Red garden ants and their control. Fighting ants in the garden - preparations, methods and means

Ants in the country and in the garden bring not only benefits, but also harm, eating berries and fruits, planting aphids on plants. Therefore, the solution to the question of how to get rid of ants on suburban area, very important for all owners who take care of their garden and vegetable garden.

Where do ants come from

, which will attract insects, allow them to be caught, and then destroyed. For such purposes, the following recipes are applicable:

• honey is diluted with water and applied to dish sponges, which are laid out along ant paths: after they sit down on the “sweet sponge”, it is thrown into boiling water;
• place jars of honey or sugar diluted with water in places frequently visited by working individuals around the summer cottage: when they get into it, the sweet tooth drowns in syrup, unable to get out;
• as baits, cans from sweet or canned meat with leftover food, meat bones are also effectively used - all this attracts them in large quantities.

To exterminate the ants personal plot, poisonous substances can also be used: borax, brewer's yeast, etc., eating which pests die after a certain time.

The most popular recipes that use poison:

• A mixture of 1 tbsp. sugar, 2 tbsp. hot water, third tsp borax, after cooling, 1 tsp is added. honey - the bait must be changed every week.
• A mixture of sugar, honey, borax and water in a ratio of 4:1:0.5:4.5 is poured into jars, which are placed in an inclined position in areas visited by ants, at the rate of 1 jar per 3-4 m 2.
• Boiled potato balls with egg (3 pieces each) with the addition of 1 tbsp. vegetable oil, sugar and 10 g boric acid- laid out in habitats.
• Add to 2 tbsp minced meat ½ tsp. borax and spread out along the ant paths.
• Dilute 1 tbsp. in cold water until creamy, add 1 tsp for taste. jams: put the mixture on pieces of cardboard, then - in the places where the ant population stays.

Chemical control methods

If folk methods do not help, then the fight against ants is carried out on garden plot with pesticides. The negative result of the use of chemistry will be the destruction of not only harmful, but also all beneficial insects.

The most popular chemicals: Muratsid, Muraviin, Grom-2, etc., containing the insecticide diazinon, which belongs to organophosphorus compounds that cause paralysis in pests after 2-4 days. They come in several forms: granules, tablets, powders, gels or liquids;

Most effective method, which allows you to destroy not only worker ants, but also the use of poisonous baits, after eating which and taking small particles of it to your nest, the entire population of the anthill is poisoned.

All chemicals have a long-term effect: the destruction of ants occurs within 3-4 weeks.

Any chemicals and poisonous drugs are highly toxic substances, so they are dangerous for humans and pets, which can accidentally eat them. When working with such substances, care should be taken and the possibility of their entry into local water bodies should be taken into account.

Let's take a closer look at popular insecticides:

• represents a toxic liquid in an ampoule, which must be diluted in 10 liters of water, the resulting solution should be enough to process up to 20 anthills, i.e. it is practically possible to destroy all pests on the site. Muracid has an important advantage: it is harmless to plants and natural soil flora.
• - the agent is available in the form of a powder or liquid, from which it is necessary to prepare a solution at the rate of 5 liters per 5 m 2 of the site, after ingesting it by ants, they start convulsing, limbs are paralyzed and asphyxia occurs.
• - a drug sold in the form of a syringe with a gel that has an attractive smell for ants. The syringe contains 20 mg of a substance, which is enough for 50 m 2 of land area: using a thin nose, the gel is applied in dotted lines to the tracks and next to the anthill.
• Phenaksin - powder, which is sprinkled directly from the package with holes near the holes of the anthill, also destroys aphids, and ants can be poisoned, if not forever, then for 1-2 years for sure.
• Gels or, which are applied to cartons and laid out next to the nests.

On a note!

To combat ants in a summer cottage, they use chemicals in various forms release. The only type that will be difficult to use outdoors is a spray or aerosol, as it only works with direct contact with the insect.

Prevention of the appearance of ants at their summer cottage

The best remedy for pests in a summer cottage or garden is the prevention of their appearance, which must be carried out regularly, by digging the earth with the addition of ash, planting odorous plants that repel insects from delicious berries, fruit bushes and trees.

Summer residents and owners country houses repeatedly heard about creatures such as ants. It should be noted right away that these are dangerous neighbors. The fact is that there is a threat to all the inhabitants of the site, so you need to fight the ants very seriously. In order to fight these insects, you need to have some knowledge, tools and skills. If the processing is not done correctly, then the number, on the contrary, will only increase. Moreover, insects can get used to various poisons. And then it will be even more difficult to fight in the future.

