# WTF? AKA: Ants!



## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Sure, I've heard of mite infestations. But ant infestations?

Went in to the frog room last night and looked at my fruit fly cultures. Five out of six of my new cultures have had holes chewed through vented lids allowing ants easy access in and fruit flies easy access out. Whats worse is I don't know what contaminants these ants are bringing to the mix (bacteria, parasites, pathogens...).

Grumpy


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## Nate Mcfin (Sep 22, 2010)

Little black sugar ants I assume? If so follow the trail to where they are entering your room/ house and sprinkle cinnamon around. It is the best way I have found to get rid of them. We have TONS of them during the summer. Thanks to the cinnamon we rarely find one in the house. And it smells good to boot. Lol


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## Redhead87xc (Jan 27, 2010)

They are my worst nightmare. I haven't had them for the past few months. I check my cultures everyday to make sure they aren't starting a trail. I would work hard to find their entry point. Chalk should work. I hope you have some extra cultures on hand.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Nate Mcfin said:


> Little black sugar ants I assume? If so follow the trail to where they are entering your room/ house and sprinkle cinnamon around. It is the best way I have found to get rid of them. We have TONS of them during the summer. Thanks to the cinnamon we rarely find one in the house. And it smells good to boot. Lol


I don't know who you are... but this is a WAY better post than I was expecting (and you were the first responder too). Thanks!


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## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

Jake, diatomaceous earth and borax also work with most ants, though cinnamon is probably easier to come by.


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## fishgas4 (Jan 23, 2012)

Does the cinnamon kill them or repell them? I know diatom powder will slowly dehydrate them. Ive never tried cinnamon.


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## CJW (Nov 14, 2011)

Haha, Ive had this happen too. Fairly easy to get rid of, and once gone they are smart enough to stay gone for a while. Quite alarming though!


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## pnwpdf (Nov 9, 2010)

I had the same problem with little black sugar ants. They found their way into a few of my tanks and stole literally every springtail in all of those tanks. They also had the nasty habit of getting the fruit flies nearly as fast as the frogs, so I had to feed twice as many so the frogs would get fed! I was almost to the point of sealing all of the seams in the room with GS and caulk, but I tried diatomaceous earth. After about a day or two, most of the ants were gone or dead. Cinnamon is probably a more aesthetically pleasing solution but it's more expensive for sure.


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## Rusty_Shackleford (Sep 2, 2010)

Be careful and avoid inhaling the diatomaceous earth, it is a known carcinogen. 


Sent from my iPhone via Tapatalk


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Nate Mcfin said:


> Little black sugar ants I assume? If so follow the trail to where they are entering your room/ house and sprinkle cinnamon around. It is the best way I have found to get rid of them. We have TONS of them during the summer. Thanks to the cinnamon we rarely find one in the house. And it smells good to boot. Lol


When you say black sugar ants do you mean Tapinoma sessile (aka odorous house ants)? I have yet see them predate on the flies or springtails instead they go for sweet things. I've seen other small ants like Tetramorium caespitum (black pavement ant) and pharoh ants (Monomorium pharaonis) predating on fly colonies. A change of mite paper usually stops the issue right off the bat (and when combined with a good liquid ant bait takes care of the issue). 

Some comments

Ed


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## Froggywv (Aug 9, 2010)

Ditto on eds post. Fresh mite paper usually does the trick. I had a slight problem with them last year. Changed it all out and they disappeared in a day or so. However, with an infestation like yours, your gonna need the bait as well. 
Also, we have problems with them in the kitchen every spring. And my kitchen smells like im baking for Christmas from all of the cinamon lol


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## Perezmoses06 (Jun 14, 2012)

im glad i dont have ants inside my house.
i would have never thought they would be capable of breaking into FF cultures


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## Nate Mcfin (Sep 22, 2010)

I am not sure of the type of ant that it is...just the little black ones.Yes they do tend to go for the sweet stuff which is what I thought fruit fly cultures were made of usually. I dont keep frogs yet as I am still in the R&D stage of that. lol
Anyway, it wont kill them but it repels them for good. I like that I dont have to worry about the cat or anything else getting into it. I tried the borax at that didnt help me. They came back after a short time. I like the idea of the little buggers doing a cinnamon challenge too.


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## tclipse (Sep 19, 2009)

Ed said:


> When you say black sugar ants do you mean Tapinoma sessile (aka odorous house ants)? I have yet see them predate on the flies or springtails instead they go for sweet things.


Ed, would that type of ant feed on the media itself instead of the flies? Depending on the mix's ingredients I would think they could be attracted to that instead.


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

No idea on the species of ant. They are little black ants, that's about all i can tell you. I thought I may have seen an ant running away with a fruit fly, but I was under the impression that they were after the media (which contains molassas, apple cider vinegar, bannana, etc)....

I actually don't use mite paper. Or anything to prevent mites. I've never had an issue with them. I think it has to do with a combination of good initial cultures, and the way I create my media.

I actually wasn't expecting this many suggestions on how to resolve the issue... just kind of expecting to rant. So glad you guys are here


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Use a liquid ant bait like this one Ant Problem? Terro = Ant Control Solutions.. they typically contain a syrup with borax as the active ingredient so they are very safe to use around animals. 

Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

SmackoftheGods said:


> No idea on the species of ant. They are little black ants, that's about all i can tell you. I thought I may have seen an ant running away with a fruit fly, but I was under the impression that they were after the media (which contains molassas, apple cider vinegar, bannana, etc)....


If you disturb them do they elevate their abdomen and run around like crazy? Is the abdomen pointed? 


Ed


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

tclipse said:


> Ed, would that type of ant feed on the media itself instead of the flies? Depending on the mix's ingredients I would think they could be attracted to that instead.


Odorous house ants prefer sweets to the flies (for example, you can find them harvesting nectar from flowers) and could be after that in the media. The Tetramorium and Monomorium will predate on the flies and thier larva. 

Ed


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

I'm not at the house right now. What would a predated pupae or larvae look like? I seem to remember opening one and seeing some funny discoloration around some of them... black instead of the standard... beige? color


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

SmackoftheGods said:


> I'm not at the house right now. What would a predated pupae or larvae look like? I seem to remember opening one and seeing some funny discoloration around some of them... black instead of the standard... beige? color


I've always caught them carrying bits away...so I didn't evaluate the things in the cultures themselves. 

Ed


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## NM Crawler (Jan 23, 2012)

This sounds all to familiar, about a month ago I get home and check the frogs and get ready to feed. Pick up a culture and same thing, holes In the tops and then I see the ants! They where in the cultures in the isopods tub and look over and see 2 temp tubs and they are in there as well. Long story short they killed 2 intermedius and 6 imi's. Saddest day of my life! Poor frogs didn't have a chance, they where fire ants! Had the exterminator come out the next day and spray in side and out and haven't seen a ant or roach since then. Funny thing is that we keep the dog food in the garage in a air tight tub and don't leave food out but they did break ground in are sub division on a few new homes. Are nabors had the same problem with and as well.


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## nburns (May 3, 2005)

I too have had this happen. Best of luck…


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## SmackoftheGods (Jan 28, 2009)

Ed, finally found some more. They are small and black. The walk right past spare fruit flies running around. When I disturb them they don't raise their abdomen, they curl up for a second and then either run away or carry on with what they were doing


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

SmackoftheGods said:


> Ed, finally found some more. They are small and black. The walk right past spare fruit flies running around. When I disturb them they don't raise their abdomen, they curl up for a second and then either run away or carry on with what they were doing


Interesting.. no clue as to the species off the top of my head. 

Ed


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