Ants

Ants will go into the house in search for food. They will invade the kitchen in search for scraps of food which they will then carry back to their nests to feed it on their larvae. But the ants that you see are only a small part of the colony. Ants can eat through wood and masonry and will also build their nests there, tunneling their way through the material and making hundreds of holes. If you have ants in the kitchen it is quite probable that a large part of the population is hiding in behind the walls. All they need is a small hole to access the kitchen. Once the ants are in the kitchen and their nests are in the walls, it is extremely difficult to get rid of them.

Ants cannot only be a nuisance in the house they can also cause big problems in the garden. They will dig holes into the grass and undermine patios, pathways or any other structure that gives the nest protection from above. Especially electrical garden lighting holds a great attraction for ants and their activities can cause problems with the electrical circuits, sometimes causing a total failure. Wooden fences and wooden seats are also a welcome place for a nest.

To repel ants permanently from an area, an effective ant repellent is needed, making the whole area undesirable for nesting and most unpleasant for living.

Ant bait will achieve a short-term success, killing off most of the breed. Once the ants nest is eradicated, the ant bait will also be gone, leaving the old nest free to be taken over by a new ant colony. Additionally, and bait is not recommended as a repellent if children or pets live in the vicinity.

The ants environment and life cycle.

There are a great number of different ants throughout the world, which have adapted to their surroundings and ecological systems.

In German gardens the most frequently found ant is the Lasius ant, better known as the common black garden ant. They establish their habitats under paths, terraces as well as trees and plants. The main food source of the ant is honeydew, an excretion produced by the lice on the plants.

In the wild, ants are considered to be useful and a natural tool. The ants carry organic humus into the soil and clean the forest floor of impurities. In addition they will attack other small pests around their nests. Ants are intelligent insects. An ant colony is a complex and intelligent construction in which all ants have their roles. Ants can also travel great distances, locate interesting food sites and communicate these with the colony.

Breeding

The eggs from which the larvae hatch can only be produced by the queen. The ant queen is the centre of every ant colony. Throughout the summer only workers are bred. In early autumn the ant queen will lay eggs producing fertile female and male larvae which then leave the nest after hatching and fly out for mating. After mating the male ants die and the ant queens look for a place to hibernate through the winter. In spring the first workers will be bred and fed by the ant queen. Then the workers take over and it is their only object to feed the larvae and expand the area of the nest.

Long-term damage from ants is often not immediately visible and therefore destruction can be gradual. The damage becomes apparent when stones on pathways and patios become loose, small mounds of sand appear on the grass, wooden constructions become unstable and the mortar in the walls begins to crumble.

To avoid this gradual destruction and the takeover of the ants, we recommend using ant repellents by Gardigo. These are designed to keep ants and their nests permanently away. The  Ant Repellent Module, the Solar Mole-Ant-Repellant Vibration Module, the Mole-Ant-Repellant Vibration Module and the Dual Function Mouse-Ant-Repellant are all designed to keep your garden and house clear of ants without harming or killing them. The Ant Repellent Module and the Dual Function Mouse-Ant-Repellant make life for the ants uncomfortable by emitting an ultrasonic sound. The Solar Mole-Ant-Repellant and the Mole-Ant-Repellant Vibration Module both emit a vibration, causing a disruption and an impulse in the soil, and an ultrasonic sound.