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Best Sugar Ant Killers | Buyer’s Guide 2022

Sugar ants… We first encountered these creatures when we forgot to close a juice box and left it for the night. Oh, was it a reckless act. In the morning, we found a few small ants in the juice. Several dozen others dragged a caramel along the floor at the same time… This is the classic behavior of the so-called sugar ants. Their sweet tooth will penetrate the house anywhere as they search for food: in an open juice package, in soda cans, in a box with candies or other sweets. In this article we will tell you what these insects are, how to get rid of sugar ants, and what control products (baits and bait stations, liquid insecticides and IGRs), according to scientists, are the best to use.

Sugar ants don’t exist as a separate species. The name was given to a variety of sweet-seeking pests that get into the house in search of sweet food and drinks. What are sugar ants then?

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Know Your Enemy: What Are Sugar Ants?

Sugar Ants also called as Pavement ants (Tetramorium caepitum) and black or brown odorous house ants (Tapinoma sessile) are most often encountered in the kitchens of the Northwest of the US and the north of the Pacific coast. As Washington State University claims..

The University of Texas adds Pharaoh ants to this list. There is also “the banded sugar ant” but it is one of the most widely distributed species in Australia, so we won’t cover them here.

what are sugar ants

Pavement ants are a tiny species from Eurasia. A couple of hundred years ago, they were accidentally brought to North America, where these insects settled down and successfully spread over a large area. The ants of brown shades live in natural conditions in the ground and enter houses only in search of food. Their length varies from 1/12 to ¼ of an inch. They prefer to build colonies closer to a source of heat. Pavement ants are known as the first ants in space. A colony of 800 ants was delivered to the ISS in 2014 and stayed there. The barriers inside the colony were destroyed, but they were able to adapt to weightlessness and microgravity and learned to crawl along the walls. They use electrical wires, conduit, and water pipes as highways throughout the building. Performing an inspection at night around 10 or 11 PM can be useful since pavement ants are most active at night, and you are more likely to find trails that will lead back to the colony, as recommends the University of Utah.

A pharaoh ant is a tropical species that likes inaccessible dark places with a relative humidity of 80 percent and a temperature of around 80°F.In the warmer areas of the U.S., Pharaoh ants may nest indoors and forage outside. A bait containing the insect growth regulator methoprene sterilizes the queen and is a very effective tool, although this kind of bait can take 10 weeks or more to kill a colony.

Odorous house ants are of dark brown color and are about 1/10 of an inch in length.They also like to enter human houses in large quantities in search of food. If you grate it, an unpleasant smell resembling a rotten coconut will come from it. To kill odorous ants, you can use low-toxicity diatomaceous earth placed near the nest, but do not use it simultaneously with bait.

Should I Worry If I Have One Sugar Ant in My Kitchen?

What if a lonely ant is crawling around the kitchen and you cannot see any others? Should you be worried? You most definitely should. It is a foraging ant looking for food. Once it finds it, it will give a signal to the others, drawing them to the source of food. Their diet and preferences change during the season: they opt for sweet foods and drinks, sources of protein or fat. At this stage, the invasion can be stopped by eliminating the forager. If this is not done, then in the near future, a trail along which hundreds or even thousands of insects will run will be formed.

Where Do the Ants Live?

Outside, they live in colonies in the ground under stones, fallen trees or garbage. Indoors, they build nests in the walls, around water pipes and heating. Their colonies are usually large and can have up to 10 thousand ants with a lot of queens. If you find them in the walls, the entomologists advise you to splash insecticides in the cracks. If you do not know exactly where the nest is, use poison baits.

Entomologists’ Advice on Getting Rid of Sugar Ants

Pacific Northwest school integrated pest management consortium addresses the opinions of the experts from the Universities of Washington and Oregon. Since the ants are attracted primarily by food, it is recommended to remove all possible sources of food: any spilled lemonade or sugar and so on. All the produce should be stored in a sealed container (preferably with a rubber seal) or in a refrigerator. Wash the household appliances and take out the garbage in time.