Features of reproduction of ants in garden plots

As soon as the ants enter the house, they will immediately cause damage. Plants and trees are also seriously affected by ants. Mostly ants create their nests deep in the ground. If insects have chosen a place near a tree to live, then it will live no more than three years. Well, if the nests are in the garden, then it will not be possible to grow plants, therefore, you can not wait for the harvest.

Ants love aphids very much. Ants catch aphids, push them into their holes, and there an even greater spread of aphids begins. It harms all plants. Experts strongly recommend fighting ants. It is advisable to do this without using chemicals. The fact is that chemistry harms not only insects, but also soil and plants. Along with the ants, aphids must also be removed.

Basically, ants settle in those places where the land is cultivated very little. It's no secret that ants don't like to be disturbed. That's why you need to dig the ground often. The more often this is done, the less the risk that an anthill will form. In order to prevent ants from settling on a tree, you need to treat the trunks with a strong lime mortar. It is important to apply lime not only to the tree itself, but also to the ground that is around the tree.

But if the insects have already settled on the site and are harming it, it's time to start an active fight. The anthill needs to be dug up. And this is done not superficially, but deeply. As soon as the nests of insects are destroyed, they will leave the site. To get rid of the nest for sure, you can pour lime or ashes into the ground, and then dig up the place.

How to deal with ants in the areas

If you are fighting ants, it is very important to choose the right target. Initially, you need to eliminate the aphids that the ants feed on. As soon as there is no aphids, the fight against ants will be easier. In parallel with that, it is necessary to use means that will destroy the working insects.

Do not press each individual separately. This activity will not bring results. If you see ants that carry large loads, then they are not harmful, and you do not need to fight them. They are fruitless workers. There are several thousand of them, however, the population does not depend on them. Even if the anthill is ruined, then this will not solve the problem. It is necessary to destroy the uterus - it is she who gives offspring.

Just once a year winged ants appear in nests. After mating males die, and the queen sheds her wings. Then she begins to look for a place for a nest where she will lay her eggs. This is how ants reproduce. Ants are insects that have many tasks. Oddly enough, each ant has its own "duties". As soon as there is a threat to the "queen", the entire anthill is mobilized. Therefore, you need to make sure that the poison gets into the anthill without attracting attention. a large number ants.

As a rule, poisonous powder is used. It is eaten by ordinary ants, and then on themselves, on their paws, they carry it to the nests. Today on sale you can find a large number of drugs with which they fight not only ants, but also others.

For example, diazinon. It is used for persecution of ants, which die after two days. Approximately 10 milligrams of funds is enough to process 50 square meters, which can have up to two hundred nests. In those areas that are processed, ants will not re-arrange nests for at least a month.

There are also several folk remedies with the help of which the fight against insects is carried out. So, the tops of tomatoes, parsley and tansy strongly repel insects. To prevent insects from settling in the beds, they plant mint and valerian. As soon as the ants smell the specified plants, they will immediately begin to look for a new habitat outside your site. A solution of boric acid, sugar is used, with the help of which the paths of ants are processed. And as soon as evening comes, the ants return to their holes. At this time, you need to fill them with earth and pour boiling water over them. Then you need to stir up the nest again and pour boiling water over it. Most likely, the uterus will die in such processions. However, such funds will not bring the ants out once and for all, but will only drive them out of their habitat for a while. Therefore, more efficient methods must be used.

Consider this method of pest control. We take a sheepskin, cut strips from it, with which raspberries will be tied. The wool should be on the outside so that it can be smeared with carbolic acid. The berries will not be damaged on raspberries, but the ants themselves will not be able to penetrate the bush, as the smell scares them away.

You can do it differently. We dig a small trench around the anthill. We pour carbon sulfide into it. Then you need to ignite the mixture. In such a situation, insects do not have time to escape.

There is one more method. We find an ant nest. Three meters long, you need to make a path of concentrated sweet water. Then the insects can't resist the sugar. Here they can be trampled, covered with salt - anything. A day later, the procedure can be repeated, but already on another strip of sweet water, since insects do not run along the old road.

