Don\'t kill Ants as ants keep Termites out of your house

"Don't kill Ants as ants keep Termites out of your house!" Hanks Keirsteadowki told me as his wife's afraid of ants crawling around their house. His wife wanted to kill all ants with heavy duty pesticides (smoke, fluidic, irrigation) - Fumigation is a method of pest control that completely fills an area with gaseous pesticides—or fumigants—to suffocate or poison the pests within.

Ants and termites are the stuff of legend….sworn enemies that will fight each other unto death. Termites will go to extremes to keep ants out of your house.

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Ants vs. Termites
updated: Oct 04, 2012, 11:25 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

I've heard that ants can help prevent termite damage. Is this true? Ants are constantly invading our home, but don't want to kill them if they are really preventing it from being eaten.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

 

COMMENT 327783	2012-10-04 12:33 PM
Yes, ants are the natural predator for termites. We just learned the hard way. Husband got sick of ants everywhere and diligently eradicated them around the perimeter of the house this Spring. We just had our first-ever influx of swarming termites inside the house. They came in under the framing of a French door. A few actually burrowed into the legs of our furniture. A termite exterminator just treated the room and furniture with a high voltage electro-gun, and now we are waiting to see if all were killed. At least there are options other than poison and pesticides!
COMMENT 327817P	2012-10-04 02:03 PM
783: I am sending you and your husband each a hug, via wi-fi. Thank you for not using pesticides! (On the termites, anyway.) And now you learned to leave the ants to their work. Yes. Our garden long has been a no-kill refuge for ants and all other types of insects, bugs, spiders. We used to spray "Termite Prufe" (Ace Hardware) on specific small locations, rarely, if we spotted beginnings of an infestation. (T.P is supposedly not carcinogenic, and has low toxicity to humans and pets. Although if it kills termites . . .) Our problem was solved by raising the part of the foundation in contact with the earth, and thus keeping wood "highways" off the ground. This cut off access to our house for the subterranean type termites. We have ants and more ants, several species. I think it denotes a healthier property. I, too, have heard ants keep termites at bay. All I know is, we have loads of alligator lizards and other beneficial-type residents out in our yard. Everything thriving. Spraying for ants, putting out ant stakes and such is stupid. It is only poisoning your own environment. Thanks again for using a pesticide-free termite control. You rock.
COMMENT 327821	2012-10-04 02:15 PM
To the OP: You can use all sorts of organic pest control methods to deter ants. Ants won't cross chalk, baby powder, cinnamon, etc. Lots of good info, online. Best to remove the attraction, first of all. Keep kitchen clean, no dirty dishes on sink top and so on. We had one small line of ants come into our kitchen last week (hottest days). They left within a day, after we laid down a line of tabasco sauce (across their trail). We were more vigilant about crumbs on the counter, too. It is such a crime that people waste money on Pest Control companies who advise use of toxins. Worse yet, all the poisons sprayed in your yard and house are harmful to you, your pets and kids, and only serve to disrupt nature's balance.
COMMENT 327840	2012-10-04 02:47 PM
In the book, Tiny Game Hunting, ants are said to eat termite eggs.
COMMENT 327869	2012-10-04 03:47 PM
cool, well, I guess I'll just deal with them then and not do any kind of treatment other than a little baby powder here and there, etc. thanks for the feedback!
COMMENT 327919	2012-10-04 05:39 PM
Yes ants eat termites But they farm them and will not eat the entire colony, If you see termites you can use WD 40 it kills them right on the spot also if you crush a few termites and leave them the ants will find them and then start to work on the colony,I have been using WD 40 for years and it is a constant battle but well worth it and it saves big bucks not paying for a exterminator, did you know that the next day after tenting your house a swarm can re enter your home and go right to work,, the little buggers eat 24/7 best of luck get on the internet and see how they work it helps in hunting and iradicating them, PS the WD 40 works for a long time if you can shoot it in there little burrows it will kill them for a few months close enought to non tocic for me
COMMENT 327994	2012-10-05 06:58 AM
wd40 = benzine = carcinogenic = toxic to humans
COMMENT 328035	2012-10-05 08:26 AM
Seedlady - good to be careful, but check the facts. WD-40 is a blend of low and high refined aliphatic petroleum oils, with some secret corrosion inhibitors which I have analyzed and they are pretty innocuous. Add some CO2 propellant for the version that comes in aerosol cans. No benzene, nothing carcinogenic or regulated under proposition 65 in California, and nothing especially toxic. It does coat the lungs with a very dangerous oily film if inhaled in large quantities (just like olive oil coming out of a paint sprayer) and it is flammable and will release explosive vapors if sprayed onto a hot surface - keep it away from sparks and flames (kinda like olive oil) Any product with any industrial or commercial applications will have a government mandated Material Safety Data Sheet and if you google the name of the product with the letters "MSDS" you will quickly find it online.
COMMENT 328101	2012-10-05 11:06 AM
