# Ant invasion



## rgovinda (Oct 7, 2014)

Hello
Is there a pest control company inPortugal that can help removal of ant colonies that have taken over my house? Unfortunately sealing holes just doesn’t work as it’s a stone house with lots of avenues to invade!


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## Strontium (Sep 16, 2015)

Problem with ants is you get rid of a nest but then there's an empty area free of ants so next time ants look for a new home for a queen guess where they choose? If you can find some then try Nippon Ant Killer liquid, its a thick liquid and just needs a little in a few spots near the problem area as it attract foraging ants and they take it back to the nest which wipes out the nest. Can't remember where I got my tube of it years ago but still works. Also if you are worried about other animals getting involved then a stone or brick over a spot of the liquid prevents anything else getting to it.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

Our Continente sells a powder that acts in a similar way to Nippon. If ever it stops raining, I'll pop outside and get you the name of it. Look for the word 'formigas'.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_colony



> "Until 2000, the largest known ant supercolony was on the Ishikari coast of Hokkaidō, Japan. The colony was estimated to contain 306 million worker ants and one million queen ants living in 45,000 nests interconnected by underground passages over an area of 2.7 km2 (670 acres). In 2000, an enormous supercolony of Argentine ants was found in Southern Europe (report published in 2002). Of 33 ant populations tested along the 6,004-kilometre (3,731 mi) stretch along the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts in Southern Europe, 30 belonged to one supercolony with estimated millions of nests and billions of workers, interspersed with three populations of another supercolony. The researchers claim that this case of unicoloniality cannot be explained by loss of their genetic diversity due to the genetic bottleneck of the imported ants. In 2009, it was demonstrated that the largest Japanese, Californian and European Argentine ant supercolonies were in fact part of a single global "megacolony". This intercontinental megacolony represents the most populous recorded animal society on earth, other than humans."


You won't get rid of them but maybe keep them out for a short while.

What you will find is that, according to the weather, you will see more or fewer ants - when it is extra hot or very cold they go deep down into the lower levels of the nest and maybe sent up a worker or two to see what it is like in the outside world and how much food there is. If you manage to keep killing those few ants you may keep the majority down in the lower reaches because the failure to return of the scouts suggests to the nest that the world outside is hostile.


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## JohnBoy (Oct 25, 2009)

How interesting Baldilocks. Thanks for sharing.


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