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Well that explains these two videos from my house this week! https://www.dropbox.com/s/vkhkwk0w7wkzug2/MOV_0387.MOV.mov https://www.dropbox.com/s/vkhkwk0w7wkzu

Well that explains these two videos from my house this week! https://www.dropbox.com/s/vkhkwk0w7wkzug2/MOV_0387.MOV.mov https://www.dropbox.com/s/vkhkwk0w7wkzug2/MOV_0387.MOV.mov https://www.dropbox.com/s/6qh83sq8hrpoarx/IMG_0555.MOV-1.mov https://www.dropbox.com/s/6qh83sq8hrpoarx/IMG_0555.MOV-1.mov These ants are all over my place right now and it is disgusting. We had an exterminator come out yesterday and he said that he had never seen anything like this before. Hoping what he did will work. If anyone on here has suggestions, I really want these things out of my place.

todd3834 13y ago
Also, I live close to the Bay Area so they could be coming for you next!
- drone 13y ago
  Lucky for you, and the SF Bay Area, those aren't crazy ants =)
  - todd3834 13y ago
    I hope you are right, but how can you tell? They seem to match all the characteristics. They don't march in lines, they go all over the place and they love electronics. I'm at work all day and almost don't eat at home at all so there is no food around the house. These things just love my electronics.
    - todd3834 13y ago
      they definitely don't move that fast. Thanks! :)
    - drone 13y ago
      If they are, they would be the furthest north sighting of them so far[0]. Notably, the ants in your video don't actually move like rasberry crazy ants but they appear more like a normal disturbed ant nest. It's hard to describe how unusual coming across them is, but take a look at this video for how they look when you encounter them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgUOufiQw6M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgUOufiQw6M (ignore pretty much everything the video author says =) You're more likely dealing with something like a Pharaoh ant, which are fairly common in your area. [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reported_distribution_of_the_Rasberry_Crazy_Ant_in_the_United_States_-_journal.pone.0045314.g001.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reported_distribution_of_t...
      - borski 13y ago
        We had pharaoh ants for a long time. Whatever you do, DO NOT SPRAY THEM. If you do, they will divide the colonies and come back later in hoards. Use bait traps, so that once the scouts regurgitate food into the other ants they all for together.
    - gscott 13y ago
      Cover your electronics vents with women's leg stockings. I believe I read the crazy ants are attracted to the heat, then when one dies it leaves an odor which attracts more of the crazy ants, until your electronics are full of dead ants.
dhimes 13y ago
You need bait traps. Spraying won't work. The best information I found (for a carpenter ant problem) was from the University of Kentucky. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef619.asp http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef619.asp Although for the big jobs I get the real poison from epestsupply.com, I've had luck with the stuff at the local home hardware store also. It might be a place to start while you wait for your 'Special reserve' to come in.
lafar6502 13y ago
Also, there are some white granules/powder that ants consider tasty and take to their nests. In a moist and warm nest the substance produces carbon dioxide which suffocates the colony. I think it's sugar mixed with baking soda. You can also use it to destroy nests around your house.
- oakwhiz 13y ago
  I thought it was fine-granule sugar mixed with boric acid.
  - lafar6502 13y ago
    ok, i will not use it for baking
  - trhway 13y ago
    boric acid works like a charm (just draw the lines using the chalk if feeling like powder is too inconvenient). And it is non toxic. Why would people try anything else, usually some poison, and/or pay to exterminator, etc... ?
    - antjanus 13y ago
      From personal experience, I've tried all of these and none of them work well, or quickly. I've used boric acid, baking soda, and everything else. Even chalk. And had ants just step over them, not care, nor disappear (at least not within 1 month or so). Tried the sugar trick, too (different house). And nothing. I didn't call an exterminator but I did lay down boric acid and baking soda and used white vinegar as well to deter them. It took a month or so but they did disappear eventually. Also, my user name.
      - trhway 13y ago
        interesting, just googled: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/homemade-ant-killer-boric-acid-74569.html http://homeguides.sfgate.com/homemade-ant-killer-boric-acid-... "Boric acid ant killers aren't effective against all species of ant. They work best against ants that are a nuisance in your home, such as the Argentine ant, the Pharoah ant and the odorous house ant. These ants are small and usually black or reddish-black, often called sugar ants. Other ants that normally stay outdoors, such as harvester ants or fire ants, aren't as receptive to boric acid ant baits." we lived through the series of apartments in the Valley, and boric acid carried us through even though neighbors were heavily infested with ants/roaches. The ants were small black ones.
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
I use talc and or boric acid.
mcovey 13y ago
I had a really bad ant problem with sugar ants a few months ago. I used a bait called terro that is actually just borax and sugar water. Mine were coming from the wall somewhere, and coming up under the carpet, I put the baits underneath the carpet and it took about a week but finally I have not seen a single ant since then. You have to resist spraying them, and let the baits work. Once they find them, there will be a lot of them as they mill around the bait and eat it, and bring it back to their nest, where everyone eats it, and then dies.

