Could it be?! Mutated Ants!

[grower_boy]

Well, the first question is do you live in an apartment or house. You have to find how they are getting in. Living here in FLA we have many problems with all sorts of insects including ants. But the best thing is to find out where they are coming in and why. Usually you will see ants around if there is food source somewhere and much of this has to do with bad house keeping. When I was in college, my roommate was a slob. And because of that we had an ant problem because of unwashed dishes in the sink, empty pizza boxes, beer and soda cans and etc. The only way we got rid of them was to clean, clean, clean and after that my roommate stopped being a slob and it stopped.

I live ina town house. I'm not quite a slob, but I'll admit that I sometimes drop crumbs on the floor (which the ants clamour for). I'll definitely try to keep things cleaner though.

Termites my friend Termites :yesyes: - http://www.pestproducts.com/termites.htm

Don't they have to be a lighter color though? :dunno:

ants will come in for water in the summer. seal off the holes they are coming in with putty or follow the trail the their ant hole or hill. since ants are no where near an endangered species, go ahead and kill the fuckers. they'll be around longer than we will.

Yeah, I need to caulk the corners in here pretty bad. They're certainly a stronger species than us. :1orglaugh

Over 20 years ago, I had an ant problem, so I bought some poison. The kind I got had the weirdest odor, but the smell and the ants disappeared. However, over a year later, the ants came back and whenever I squashed one, I could smell that weird odor. And now, more than 20 years later, whenever I squash an ant, I can smell that poisonous odor. My theory is they just got immune and somehow passed it on to their future generations. As to why the odor keeps coming back when you or I kill one, I don't have a clue.

Thanks! I'm glad I'm not the only one who has experienced this.

In many cases, killing ants by broadcast spraying only increases the population later because the queens will simply lay more eggs to make up for the lost population and then some. Let me ask you, do these ants make long single or double file trails in both directions (coming and going) from inside to outside your home, or are they more or less scattered throughout areas of your home? If the former, you more than likely have Argentine ants, the most prolific, most invasive species ever introduced to America and the rest of the mild climate world for that matter. How big are these creatures, about an 1/8 of an inch long?

My guess is that you have two different varieties invading your home, probably ''Pavement Ants", ''Odorous House Ants'' (the one's that make your finger smell like Windex after you crush them) and who knows, you might have three varieties all competing for a resource that's available at your home. Are there any signs of a plumbing leak anywhere in your basement, under a sink or just outside the perimeter of your home? It's important to note that ants typically nest nearest a reliable source of water, sugar and/or proteins, take those away and the ants will probably make contact with your neighbor's dwelling, not yours.

The best way to kill ants is by the use of a boric acid + sugar solution (powder is cheap and widely available at RiteAid etc.) Goog ''boric acid ant bait'' read all about how it works..

Also, go down to radio shack or somewhere where you can buy a 7 - 10X loupe and maybe a cheap penlight while you're at it .... now, when you come in contact with these pesky ants, scoop a few of 'em up and observe them funder magnification... you just might find that you have several different varieties on hand.

The ants form straight lines where they walk in both directions, just like you stated. That line usually leads from the corner of the wall where they come from. On top of that, some will break away and climb here on the desk around the computer and stuff. I'd say they're about 1/8 inch long or a little bit smaller. I just looked up "odorous house ants," and they look a lot like these ones I've been dealing with.

The toilet runs a lot, but that's the closest thing I have to a plumbing leak. I know there are a different species of ants upstairs, and they form in clusters rather than travelling in lines. They are quite bigger than the ones from down here, and since I've been beaing more careful not to drop crumbs I haven't seen any lately. The next time I'm at Radio Shack, I'll get that because for all I know there are more than just two varieties in here. Thanks for the tips! :thumbsup:

 

[Facetious]

.
The toilet runs a lot, but that's the closest thing I have to a plumbing leak.

About 4 months ago, when the temperatures were still chilly outside, I noticed a trail of about 4 ants traveling up the wall from the baseboard up to the toilet inside the confines of the ground level of my town home bathroom. Upon further investigation, I had noticed that a colony of ants had cleverly taken up residence inside the hollows of my ceramic toilet tank cover... little bitches! I hate all female societies... little dikos! :1orglaugh

Don't feel bad, if a single scout ant finds a cozier and/or more resource handy environment in which to live, you can bet that there's a whole colony nearby ready to exploit the opportunity when it becomes available.