In addition, ash and a little lime can be scattered on the beds. Insects cannot tolerate strong odors. You can also put the head of a herring on the anthill. Excellent remedy fighting ants is a decoction of tomato tops. Insects do not like him so much that they do not even appear later in the garden where tomatoes grow. Via tomato tops you can tie on trees.

Fighting house ants in the apartment folk remedies

It is much more difficult to deal with insects in a house or apartment. However, it is quite realistic to do so. The most important thing is to take into account the lifestyle of insects. The nest contains larvae and a queen. That is the main goal in the fight. The females do not leave the nest. They are fed by worker ants. It is very difficult to find a place where ants could settle in an apartment. As a rule, this is a wall or floor. But if you have found an insect hole, then there is no need to rush to open the floor. The move can be quite long. Since worker ants carry food to the nest, you can try poisoning them. So that the ant does not die from poison, you need to do an average concentration. Then the poison will be brought to the nest of the uterus.

Fighting ants with boric acid

So, a quarter teaspoon of boric acid is diluted in a glass of water. We put three tablespoons of sugar there. The bait should always be in the place where you found the ants. Moreover, the persecution lasts a couple of months. It is important that pets do not get there. Soft bait is also used. You need to take some minced meat and borax. Then the mixture is laid where ants are found.

Another method of struggle may seem rather strange. So, you need to bring a real forest ant into the house. No, he will not live there, but will simply leave home. This means that domestic ants will go along with it. Moreover, the method has already been tested by several readers.

In addition, there are a large number of products in the fight against ants on sale. Each of them has a certain effective effect. The main thing is that animals and children do not suffer.

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Comment

Gardeners and summer residents know firsthand what a serious problem ant colonies are. Meanwhile, getting rid of ants is not so easy. Pour boiling water and dig - the most obvious, but not effective methods. Even by killing some of the ants, you will not solve the problem, and in a few days the colony will recover.

Harm from garden ants

Ants kill pests and in a sense are even useful, but this is where their positive influence ends. Let's look at the harm that garden ants do to us:

1. Ants grow aphids. Ants grow and guard aphids to feed on their secretions. They carry green pests to new shoots. A huge number of aphids interfere with the normal growth of plants.
2. They damage the roots of plants. The anthill is located underground. The uterus of ants can be located at a depth of 1 meter underground. That is why pouring kiryatka and digging up an anthill will not give us the desired deliverance. During the construction of the anthill, small and large roots are damaged, which makes it difficult to grow plants.
3. Ants feed on plant sap. Aphids cause more damage to plants, but the ants themselves feed on the juice of some plants.
4. Carry away the seeds. The ants take the seeds to their stores to feed themselves and feed their larvae.
5. They destroy fruits and berries. Ants eat various fruits, thereby reducing the yield.
6. Interfering with our rest. In addition, ants interfere with relaxing in the country, sunbathing, or barbecue. Wherever you spread your towel, the ants are right there.

How to get rid of garden ants?

There are several ways to deal with ants:

• Chemical (Insecticides)
• Chemical (Natural acids)
• Mechanical

Fighting garden ants with insecticides:

This method of struggle is extremely effective, but it causes harm to your plants. In addition, this method of struggle is quite expensive. 100 grams of ant remedy costs 200-300 rubles. You can use this method, but rather as a "means of last resort." The formulations may be in the form of liquids, powders, aerosols, granules or tablets. The following are examples of preparations:
Bros (Bros)
"Death to Pests" (Ital Tiger)
"Summer resident"
"Thunder -2"
"Fitar"
"Ant-eater"
"Muratox"
"Ant"

Fighting garden ants with natural acids:

Ants cannot stand the smell of acids. Watering the anthill and surroundings with a solution of lemon, or acetic acid you can force the colony to leave, killing many ants in the process. Also, boric acid is extremely effective. You can watch the video below for more details on how it works.

Fighting garden ants with folk remedies:

Ants cannot stand the smell of garlic. In order to prepare the solution, you need to chop the garlic (as for a salad) and mix it in warm water. You can also use infusions from plants such as celandine, wormwood, orange peel.

The original method of dealing with ants will be a solution of sugar and yeast. This solution will not kill the ants, but the fermentation process will destroy all stocks of ants, and in conjunction with other methods of control, you can inflict severe harm colonies.

Fighting garden ants using mechanical means:

As already mentioned, pour boiling water over the anthill and dig up the anthill are not very effective methods, but if you dig up the anthill you mix it with ash and ashes, or alternatively pour it with the cheapest vegetable oil, then the harm to the ant colony will be very significant.