Getting Rid of Sugar Ants

Get rid of aphids. Ants can begin to cultivate aphids or worms on plants. These little insects produce some sweet food for sugar ants. Therefore, it is necessary to take care of the plants separately and not give the aphids any access to them.

Trails. If you find and liquidate foragers in time, your job will be easier. The forager’s trail in this case should be washed with soap and water. Unfortunately, this measure may not be sufficient if any trails have already appeared in the house. To combat them, it is necessary not only to sanitize, but also to repair all cracks and holes in the house, especially along communication lines and near water sources. An ant track will indicate the place where the ants have invaded the house and will help you find the nest. When cleaning up, you can also use peppermint, rosemary, clove, thyme and citrus oils, which repel insects. They are also used in the production of natural ant treatments.

Baits are most effective against ants. These slow- and fast-acting toxic substances are perceived as food by the insects. Once an ant grabs this food, it will carry it to the nest and share it with others. Gradually, all of them die, and the colony comes to desolation (slow-acting baits, including IGR products, are more likely to kill the queen than fast-acting ones). You must be prepared that when using baits, the number of ants in the house can temporarily increase as all of them will be attracted by the delicious sweet poison.

Many people complain that certain baits are absolutely useless against ants. Why does this happen? The thing is that ants are finicky and their tastes differ during different seasons. That is why you will have to offer them a wide range of poison baits: sugar and protein-based. First, attract them to a non-toxic food source like sugar milk, cherry or diced crickets or mealworms. After they start feeding, replace the non-toxic food source with several different toxic baits, and let them choose the one they prefer.

How to get rid of Sugar Ants

Insecticides. Powerful professional insecticides that impact a colony outside are a truly radical treatment. Usually fast-acting insecticides are used. Their disadvantage is that when sprayed, they affect only the ants that are on the surface, but on the other hand, they kill quickly. Use these products carefully as the California Department of Pesticide Regulation limits the use of powerful insecticides that can inflict environmental damage on the infield ecosystem.

The University of California experts note that baits are more effective than chemicals and that it is necessary to consult a professional exterminator in complicated cases: “Baits in refillable bait stations provide the safest effective treatment for do-it-yourself ant management outdoors. Combined with the exclusion and sanitation practices discussed above, this approach should manage most home ant invasions. If a problem persists, the best option is to hire a pest management professional trained in IPM or IPM-certified by a reputable organization. These professionals have access to more effective materials (such as fipronil) and application equipment that can prevent contamination of the environment”.

How Ant Killers Work

Type Active Ingredients Action Best Use
Liquid insecticide Bifenthrin, Gamma-cyhalothrin, Deltamethrin Kills on contact and creates a protective barrier around the house. Use outdoors or indoors. Pour into mounds, treat foundations and spray in the insects’ activity areas.
Granules Acephate, hydramethylnon They destroy an outdoor colony and prevent new pests from appearing. Use outdoors for broadcast treatment, pour it around the mound and along the trails.
Foam and sprays Fipronil Will kill an inaccessible colony within a few days. To be sprayed on nests in the walls.
Poison baits (bait stations) Fast-acting: Indoxacarb
Slow-acting: hydramethylnon, fipronil, boric acid (borax)
The most effective method that can eliminate the entire colony. It is effective within 3-5 days (fast-acting), 1-5 weeks (slow-acting). Use indoors or outdoors in the areas of insects’ activity and around their mounds. Ants are finicky and they change their preferences often so you will likely have to switch bait types several times.
Diatomaceous Earth Organic insect killer Contact action: the particles cut the insects’ exoskeleton and cause dehydration. Use indoors, spray along the trails and in the insects’ activity areas.
Boric acid (dust) Low-toxic insect killer Slow-acting stomach poison. Use indoors, spray along the trails, down the cracks and shelters.
Limonene Citrus essential oils ingredient Impacts the CNS, causing paralysis and death of insects. Can be used near food.
Oils and Natural sprays Clove, peppermint, geranium, cinnamon leaf oils Contact action and certain repelling effect. Are conditionally safe, i.e. they can be used for treating any areas and creating a protective barrier around your house.
IGR Pyriproxyfen Highly effective: sterilizes the queen and therefore will remove the colony completely. Use indoors or outdoors: spray mounds and trails. A very slow-acting product (is effective at least after a month), so be patient.

