What to do about ants in your house

Even if scientifically they are beneficial, ants in the house can get annoying so Ahram Online speaks with experts on Egypt's ants to give you a hint for how to deal with them

Even if you find them cute and you are one of those mesmerised by their capability to self-organise, their persistence and passion for work,no one can argue that the ever-increasing existence of ants in our homes, especially in the current hot weather, is such a bother.
When these creatures slowly decide to emerge from winter hibernation their presence goes from mildly bothersome to majorly annoying as they eventually creep over every bit of the house - at which point getting rid of them can be a challenge.
They out-weigh us!
"A closer look at this tiny creature can actually lead us to hail it as the true dominant of this planet, with their population reaching ten trillion, twelve thousand and a weight exceeding that of all people combined," says Dr Mohamed El Shazly, professor of Entomology, faculty of science, Cairo University, "Moreover, these minuscule beings have an incredible ability to adapt and live almost everywhere on this planet with a sole exception of the north and south poles, and a lot can be learned from observing their hygiene and the hierarchy that combines workers, soldiers and one or more queen." Dr El Shazly sheds more light on the nature of ants in Egypt, emphasising that there is no need to worry about their existence.
"Ants generally flourish in tropical atmospheres, which is not the case in our country, as deserts form around 97 per cent of our land. Therefore, their population is moderate in comparison with other places in the world. Apart from being problematic within households, they do not pose any major hazard or threat to crops. On the contrary, their ecological benefits are well-documented as they suppress the population of pests and aid in aeration of the soil," he says.
In-house situation
No matter how much experts elaborate on the importance of these insects in the balance of the environmental system, their discourse is overshadowed by the fact that ants creep over anything with an aroma and getting rid of them becomes an obsession.
"Through years of dealing with this issue we have noticed a significant an intensification of irritation and in number of complaints regarding the presence of ants in houses," says Sylvia Boutros, owner and manager of an insect exterminating company.
"Without complicating matters by referring to scientific terms, in Egypt, the main complaints are about two main kinds of ants, which I will refer to by their common name: the big Persian ant which are either black or yellow, and a tiny species called Pharonic. In addition to those, there are ones that fly, which Egyptians call naml el hallah, and generally we know that the invasion of these pests, which precisely starts when the weather begins to get warmer, following winter, which is considered the relaxation interval of the year. Summer marks for ants the work season and activity begins to store the needed food for winter and that's when people start to notice their intense presence."
Boutros emphasises that although home-made remedies have been proven beneficial in keeping ants from entering the house, including spraying bits of mint, red chili, baby powder or cinnamon in the corners outside the house or even surrounding outlets with lines of chalk or Vaseline that ants never cross, this doesn't help in getting rid of ants already inside the house. The best way to combat those is to spray insecticide in the infected house two times: once, and then again after two weeks in order to make sure that the eggs that can take up to 21 days to hatch have been taken care of.
"If the initial spray coincides with the day of egg-hatching, there might be no need for a follow-up, but generally we prefer applying two treatments in order to make 100 per cent sure that the problem has been terminated," she concludes.