How to get rid of ants on garden trees?

To get rid of ants garden trees the following, effective method of struggle will do. The trunk of the tree in the morning should be smeared with glue from insects. This way the ants won't be able to climb and eventually won't even try to climb the trees.

Over time, the adhesive will become dusty and less effective. After a few days, you can repeat the procedure just above the first circle of glue. The advantage of this method is its non-toxicity.

How to get rid of ants in the greenhouse and in the garden?

If an anthill has appeared in your garden and greenhouse, you can try to stir up the anthill with gloves greased with sunflower oil and remove the eggs from it into the prepared bucket. Next, take everything that you got out of the anthill outside the greenhouse and garden. After that, most likely the anthill will die. Try to do the procedure carefully, without using a shovel, so as not to damage the roots of the plants.

The sooner you notice and start fighting the anthill, the easier it will be to remove. After you destroy the anthill, sprinkle it with ashes, or pour vegetable oil over it. This way you will not damage and even fertilize the plants a little.

Every year, gardeners struggle with numerous pests, sometimes aphids or bears, and sometimes orderly ranks of soldiers and miners. To understand how to get rid of garden ants on the site, you must first understand what can attract such insects. Fighting for the next harvest can be hard and hard work, but those who know the secrets are able to see gardening as only recreation and entertainment.

Why are ants dangerous?

The problem that these pests cause is the common aphid. Everyone knows that ant colonies keep their own "livestock". The owners milk their aphids, stocking food for numerous offspring, queens and soldiers. small insects can not only damage the crop, but also completely eat all the plants for short span time. Therefore, the question of how to get rid of ants in the country is important for any gardener.

A garden plot, unlike a private house or apartment, cannot simply be treated with dichlorvos in the hope of killing all representatives of unhelpful insect species. Ants often settle in log sheds and from there make their forays into defenseless plants. Even if you manage to find a colony, you cannot completely get rid of it. Anthills can quickly move around the site, choosing the most inaccessible places: greenhouses, sheds and overgrown, unwatered beds.

Pest control methods

How to get rid of garden ants on the site and not damage plants and soil with chemicals? In general, the impact of inorganic substances on young sprouts or ripening fruits is not best idea, as well as flooding the colony with water from a hose. The anthill will simply be moved to a new location, and damaged stocks will be restored at the expense of the nearest garden or vegetable garden. You need to be persistent and methodical in order to learn how to get rid of ants on the site. Many experienced gardeners suggest watering the anthill with a special solution prepared from water and a large amount of salt. But this method can increase the sodium and potassium content of the soil, which may not be good for native plants. Other recipes are vinegar or lime solutions. The proportions are always 3-4 tbsp. per liter of plain water.

Getting rid of ants in the garden is not so easy. Almost all species of our ants cultivate aphids, i.e. adult worker ants feed on their sugary secretions - honeydew. Without aphids, ants spoil ripe and ripening fruits and berries for the sake of sugars; for the development of an anthill, the roots of plants are gnawed. But for the reproduction of individuals by a fertile female - the uterus - protein feed is needed. Therefore, ants also exterminate small living creatures, incl. malicious. Unfortunately, the balance of benefits and harms from ants in private households and in the country in our area is always sharply shifted in negative side and fight ants on cultivated land areas necessary.

Ants in a greenhouse are a particular problem. On the one hand, here the ants are free: greenhouse conditions favorable to them in all respects. On the other hand, near building structures and communications, under the ladders for walking people, at the partitions / fences it is easy to hide the entrance to the anthill. Finally, the arsenal of ways to deal with ants in a greenhouse is limited: the use of radical means can harm plants and deprive the crop of health conditions. Therefore, it is necessary to harass greenhouse ants with a complex or narrowly targeted effect, see below.