Natural Ant Killers

The most popular organic control products are diatomaceous earth, boric acid, limonene and eugenol. However, unlike baits, all these treatments act on contact, which means they will destroy neither the queen nor the entire colony, but only those insects on which they fall.

 Safer Brand Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous Earth. This is a mineral substance. They ground the remains of diatom algae into making the substance sharp enough to cause deadly damage to insects, cutting through the chitinous cover. Diatomaceous earth, including the popular Safer Brand Diatomaceous Earth (Check current price), is safe for animals and humans.

Boric acid, which is available as a powder, is used in certain baits or individually.Boric acid It is effective against the colony inside the walls, where it spreads through the hole and is distributed along the trails and galleries of the mound. The best-selling boric acid today is PestGuard Zap-A-Roach Boric Acid – 2-pack (Check current price).

Limonene. The University of Clemson names limonene, extracted from oranges and other citrus fruit peels as one of the effective treatments of vegetative origin against ants. Limonene is the active ingredient of many products made by Orange Guard, such as Orange Guard Indoor/Outdoor Spray  (Check current price).

 

Limonene-based sprayEugenol is the main component of some essential oils and is widely used in the manufacturing of natural insecticides.

Eugenol acts on the insects quickly and is not considered dangerous to the environment. It is often used in combination with oils of thyme, sesame, rosemary and others. Pure 75% eugenol can be found in the Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil (Check current price).

Ceylon Cinnamon Leaf Oil

Let us stress once more that contact action is the main drawback of all natural products. That is why if you aim to exterminate all the ants including the queen, move on to poison baits, which are the most effective means of control.

Top-9 Sugar Ant Killers

According to the University of California, both sweet baits such as boric acid (low concentrations with less than 1% active ingredient) and protein baits (products containing fipronil or hydramethylnon) are attractive to pavement, pharaoh and odorous house ants.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln experts recommend using such outdoor treatment as Termidor, a professional use product that can be only used twice a year. It cannot be used indoors. When applied to ant trails or entry points, the active ingredient, fipronil, clings to their body. It transfers to other ants in the colony.

We’ve picked several ant killing poison bait stations for indoor and outdoor use, granules for creating a protective barrier around the house, a professional insecticide and a sterilizer for the queen. We’ll start our review with an absolute best-seller Terro, based on the organic insecticide, borax.

TERRO T300 Liquid Ant Baits

Sugar Ant Killer

This 6-station borax-based ant bait and enjoys great popularity with the customers. The manufacturer claims that the borax-based bait will kill all the household (home) ants, including sugar ones. It will attract the insects that want to taste it and will carry it to the nest to share with others including, what is important, the queen. Borax is a slow-acting stomach poison meaning that an ant will poison its kin before it dies. Remember not to kill them and not to prevent them from going in and out of the bait station as they must be convinced that they have been lucky to find a source of tasty food. The colony will die within a week.

Both borax and boric acid are referred to as organic and “conditionally non-toxic” substances, so make sure your children do not come into contact with the contents of the stations.

Price: Check the current price

Advion Ant Gel Insecticide with Plunger

Ant Gel Insecticide with Plunger

A pack containing four syringes and indoxacarb-based bait. This active ingredient is a fast-acting stomach poison. The bait is intended for control over most ant species indoors, including sweet feeders, which is confirmed by its positive (80% is the highest rating) customer reviews.

