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What can be used to kill carnivorous ants?

Cindy

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I've got these golden yellow ants all over my balcony and they are now nesting in more then one of my nep pots. Problem is, they are carnivorous and are not attracted to the sundews nor the pitchers.

Is there anything I can do to wipe them out? I don't think they are harmful to the roots of my plants but I just have to eradicate them before another queen emerges and I have millions of carnivorous ants then carnivorous plants!
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Thanks!!
 
Pff, Me? I would keep them in my neps... But youre not me so I would recomend Putting Cinnomon oil around the Pot... this will starve them as they dont want to go past the barrier. Killing them. I dont know... Cause Im sure you dont want youre Neps being filled with ant poision.

Any kind of 3-1 oil, And Something that makes the surface slippery would make it hard for the ants to get back in the pot... and not bring back food.

So you know. thats just me though.

Hope you get youre problem under way.

(where do you live again? Wanna trade? lol jk)
 
Poisoned bait might just do the trick. Poisoned food spreads through ant colonies like wild fire, right up to the queen. Once she's dead, it's just a matter of time.
 
Make sure to wash your hands VERY well after applying the cinnamon oil if you go that route. That stuff can be very problematic if it contacts certain areas on your body.
 
Yea the thing with poision, when the ants take it into the Colony, how do the neps react with the poision in the soil?
 
Ant baits don't work with them. At least the ones I've tried. These ants do not visit the baits at all. I've wiped out another species that go for the baits.
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Cindy,
  I don't know what size your plants are or the size of the container they're in, but if it's feasible try submurging your plants in a bucket of water. This method works for fungus gnats and other pests that like to burrow in the soil. I don't know how long yellow ants can hold their breath(actually they don't have lungs but  you get the point), but 10 minutes submurged should do the trick
 
How about the product called Provado?
 
I used liquid seven to rid an orchid pot of ants, but it was planted in bark and not a peat mis. You could try feeding them grits. Make sure they are the real grits and not instant. It will swell in their guts and explode them. LOL If they don;t go for that how about trying a flush on Merit if you can find it. I have used it on my plants without problems. The only thing is your going to need to flush the pot with it. Since they do not eat on the plant making the plant poisonous isn;t going to do any good. They sell a concentrate. Its called Bayer advanced for trees and shrubs. Its a white liquid. I would dilute it down and flush it through the pots. It kills on contact and should work for ants I would think. It doesn't work for mites though. It will also give your plants the added benefit of being poisonous to other sap sucking bugs for approximately 30 days.
 
  • #10
or repot...and just wash the roots really well.
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  • #11
Grits? Singapore? Now ya got me thinking that maybe rice would do the same thing.
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  • #12
Maybe. I know here in the south I have heard use grits and it will kill all of them. Kinda like feeding alcaseltzer to seagulls.
 
  • #13
You have hurd, but Grits and rice wont do any thing, most ants stomachs will expand. A good example of this is Replates of Commonly known Honey Pot ants.

Either way, I still sudgest just putting an oil on the sides of the pot, something that will stop the ants from going to and from... the colony will die of starvation, If you want them to go away esily Theirs really nothing youc an do just wait until the Colony that is supplying the Alates in the area to die, or just get used to it, I doubt they are harming youre plants any.

Maybe take some time and just see how they are with each other... you might be supprised at how cool they can be!

Cheers
 
  • #14
Nepenthes AK. What is going to stop the queen from taking flight and starting a new colony? Granted the mother might not, but her doughters would. Personaly I despise ants. They make ugly mounds all in my yard. Then I leave my GH unattended for 3 or 4 days while it was overcast and they build a mound right in front of the doorway. Of course I don;t see it because they built it over the threshold and it blended in with the wood. Well I noticed it was there when I was getting eaten alive!!! I had walked through the mound and drug the hose over it. They swarmed and I got bit I knwo arleast 8 times on one foot. Ihad on flip flops.

Cindy I wish you luck with your ant killing endevers! They are horid creatures. I knwo they have their place and are cool out in nature, but not in my yard. I need to lay down the 300 bucks to get the yard treatment that is garenteed for a year! Kill them all!!!
 
  • #15
Ok First off once a queen ant has started a colony it sheds its wings never to fly again.

The workers arent able to reproduce cause... they were programed that way at birth.

Also, ants only make Alates (male and female ants the ones you see with wings) once a year.

Now You despise Fire ants/ argentinan ants, and ants that invade youre home. but with out the ants, their would be 2 times as much insect waste... And insect over population. Trust me... ants are a good thing.

Their are some preaty freakin sweet ants... you just have to know where to look, and not think they are out to kill you!

You just have to not be ignorant about some things. (I dont mean that in a bad way sorry if it comes across that way)
 
  • #16
well...we should all listen to ak...hes the ant guru
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Alex
 
  • #17
I won't want to repot unless necessary because neps get stressed out during repotting.
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I will be looking for other ant baits to see if they work. At worst, I will have to drown the pots in a pail of water. First, to find which pot is a nest.
 
  • #18
about the drowning thing...ants can live submerged in water for at east a week.
Alex
 
  • #19
[b said:
Quote[/b] (glider14 @ Sep. 23 2006,3:21)]about the drowning thing...ants can live submerged in water for at east a week.
huh? where'd you hear that?
 
  • #20
Uhmm No they really cant...

Theirs Fire ants that can Make them selfs float kind of like"boats"(basicaly a mass of the ants) for a short period of time using the waters surface tension, but Thats only with fresh water. Most ants really cant survive more than a couple hours, if not a day in water.

submerging would be the best bet.
 
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