How to Kill Flying Ants

Control ants, even if they fly

One time or another, we have all tried to find different ways to kill flying ants. Luckily flying ants are a temporary problem that occurs only a few times a year. It is important to remove them completely though, and this article will tell you how to eradicate them. Does this Spark an idea?

Things You'll Need

• Spray bottle
• Water
• Soap
• Aerosol ant spray
• A jar
• Honey
• Borax
• Equal or NutraSweet packets
• Ant pesticide powder

Instructions

1. Understand exactly what flying ants are and why they appear in your home. Flying ants occur only a few times a year on days jokingly known as "flying ant days." These are days when the weather is just right and local ant colonies swarm. The queen females will grow wings and rise into the air with the male ants around them. These ants sometimes travel only a few feet and other times they travel quite a distance. The purpose of the swarming is for the ants to mate and form new colonies. Once the female has mated with the males, she loses her wings and falls to the ground in search of a location for her new colony. Males fall to the ground and die after they have mated. While the phenomenon of flying ants lasts only a short while, it is important to kill them and surrounding colonies to prevent a further invasion in the future.

2. Eliminate the flying ants inside your home . You can achieve this by simply smashing the live ones that you see in your home with a newspaper or other object, if there are only a small amount. If you notice they are clustered around an open window in your home secure it shut, and make sure to smash any surrounding live ants that you find. If there are a large amount of flying ants, or you just aren't a smashing type of person, you can use aerosol sprays specifically made for killing ants. Since you may not have any aerosol spray handy, and the ants may be gone by the time you leave to get some, you may use a mixture of soapy water in a spray bottle to kill them as well.

3. Attack and kill any surrounding colonies of flying ants you find outside your home. By doing this you are killing all the ants that could potentially swarm and produce more flying ants in the future.

4. Buy an ant powder pesticide to sprinkle onto the mounds, or make your own. If you have children or animals, it is recommended that you make your own, as some pesticide powders can be harmful to them.

5. Combine about a 1/2 teaspoon of honey, borax, and aspertame (Equal, NutraSweet, etc.), and sprinkle it onto the top of each mound you find. By doing this you are ensuring that the ants will carry the poison back to their homes underground and kill the entire colony. This will prevent further swarming of flying ants from occurring.

Tips & Warnings

• To control ants make sure to kill all surrounding ant colonies outside your home.

• Kill flying ants when you first see them or they will soon be gone.

• Read all warning labels on sprays or pesticides before using them.

• Keep children and pets away from ant sprays or pesticide powders used to control ants.

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• Flying ant information
• More information on killing flying ants