todd3834 13y ago

Also, I live close to the Bay Area so they could be coming for you next!

drone 13y ago
Lucky for you, and the SF Bay Area, those aren't crazy ants =)
- todd3834 13y ago
  I hope you are right, but how can you tell? They seem to match all the characteristics. They don't march in lines, they go all over the place and they love electronics. I'm at work all day and almost don't eat at home at all so there is no food around the house. These things just love my electronics.
  - todd3834 13y ago
    they definitely don't move that fast. Thanks! :)
  - drone 13y ago
    If they are, they would be the furthest north sighting of them so far[0]. Notably, the ants in your video don't actually move like rasberry crazy ants but they appear more like a normal disturbed ant nest. It's hard to describe how unusual coming across them is, but take a look at this video for how they look when you encounter them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgUOufiQw6M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgUOufiQw6M (ignore pretty much everything the video author says =) You're more likely dealing with something like a Pharaoh ant, which are fairly common in your area. [0] - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reported_distribution_of_the_Rasberry_Crazy_Ant_in_the_United_States_-_journal.pone.0045314.g001.png http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Reported_distribution_of_t...
    - borski 13y ago
      We had pharaoh ants for a long time. Whatever you do, DO NOT SPRAY THEM. If you do, they will divide the colonies and come back later in hoards. Use bait traps, so that once the scouts regurgitate food into the other ants they all for together.
  - gscott 13y ago
    Cover your electronics vents with women's leg stockings. I believe I read the crazy ants are attracted to the heat, then when one dies it leaves an odor which attracts more of the crazy ants, until your electronics are full of dead ants.

dhimes 13y ago

You need bait traps. Spraying won't work. The best information I found (for a carpenter ant problem) was from the University of Kentucky. http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef619.asp http://www2.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef619.asp Although for the big jobs I get the real poison from epestsupply.com, I've had luck with the stuff at the local home hardware store also. It might be a place to start while you wait for your 'Special reserve' to come in.

lafar6502 13y ago

Also, there are some white granules/powder that ants consider tasty and take to their nests. In a moist and warm nest the substance produces carbon dioxide which suffocates the colony. I think it's sugar mixed with baking soda. You can also use it to destroy nests around your house.

oakwhiz 13y ago
I thought it was fine-granule sugar mixed with boric acid.
- lafar6502 13y ago
  ok, i will not use it for baking
- trhway 13y ago
  boric acid works like a charm (just draw the lines using the chalk if feeling like powder is too inconvenient). And it is non toxic. Why would people try anything else, usually some poison, and/or pay to exterminator, etc... ?
  - antjanus 13y ago
    From personal experience, I've tried all of these and none of them work well, or quickly. I've used boric acid, baking soda, and everything else. Even chalk. And had ants just step over them, not care, nor disappear (at least not within 1 month or so). Tried the sugar trick, too (different house). And nothing. I didn't call an exterminator but I did lay down boric acid and baking soda and used white vinegar as well to deter them. It took a month or so but they did disappear eventually. Also, my user name.
    - trhway 13y ago
      interesting, just googled: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/homemade-ant-killer-boric-acid-74569.html http://homeguides.sfgate.com/homemade-ant-killer-boric-acid-... "Boric acid ant killers aren't effective against all species of ant. They work best against ants that are a nuisance in your home, such as the Argentine ant, the Pharoah ant and the odorous house ant. These ants are small and usually black or reddish-black, often called sugar ants. Other ants that normally stay outdoors, such as harvester ants or fire ants, aren't as receptive to boric acid ant baits." we lived through the series of apartments in the Valley, and boric acid carried us through even though neighbors were heavily infested with ants/roaches. The ants were small black ones.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

I use talc and or boric acid.

mcovey 13y ago

I had a really bad ant problem with sugar ants a few months ago. I used a bait called terro that is actually just borax and sugar water. Mine were coming from the wall somewhere, and coming up under the carpet, I put the baits underneath the carpet and it took about a week but finally I have not seen a single ant since then. You have to resist spraying them, and let the baits work. Once they find them, there will be a lot of them as they mill around the bait and eat it, and bring it back to their nest, where everyone eats it, and then dies.