HOUSE ANTS 7 



ants crawl will often control an infestation or drive the ants away. 

 At other times these powders give only temporary relief. 



Sodium fluoride and DDT are poisonous. Do not get them into food 

 and keep containers away from children and pets. 



Chemical barriers. — Ants can be kept off tables, refrigerators, or 

 other movable furniture of no particular value by placing the legs of 

 the furniture in shallow dishes or small jars into which has been 

 poured a small quantity of kerosene. Keep the surface of the kerosene 

 free from dense accumulations of dead ants ; otherwise live ants may 

 use the bodies of those killed as a bridge to reach the legs of the 

 furniture. 



Ant tapes fastened about the legs of furniture will keep ants off 

 and are cleaner than the kerosene containers. Prepare these tapes by 

 boiling, for a short time, strips of bias cloth tape in a saturated solu- 

 tion of bichloride of mercury (corrosive sublimate) . After boiling the 

 strips, hang them up to dry, and later, as needed, wrap them about 

 the legs of furniture and tie firmly. Corrosive sublimate is a poison; 

 so be careful. 



Figure 5. — Pill box for holding poisoned bait : A, Box with sides cut and cover removed ; 



B, box ready for use. 



Sprays. — The ordinary fly sprays commonly on the market are ex- 

 cellent for killing ants actually hit by the spray. Sometimes spraying 

 will keep ants away, at least for a few hours, and if large numbers of 

 ants can be killed with a spray the colony will be weakened. Seldom 

 do these sprays completely kill out a colony. 



A 5-percent solution of DDT in refined kerosene can be sprayed onto 

 surfaces where the ants will crawl over the DDT deposit which remains 

 after the liquid has evaporated. Such places as baseboards, bases of 

 cabinets, table legs, and the floor beneath tables, refrigerators, cabinets, 

 and sinks should be treated. The solution can also be applied by 

 painting it on with a brush. Sometimes one treatment will eliminate 

 an ant infestation. In other cases the treatment may have to be re- 

 peated every 2 or 3 weeks. The degree of control will depend some- 

 what upon the species of ant involved and how thoroughly the solution 

 has been applied. 



Poisoned baits. — Often resort must be had to poisoned baits, par- 

 ticularly when other methods fail. First remove, as far as possible, 

 all foods from the places to which the ants have been coming and 

 substitute a saucer or other dish containing a sponge kept moist by 

 the poisoned sirup. The worker ants will feed upon the sirup, carry 