This gel’s small concentration of indoxacarb (only 0.05%) causes loss of appetite, paralysis and death of the insects within a few days. In order for the bait to work, squeeze a small amount of it on a crack near the anthill or any other place out of pets’ and children’s reach, or place it on a piece of paper or cardboard there. The workers will have a chance to pass the contaminated food further on, but there is still a risk that it won’t reach the queen. Judging by the users’ reviews, the workers are sure to be poisoned. The gel use is also quite economical.

Price:  Check the current price

Maxforce Ant Bait Gel-Ant Poison

Ant Poison

Here is another gel. Its active ingredient, fipronil, promises to yield results within 3-5 days. The bait is very sweet and acts on a variety of widely-spread species, including pavement and odorous house ants. Place it topically in the cracks, corners and anywhere else where you can find the insects as the gel will attract them for two weeks. Follow their trails to understand where the nest is.

So far, it’s too early for Maxforce Gel to be competitive enough, but despite being less popular it has already received a high rating. The users even share it with each other: “I can’t ‘love’ anything that has to do with ants, but I am happy with how quickly this product works to eliminate them. Shared the box of four with a friend who also battles sugar ants at home.”

Price: Check the current price

AMDRO Kills Ants Bait Stations & Bait Granules

AMDRO offers a whole line of affordable pest control products made in USA. The line contains bait stations with hydramethylnon-based baits for outdoor and indoor use. They are slow-acting baits meaning that they are highly likely to kill not only workers, but also the queen. It will take up to one week.

Kills Ants Bait Stations for indoors

The indoor use pack contains 4 bait stations that act for up to 3 months. Place them where you’ve seen ants: behind the closets, household appliances, in the corners of the kitchen. Despite contradictory feedback, AMDRO is in demand as it is affordable (a station costs less than $1.5 each) and perhaps quite effectively.

Outdoor stations by Amdro are in the form of stakes to be pinned in the ground near the nest or ant trails. The manufacturer guarantees a refund in case the product proves ineffective, but judging by the reviews so far, there have been no problems regarding sugar ants: “Extremely effective on the larger variety of black sugar ants.”

AMDRO also manufacturers poison granules for outdoor use that is rated higher. These granules will serve as a shield as they will kill the ants outdoors and won’t let them penetrate the house. Place the granules around the house in accordance with the manual.

Price of AMDRO Bait Stations for indoors:  Check the current price

Price of AMDRO Bait Stations for outdoors:  Check the current price

Price of AMDRO Bait Granules for outdoors: Check the current price

Wall Voids Aerosol: Termidor Foam

Termidor Foam

Termidor Foam is a universal fipronil-based wood destroying insect treatment that is effective against ants, termites and others pests. The foam is to be locally sprayed in the wall voids, the center of the insects’ activity. The foam is very dense and the ants won’t be able to overcome this barrier and survive. They will die of fipronil action within a few days. Although the product is quite expensive, the users unanimously accept that it is effective and more affordable than hiring professional exterminators. Its high 4.7 out of 5 stars rating can prove this.

Price: Check the current price

Powerful Insecticides

Desperate situations require desperate measures. If, despite all your efforts, sugar ants continue to attack your house, resort to powerful indoor and outdoor treatments used even by professional exterminators, namely a liquid insecticide and an IGR.

Termidor SC Termiticide

Sugar Ant Killer

This is a professional 9% fipronil insecticide used for outdoor treatment against ants and termites. The manufacturer notes that its indoor use is only justified when it comes to voids caused by the insects’ activity. The product costs makes 24 gallons of a ready-to-use product when mixed with other.

The lot is to be treated as follows: dig a small groove around the foundation and pour the product in it. Simultaneously, spray the lot. If needed, repeat within 4-6 months.