Ways to deal with ants

The fight against ants in the summer cottage is traditionally carried out in the following ways:

• Destruction of the anthill directly- pouring with boiling water, overcooked vegetable oil mixed with shampoo, kerosene emulsion (5-10 tablespoons per bucket of water) or pesticides; possibly after excavation. It is far from always effective, because. and a young anthill (see below) after such treatment is able to revive, and a mature one will almost certainly resume nearby.
• Shading anthills with foil on low supports. Ants maintain a fairly even temperature in their dwelling, allocating some of the working individuals as heat carriers, whose task is to heat up in the sun and give off heat in the anthill. Having lost such an opportunity, the anthill does not develop, withers and dies. This is a troublesome, but absolutely environmentally friendly way to get ants out, but it is not applicable in hot summers and in a greenhouse.
• Unfolding poisoned baits. The most common, but also the least effective way: often after 1-3 weeks the anthill is reborn. How this happens, see below.
• pesticide injection or a substance toxic to ants, but harmless to humans and plants, directly into a young anthill, also see below, about the biology of ants. Possessing initial knowledge about the latter, in this way you can get rid of ants forever, because. the treated area becomes unsuitable for the foundation of an anthill for years.
• Fermentation of food supplies in an anthill. This is a fairly effective way to lime ants in a summer cottage without risking plant health and crop quality. However, the treatment must be carried out during the youth of the anthill and in combination with poisoned baits.
• Repelling unbearable odors for ants. These are remedies for ants in the country from species that are naturally useful and aphids on cultivated plants not protecting, but actively exterminating harmful insects. Forest ants can settle near the site (very rarely on cultivated land). Having sniffed abominations (for them), they will soon switch to other feeding stations: raspberries-strawberries are desirable prey for them, but accidental. What, for example, red ants cannot stand, see the video below. A fairly effective, but laborious and costly method - the odorous substance / object is exhaled, soaked by rain, and it needs to be changed often. If garlic stalks or tomato tops are used to scare away, then you won’t get enough of them for this purpose.
• hunting belts useful in controlling ants climbing fruit trees, especially when combined with repellents. Tempted by sweets, foragers can come to the garden from a nearby forest, see below. It is useless to destroy them: the loss of some part of the working individuals for the anthill is like cutting hair or cutting nails for us. In addition, wood ants are very fond (in the gastronomic sense) of eggs and larvae of bark beetles. The hunting belt will not let the ants to the fruits, and all the more reason for them to deal with more serious pests, crawling up the trunk from the ground.
• Near-barrel ring traps and barriers, e.g. cut in half old tire, filled with water. Laborious and inefficient, ants build bridges by gnawing and dragging straws.

Video: how to get rid of red ants, what they are afraid of

About trap belts

On the trapping belts, you should linger a little, because. they are effective not only against ants, but also encourage the latter to prey on the benefit of the gardener. Traditionally, a hunting belt is a tying of the trunk with a sheepskin strip or a cone made of tin, foil, dense thin plastic (PET from bottles, for example), wrapped around the trunk with a bell down. But ants gnaw sheepskin, gnaw through foil, and overcome tin and plastic, building living bridges. Much more effective are trapping belts made of masking tape and special glue (sold in agricultural chemistry stores), see next. videos.

Video: trap belts - a non-toxic way to deal with ants

Lomehuza vs Ants

It is possible to destroy garden and earth ants in a biomethod by adding a lomehuzu beetle to them, see Fig., Its secretions act narcotic on ants. Ants do not miss the opportunity to greedily lick, which Lomehuza takes advantage of, devouring their eggs, larvae and pupae. The ants don't mind, just to get drunk.

A couple or two Lomehuz live in almost every large forest anthill near the top. You need to pry off the top of the anthill with a shovel, quickly, while its alarmed inhabitants pounced on it, put this heap into a plastic bag, and dump it on the anthill in the area. Forest aliens will not attack the locals, as they sometimes write. Forest ants do not directly quarrel with earth ants, and the forest ants will not be before that: having lost contact with their anthill, they are completely discouraged and doomed to death, but the locals, sensing the lomehuza, will quickly drag it to them.

Large forest ants are more or less accustomed to Lomekhuse, and its secret acts on them, well, let's say, like a bubble of vodka with an exhaustion on a peasant: he will pass out, but oversleep. Small earthy “lomehuza dope” is like a mixture of crack and “crocolil” (desomorphine) for drug addicts of the human race. Having drunk Lomekhuz, they will not be able to work and will die from an overdose, and Lomekhuz, having eaten the brood, will wander to the next anthill on the site.

Over the summer, Lomehuses will plague all the surrounding anthills, even mature ones, see below, the fight against which is ineffective in other ways. Unfortunately, if next spring the ants will start up again, it will be necessary either to destroy the anthills from a young age (also see below), or again look for Lomehuza: she does not survive the winter in earthen anthills.

Who inhabits anthills?

