Ants and Termites

Douglas_Miami – posted 02 September 2003 12:31

I think my house is built on one giant ant or termite mound. I have discovered ants (or termites) on the roots and trunk of almost every plant and tree in my yard. Is there a good method for getting rid of these?

Dchall_San_Antonio – posted 05 September 2003 00:56

Are they leafcutters, fire ants, Argentines, sweet ants, or termites? It makes a difference.

Douglas_Miami – posted 05 September 2003 11:21

Hm. I don’t know. I know they’re not fire ants. Most of them tend to nest in or around root systems of my trees. I usually find them crawling all over the trees. They have definitely damaged (i.e. eaten away) at some, but not all, of these trees. I don’t know if that qualifies as termite or not. They are quite small though. I thought originally they might be carpenter ant, but they are not large and black.

certified-in-florida – posted 28 September 2003 12:50

What I get from your description and 12 years of pest control, including termite control, you are not dealing with termites (they wouldn’t be climbing on the trees unless you broke off a piece of a limb. You are most likely dealing with ants. Many of the protein eating ants will go into old termite gallaries and feed on the termites as well as nest in their gallaries.

As for control, an insecticide sprayed into the are should do the job. By the way, if it were termites, I would suggest not doing anything as long as there is no infestation of the house.

rgjack – posted 09 October 2003 13:55

You said >> By the way, if it were termites, I would suggest not doing anything as long as there is no infestation of the house.<<

In Florida termites are quite common. I know they are on my 3/4 acre lot and I’ve even found them under the mulch near the house. Prevention is the only reasonable course of action. Do you have direct experience with and can rate the do-it-yourself termite baits?

By the way, I doubt Douglas is seeing termites on the surface, but I also question ants ‘eating’ the trees. Not enough good information.

[This message has been edited by rgjack (edited 09 October 2003).]

Douglas_Miami – posted 14 October 2003 07:47

Thanks for the reponses. As far as more information, you’re right, the ants are not actually eating the trees, but I have equated my hibiscus’ decline to these ants’ nesting in the roots. These ants were also nesting in the root system of another vine plant (name unknown), which rapidly declined as well. I have subsequently pulled out the vine plant. I have found these ants nesting in the root system of my bougainvillia (sp), which doesn’t seem affected. I have also found ants in the upper fronds of all three of my palms in the front yard. And I found ants nesting in a bag of mulch in my shed, which I didn’t discover until I planted a new palm, which now has ants nesting in its root base.

rgjack – posted 16 October 2003 07:33

Douglas, your 10/14 reply indicates carpenter ants are your problem. Go to Google at http://www.google.com, advanced search, exact phrase = carpenter ants and you’ll find a lot of information. This one seems quite thorough: http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/housingandclothing/DK1015.html

Believe me you must go after the carpenter ants nests outside or they will get into the house. In a matter of two years while my house was leased with a property management company carpenter ants infested not only the yard (seven nests) but also the house (four nests). I found MaxForce carpenter ant bait does NOT work…they avoid it and it molds in the Florida humidity, making it useless. Also don’t depend on the diazinon and other granule products for putting a barrier around the house. If you have mulch the ants will nest under the mulch and not be affected.

I keep a spray bottle filled with Ortho’s Termite and Carpenter Ant insecticide. It kills shortly after contact…seek out the nests, disturb them and spray freely. Soak the area around the nests under the roots and wet the shrub or tree trunk.

One of the items mentioned in the article above is how to follow the ants back to the nest – highly recommended if you want to be successful. Good luck.

Douglas_Miami – posted 16 October 2003 08:34

rgjack, thanks for the response. I really appreciate. I read your attached article and it sounds like this might be problem – gaining control will be another issue.

Thanks again.