When attempting to control an ant infestation, you will have several methods at your disposal, one of which is the ant trap. But just how effective are these ant traps? Let’s find out.
How ant traps work
Trap is a bit of a misnomer, because the ant trap is actually an ant bait. The ants aren’t trapped after they interact with an ant trap – instead they get to take food back to the colony and share it with other workers. The trap consists of a slow-acting insecticide combined with a food that the particular ant species in the home prefers. When the bait is taken back into the colony, it is shared around, which will lead to the death of many workers. However, the main aim of the ant trap is to kill the queen, which is the only member of the colony that can reproduce. Once the queen is dead, the rest of the colony collapses in a matter of days or weeks.
The effectiveness of ant traps
Ant traps are quite effective, especially when you’re dealing with nests that are inaccessible. However, the main disadvantage of this control option is that it takes a long time to remove an infestation. Alternative methods such as direct-application insecticides are much faster, but they can only be used if the ant mound or colony is visible and accessible. Furthermore, certain ant species can only be removed with the use of ant traps – these species include the carpenter ant, which is the one ant species that can cause thousands of dollars in damage to the home. For ant species that are not very dangerous or damaging to the home, repellents can be used to simply prevent them from entering the home.
Professional control
The best way to deal with an ant infestation is to hire a pest control specialist who will be able to tackle the infestation in the most efficient manner. In order to destroy an ant infestation, a queen has to be killed, otherwise, the colony will be able to simply replenish its numbers and the infestation will continue. For this purpose a variety of methods may be used, including ant traps and the methods listed above.
If you have any questions about ant traps and other ant control methods, or if you have an ant infestation in the home or on your property that needs to be removed, contact us today.