The abundance of ways to exterminate ants alone (and we have not yet reached the recipes of the corresponding drugs) suggests that it is necessary to deal with ants in a comprehensive manner, taking into account their species composition and biology. Let's start with views, because on the site, ants can be alien harvesters and constant malicious parasites. The first must be scared away, and the second must be mercilessly exterminated.

Most noticeable are forest red ants of several species, pos. 1-3 in the rice: they are large and biting. In nature, they are useful, but in the garden they attack sugary berries and fruits, see fig. on right. Red ants must be braved from sweet, but they should be completely expelled only if they bite a lot: red ants are active exterminators of harmful insects, arachnids (spiders and mites), worms, etc. Red ants usually do not cultivate aphids on cultivated plants, but they can gnaw leaves for food in reserve or for preparing a nutrient substrate for growing mushrooms in an anthill; in this case, the red ants become definitely harmful and poisoned baits must be used against them.

Small red earth ants (pos. 4) bite even more painfully than red ones, but you most likely will not see them near housing - these are typical savages who avoid inhabited places. They are not interested in the Sahara: red earth ants are ferocious and merciless predators, preying on any animal trifle that they can overcome, incl. and on aphids as a source of protein. Red earth ants are very aggressive; you can expel them with frightening odors (repellents), the same as for redheads, but in order personal protection- means from mosquitoes and midges.

Most often, black earth ants (garden ants, pos. 5, sod ants on lawns, etc.), as well as yellow ant thieves, pos. 6 (mainly in greenhouses; the specific name speaks for itself). With a thief ant, it is easy to confuse the pharaoh ant, which attacks, except for living quarters, and on greenhouses too. AT open field pharaoh ants are not found, they were brought to Europe by accident in the 18th century. from Egypt. All these species are certainly harmful, because. do not prey, but live on aphids and eating plants.

How does an ant live?

Communities of social insects, and anthills in particular, are designated by a number of zoologists by the term "superorganism". This means that:

• The representative (unit, subject) of a population of a given species is not an individual, but a “superorganism”. By itself, the ant is nobody and nothing.
• An individual in a "superorganism" is its structural unit, like a living cell in the body of a living being, although the individuals of the "superorganism" themselves also consist of cells and tissues.
• Individuals in the "superorganism" are divided into castes that perform strictly defined functions. Unlike the old Indian castes, individuals in the "superorganism" naturally move from caste to caste throughout their lives. For example, a worker ant can be a cleaner, a "gardener" (care for mushrooms), a "court" at the uterus, a forager-preparer of food, a "nanny-educator" caring for the brood. Outside the anthill, except for the flight period, only foragers appear.
• Without connection with the “superorganism”, its individual is not viable. Pure cultures of living cells have long been known, but so far no one has been able to maintain an isolated culture of ants of one caste.
• In the "superorganism" the exchange of information is carried out by chemical and mechanically. The information flows inside us are electrical, in the form of impulses of a weak electric current propagating along the nerves, and social insects, in the order of the life activity of the “superorganism”, exchange food flavored with their own secretions or pure ones, move their ties (antennae), legs, abdomen, or move all in their entirety (dance bees).
• The laying of eggs by a fertile female (womb) of a “superorganism” is not, in the strict sense, an act of reproduction, because only replenishes the loss of workers.
• The “superorganism” reproduces by swarming.
• The unit of settlement (diaspora) of a “superorganism” is not an egg, a larva, an embryo or a young, not a herd, a shoal or a fragment of a colony, but the same swarm – a certain number of adults temporarily endowed with special functions. A swarm can be a single winged fertilized founding female.

Ant nest

The vital organ of the "superorganism"-anthill is its nest, see fig. on right. The fertile female - the uterus (queen, queen, Queen) - is much larger than working individuals, pos. 1. She lays eggs that develop into worker ants, pos. 4. Next to her in an adult anthill there are always several smaller, but still larger than working "court" substitute individuals (vice-queens, pos. 2). They are much more mobile than the uterus and take food after it. Almost indistinguishable from the "court" "servants" (pos. 3) - the guards and breadwinners of the uterus. Our garden ants do not have a special caste of soldiers, like termites and tropical ants.

If something happens to the uterus, one of the "court" begins to lay eggs, one of which gives rise to a new uterus. Then the "court" and "servants" die, or they are killed by worker ants, most of which also die. The anthill seems to have died, but due to the accumulated food reserves, the new uterus first breeds working ants, to which, at the time of maturity of the anthill, new “court” and “mans” are added.

