Ghost Ant Treatment

Before implementing the following steps, please verify the ant species by reading our article about Ghost Ants: Identification & Biology.

Keep Them Out!

It is easy for ghost ants and other small insects to gain access to homes and buildings through tiny cracks or gaps in the foundation (most often around doors and windows). These areas should be thoroughly inspected and potential entry points sealed up by caulk or other exclusion material.

In order to treat a ghost ant infestation properly, you must first inspect the property thoroughly inside and out for mounds or other potential nesting sites.

Ghost Ant Outdoor Nesting Sites:

• Soil
• Hollowed trees
• Under firewood, rocks, and other piles of material or debris

Ghost Ant Indoor Nesting Sites:

• In walls and voids
• Around moisture sources like sinks, pipes, or potted plants

Outdoor mounds can be eliminated by drenching the mound with Cyper TC insecticide, using a gallon sprayer. Drenching simply means applying enough of the liquid insecticide to drown all ants in the nest and the surrounding area. Always read the product label for specific directions on mound treatments. Pets and children should be kept away from the treated area until the solution has dried.

Spray a good barrier around the home using Talstar or Cyper TC and a one gallon sprayer. This will help prevent ants from entering your home. A fan spray that is at least 3 feet high on the side of the building and 3 to 6 feet out on the ground will provide excellent protection.

With Ghost ants, the use of residual sprays indoors will only cause stress on the colony, causing it to split into a larger number of sub-colonies. This will actually worsen the infestation.

Baiting indoors is preferred and a far more effective method of control than spraying or dusting. Try a slow-acting bait labeled specifically for Ghost Ant control. Protein baits seem to be the most accepted by Ghost Ants, but they will sometimes switch over to a sweet-feeding cycle for a time. To judge whether a bait is effective, simply monitor whether the placement is being visited or decreasing in size. If not, switch to a different bait until you find one that is readily accepted.

Recommended Protein Baits for Ghost Ants

• Maxforce Ant Bait Stations: Maxforce Ant Bait Stations start to kill ants in just six hours, and tests show 90% population reductions in just four days.
• Maxforce Complete Granular Bait: Maxforce Insect Bait offers a combination of food-based ingredients and hydramethylnon, which satisfies insects' changing food preferences while providing a powerful knockdown.

Recommended Sweet Baits for Ghost Ants

• Advion Ant Bait Gel: Attractive to all major ant species such as ghost ants, little black ants, pavement ants, and more.
• Maxforce Fleet Ant Bait Gel: Effective against Argentine ants, odorous house ants, ghost ants, pavement ants, and little black ants.
• Antack Liquid Ant Bait: Fast-acting bait that targets the nervous systems of ant species like ghost ants, acrobat ants, leaf cutting ants, house ants, and more.

Using an insecticide dust labeled for ghost ants, such as Delta Dust Insecticide, dust underneath baseboards, and inside cracks, crevices, and voids where activity is suspected. It is important to use Delta Dust because of its waterproof property and ability to treat areas where liquid insecticides cannot be applied. This is easy to apply using a professional Hand Duster.

After you have applied the appropriate pesticide chemicals, these additional non-chemical methods will help you to maintain control and prevent future ant infestations:

• Practice good sanitation.
• Limit food preparation and consumption to one or two areas of the home that are cleaned daily.
• Eliminate gaps and cracks in the foundation, baseboards, window frames, and door frames with caulk or other appropriate material to eliminate ant entryways.
• Materials such as stacked or piled lumber, stones, bricks, leaf litter, heavy mulch, and other debris that serve as potential ant harborages should be removed as far from the structure as possible.
• Trim the branches of trees, shrubs, and other vegetation that may serve as ant highways so they do not touch the structure.
• Repair leaky pipes and faucets.