Ants will make sure your termites are well cared for, kind of like tending the flock. Disodium Octaborate Tetrahydrate is your friend. Such a product using this is Tim Bor, but there are others out there. Safe for humans and pets, not so good for termites. Dissolve in water and spray on unpainted wood. Product soaks in and gives life long protection as long as wood is protected from the elements. Did wonders for my garage, killing off termite activity in a month or so.
FIRST DISTRICT	2012-10-05 12:50 PM
When there's an underabundance of ants and it is absolutely necessary to tent a building what must be removed besides food, plants, and pets.
COMMENT 328656	2012-10-06 03:31 PM
Google the company Arbico. They sell nematodes for ants and nematodes for termites. I have not used them yet, but it is applied with a garden hose end sprayer. They are organic control, no pesticide. http://ventura.edhat.com/site/tidbit.cfm?nid=101118   Animals & HabitatsAnimals & Habitats Nature & Ecosystemsinsects Amazing Microsocieties: Ants vs. Termites byEcoist     Scientists have long known that humans are not the only species endowed with certain gifts; wolves, dolphins, orcas and apes all have highly advanced social behavior and the ability to organize. Despite these fantastic achievements, Mankind remains the only species of mammal to possess both a societal structure, and the ability to build structures in which to house those societies. That particular trait combination can be found in another part of the animal-kingdom; the Insect Kingdom, and most notably among its ground-dwelling denizens, the Ants and Termites.     A Well Grounded Society (images via kahwai, matildashelia, bushwalking, Guardian) Both loved by children and hated by most adults, ants span the globe and are widely known and instantly recognized.  Many Americans still remember having an ant-farm as a child, and watching the colony live, build and die inside the small glass case that was their world.  In their natural habitat, the scaling of what we witnessed as children is nothing short of spectacular. Some colonies of ants can be as small as a few dozen, living in a small hollowed log or mound of dirt clearly visible when happened upon, while larger supercolonies have been discovered spanning 100 kilometers or more across. Not all colonies are permanent, as the inhabitants will abandon the structure to save the group at nearly any hint of danger, and some ants do not stay in one location long enough to warrant the tunneling it takes to create them at all. In South America, the Army Ants move as a hoard, and actually create temporary lodging for their queen and larvae by linking their bodies together to form what’s called (appropriately enough) a bivouac.  In Africa, the driver ants do the same, and the Weaver Ant actually ties leaves together with silk from their larvae to create intricate nests above the ground.  While most structural colonies are tunneled underground or inside decrepit logs, some can be found above ground in what appear to be ant-made mountains or giant ant hills.  These do not generally reach the same heights as those of the termites. Many ants even herd aphids, as in the picture above (bottom). They tend to the flock, protecting it from natural predators, and actually “milk” the aphids using their antennae, gathering sugary secretions. Forever Reaching Upward (images via NMA, Loughborough, Emmitsburg) Termites, like ants, are builders for the most part when it comes to creating their nests. Unlike ants, however, termites reach for the sky in their endeavors and build colossal towers to hold their huge populations. These towering palaces of dirt and fiber are nearly hollow when analyzed, as the termites themselves are smaller than ants and weigh almost nothing. While here in America, we know termites mostly for the damage caused when they move into our homes, devouring processed wood is not their forte.  Cellulose can be found in the oddest places, where not a tree can be seen for miles, and a termite nest will be there.  Above and to the right we see what looks like a strange alien plant, but it’s actually a plaster casting of the inside of a termite mound. Notice the size of the tunnels, and the complexity of the seemingly chaotic architecture. While a mound of hollowed out dirt may not seem like it could be very stable to a creature our size, these mounds provide absolute protection from the elements, as well as a nearly insurmountable fortress in times of danger. The True Test of Any Society: War (image via Termites 101) While it’s never a nice thought, it is believed by many that the true test of any society is war, and microsocieties are no different in this. Ants and termites have been locked in an adversarial relationship for millions of years.  Entire colonies of ants will literally march out of their nests and assault a nearby termite mound, using waves of soldier and worker ants to break through sentry termites and gain entry to the deeper nest below.  Once inside, a battle between the two species can last hours or even days, as the ants slowly penetrate deeper into the compound and kill everything in their path.  There is no explanation for this behavior, as the termites do not seem to stand a chance against ants in direct combat.  They are weaker in every way, and they don’t usually mount attacks of their own.  Ant raids like this happen frequently, and if ever witnessed can be both an awesome and a frightening sight to behold.  The goal of such a raid seems to be to kill the termite queen, and to haul away all the termite eggs to use as food to feed the colony’s young.  It is a pure act of aggression, carried out by a society as a whole body.  Such things aren’t usually thought to exist in nature, outside human behavior.