Why ants of different castes hatch from seemingly the same egg has not yet been figured out by science. But with regard to the fight against ants, it is already possible to draw conclusions, firstly, that it is useless to destroy foragers: in the anthill there is a supply of eggs, larvae and pupae, the development of which ants can accelerate and slow down. Secondly, it is not enough to destroy the queen, you need to quickly, until her substitutes have spread, to destroy the entire nest. Thirdly, in order to get rid of this anthill forever, it is necessary to destroy the food reserves accumulated in it or make them unsuitable for ants.

How does an anthill grow?

Having fertilized during the flight (the male, having done his job, dies) and landing in a chosen place, the founding female gnaws off her wings and digs an almost imperceptible mink (shown by the arrow in pos. 1 of the figure); this is the germ of an ant. There she, without eating, lays 2-3 dozen eggs. Energy for this is spent from its reserve in the so-called. fatty body found in the abdomen of all higher insects. It makes no sense to destroy an anthill at the embryonic stage: it is difficult to detect it, and another founder will sit in the same place, because. the base of the anthill takes much less time than the flight lasts.

From the first portion of the eggs (the female, taking care of them, is already eating), workers emerge, equipping the anthill and feeding the founder, who is now the uterus. The vegetation around the anthill dies off, and around the entrance to it, a roller of discarded earth is clearly visible, pos. 2; now we see a young anthill. This is the most vulnerable phase of its "growth": the structure of the structure is still simple, pos. 3, and there are no food supplies yet. The greatest depth of construction, as a rule, does not exceed half a meter.

It is best to poison ants just at the stage of youth of the anthill. If a flexible tube is pushed into the inlet and poured through the funnel (or pumped from confectionery syringe) insecticide or poison for ants, then the anthill will die completely and irrevocably: the female has already largely lost mobility, the “court” have not yet hatched, but the workers have already specialized and will not survive without a queen. It is also possible to dig up and pour boiling water / poison, but if the properties of the soil allow (and the ants know how to choose it), the female can go into a slug and the anthill will be reborn, because. she had a fat body again. If a young anthill is under a paved or asphalt path, then injection is the only way to clean it clean without spoiling the coating.

If you start the business, then, depending on the type of ants, a clearly visible earthen mound is formed, pos. 4, or several/many entrances to a barren area, these are developed (adult) anthills, pos. 5 and 6. It is difficult to get rid of a “matured” anthill, because a mature "superorganism" is well protected from external influences by its very structure and is very resilient.

How to exterminate ants?

There are also many recipes for ant extermination compounds, but boric acid has proven itself as their basis: in small concentrations it is harmless to humans and plants, and deadly poison for ants. Most commercially available ant repellents (sometimes quite expensive) are also made with boric acid.

Other effective remedy- ammonia. But not ammonia(aqueous ammonia solution), and ammonium chloride NH4Cl. It is also harmless to us in a weak solution (used as a food additive, including for high-quality confectionery products), and ammonium chloride to plants - nitrogen fertilizer(25% active nitrogen).

Ammonium chloride can be bought at radio and electrical stores; it is sometimes used as an active soldering flux. But remember: when heated above 338 degrees, ammonia decomposes into extremely toxic free ammonia and chlorine!

Note: ammonia against ants is also applicable, but under certain conditions and with precautions, see below: between ammonia and nitrate, the correspondence is about the same as between pure sodium and chlorine and table salt.

Radical means

For pouring / injections of an anthill, the following formulations have been tested in practice:

1. Concentrated solution of boric acid;
2. 10% ammonia solution, which is ammonium chloride;
3. Soil Disinfector/Exterminator Based on blue vitriol triple the concentration compared to the plant treatment solution: 3 g of copper sulfate, 6 g of boric acid and 30 g of potassium permanganate per 10 liters of water. The most economical means;
4. Concentrated dichlorvos solution. After processing, the land within a radius equal to the depth of the anthill is withdrawn from agricultural circulation for a year. good remedy quickly and surely destroy the ants nesting under the path or blind area of ​​the house, because. also destroys developed anthills.

All these drugs are poured / pumped into the anthill in dry weather so that the solution comes out of the entrance (with the top) or the earth is apparently saturated with it. For a young anthill, 2-5 liters are usually enough.

