funny I think he realized he was the only one laughing. He then explained that this group of royalty and its following are called pavement ants. They are one of the most common house and building invading ants found in Ohio. They nest in soil usually under sidewalks, stones, railroad ties, decking and along building foundations. The experts believe the nests under or near these places form a sort of ‘heat sink’ where the ants can regulate temperature and overwinter until spring. Getting rid of them is difficult. Spraying or putting out granules works only temporarily since it doesn’t actually get to the big shots—kings and queens and their larvae nursery. The ‘kill the queen’ tactic is the only long term remedy to these ant annoyances! This means bait. These baits are made of a slow acting pesticide that doesn’t kill the ants immediately. The worker ants take back the bait material to the colony and share it like a Thanksgiving dinner, eventually affecting the Queen and her children. The slow acting toxicant called IGR (insect growth regulator) keeps the larvae from developing properly and eventually kills the whole group.
Sounds easy. However, to place the bait means you have to minutely inspect every foundation crack and crevice in order to find where the ants are entering. It’s important to seal the openings. Use a high silicone sealant, which has the ability to remain flexible, instead of the latex-based sealants which become brittle and re-crack. This is a job you can do yourself (meaning relegate it to your husband), or better yet hire a ‘bug’ person.
“Let There Be Light”