Lures

All poisoned ant baits are based on boric acid powder mixed with sweets: molasses, honey, jam, sugar, etc. On a teaspoon of boric take 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar or a glass of molasses, jam or honey. Water is added to the dry bait until a thick syrup is formed. Portions of the bait in 1/2 teaspoon are spread on pieces of foil or PET trimmings from bottles and laid out on ant tracks. Cover with straw on top so that birds do not peck and fly insects do not eat.

Even more attractive for ants is the bait trail. composition, by volume:

• Granulated sugar - 40%.
• Honey - 10%.
• Borax - 5%
• Water - 45%

The ants seem to consider this drug a delicacy, because they carry it directly to the uterus. The action of this drug begins on the 2nd day, and if the developed anthill is not an old perennial one, the “courtiers” also have time to eat the sweet poison. Also on the 2nd day and with the same effect, the popular purchased drug "Great Warrior" begins to act.

Note: poisoned ant baits must not be used in the apiary or in the "operational zone" of bees!

fermenters

These compounds spoil the food supply of ants, depriving the anthill of nutritional resources for revival. The basis is ordinary baker's yeast, diluted with water to the density of sour cream. The application is twofold:

1. Together with baits - mixed with fermented jam 1: 3 and laid out on separate "saucers" alternately with them.
2. After 10 minutes - 1 hour after the injection into the anthill, when the pesticide is completely absorbed into the soil: diluted with water "to milk" and injected. After dichlorvos is ineffective.

Repellers

A serious problem is the courage of ants from the beds. Catching belts are not applicable here, garlic needs a lot, and pesticides and a decoction of tomato tops can deprive the crop of suitability for food. According to the compatibility of agrochemistry with health care, 2 methods can be recommended:

• A mixture of dry oregano grass ground in a meat grinder (sold in pharmacies) and finely dispersed sulfur 1:2 by volume.
• Mixture wood ash, ground dry coniferous bark and slaked lime in equal proportions by volume.

One and the other composition is poured into the aisles with a strip of 4-5 cm wide and dug up with soil.

On the bushes

Berry bushes with fruits from ants are regularly sprayed with a solution of (1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) ammonia in a bucket of water. The solution is allowed to stand for half an hour and the bushes are sprayed. Its action is short-lived, no more than 2 days, so re-treatment should be carried out as soon as the ants are seen again.

in the greenhouse

This is the most difficult case, because in greenhouses, very cunning and tenacious ants-thieves and pharaohs most often settle. A radical remedy for both is to freeze the greenhouse, but this is far from always possible. You can significantly reduce crop losses from ants using the already mentioned "Great Warrior" or bait with borax in combination with fermenters.

An effective method, however, requiring observation and knowledge of the habits of insects is ammonia. First you need to find the entrance(s) to the anthill. He will most likely be in hard to reach place: under the heating pipe, at the frame rack, etc. Tracking ants along paths in well-groomed greenhouse soil is difficult.

Next, you need an absorber - a piece of moisture-absorbing fabric (coarse calico, flannel), felt or natural felt (best of all) the size of a tea saucer, they cover the entrance to the anthill and drip ammonia from the vial until the absorber is soaked through. Don't forget to wear a petal respirator and goggles!

The absorber impregnated with a volatile reagent is turned over and covered with a piece polyethylene film to reduce evaporation. The door and windows are wide open, otherwise ammonia fumes will damage the plants. If the anthill is developed, the treatment will have to be repeated, but not earlier than after 2 weeks.

Finally

The basis of all life on Earth is one and gives a huge variety of its forms. Zoologists globally divide animals into protozoa, protostomes and deuterostomes. Each of these groups is a separate trunk of evolution with dead-end and productive branches. The simplest took the path of specialization and improvement of intracellular structures. The crown of the trunk of protostomes is precisely the "super-organisms" of social insects.

There are many times more insects on land both in terms of the number of species and biomass than all other animals. However, deuterostomes achieved the greatest success: they improved a fast, compact and capacious system for transmitting information within the body. electrically along the nerves. This allowed all the complexity necessary for survival and development to fit into one individual and eventually led to the emergence of intelligence.

The mind made it possible to purposefully change the environment and, without changing the organism itself, to live even where life is impossible in principle, for example. in space. Man influences nature not always for the benefit of her and himself, but this is a matter of rational use of the same mind. Nevertheless, the kings of nature are still with you, and even when solving completely private issues, such as the one to which this article is devoted, you need to find ways to do this without prejudice to environment. We hope that the material presented will help you with this.