The buyers on have given this product an unprecedented rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. Judging by their feedback, it is not necessary to use Termidor as recommended by the manufacturer. Someone on YouTube recommended making a poison bait combining sweet food and this product, and user, General Banzai, followed this recommendation. With the help of a caramel and an insecticide, this customer has been able to kill over 1000 and came to the following conclusion: Read all customer reviews to know more helpful tips about Termidor use.

Price:  Check the current price

Extinguish Plus Fire Ant Bait

sugar ants insecticide

This is the queen sterilizer, a slow-acting dual-action agent containing Hydramethylnon and Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) (S)-Methoprene bait. Thus, the chemical not only kills the ants, but also sterilizes their queens, preventing reproduction; Although it kills quite soon (within 1-2 weeks), the IGR ingredients will act no sooner than a month after the application.

The product is expensive; hence the low demand. But it is the slow-acting insecticides that are considered most effective by the scientists. Use it just like any other bait. Pour a small amount of it near the nest, and splash it generously around the nest and along the trails. The best time for treatment is in the spring and early autumn, but users are also advised to use it in summer, in dry and hot weather, when the ants are looking for additional sources of moisture and food.

Remember that you will be responsible for monitoring the appearance of any new colonies and scattering additional poison for them, but such an observance will ultimately play in your favor. The users claim that despite the high price charged for the poison, it is definitely worth it, considering the fact that it has been approved for both indoor and outdoor use.

Price: Check the current price

How Baits Work

  • NB! Killing worker ants does little to control the colony, because as few as 1% of a colony’s foraging worker ants are able to provide sufficient food to support nestbound queens and larvae, – as the University of California warns..
  • The results may not be evident for several weeks.
  • Bait must be slow-acting so workers won’t be killed before they get back to the nest.
  • Bait stations or stakes are easiest to use and safest for the environment.
  • The ants are finicky, their tastes change over the seasons so you might need both sugar and protein-based baits to get rid of them.
  • Poison baits won’t be effective until you remove all the attractive food (sweets, lemonade etc). Get the family involved – everyone must make the effort to keep their sweets cleaned up.
  • Don’t prevent the ants from taking the bait; they must think they are safe. To understand where the nest is, follow the ants to check where they carry the poison.

9 Sugar Ant Killers Comparison Chart

Product Active Ingredient Desciption
TERRO Liquid Ant Baits

Terro Ant Baits

Borax Slow-acting best selling bait
Advion Ant Gel Insecticide with Plunger
(4-pack)
Ant Gel Insecticide with Plunger
Indoxacarb Fast-acting bait for all sweet feeders
Maxforce Ant Bait Gel-Ant Poison

Ant Bait Gel-Ant Poison

Fipronil Includes sweet feeders
AMDRO Bait Stations for indoors
(4-pack)
Bait Stations
Hydramethylnon Slow-acting bait stations: kill and prevent ant relapse
AMDRO Bait Stations for outdoors
(8 stakes)
amdro ant bait stations
Hydramethylnon Slow-acting killing stakes
Amdro Ant Block Home Perimeter Ant Bait Granules
Ant Bait Stations for outdoors
Hydramethylnon Slow-acting granules for creating a killer barrier
Termidor Foam

Termidor Foam

Fipronil A dense foam for killing the insects in the walls; will destroy a colony within a few days
Termidor


Powerful Insecticides

Fipronil A powerful professional insecticide to be used twice a year
Extinguish Bait


Ant Bait

Hydramethylnon with Insect Growth Regulator (IGR) (S)-Methoprene Kills workers and sterilizes the queen, is the slowest as it takes at least 4 weeks

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3 thoughts on “Best Sugar Ant Killers | Buyer’s Guide 2022”

  1. I used AMDRO Bait Stations for Outdoors and it’s great! It took only 2 days, so that the ants disappeared. I will advise.

  2. Ants in an apartment is something I have never seen. It started a few years ago on the floor and I would see random small black ants coming from different areas.
    I thought they were a small nuisance and just squashed them and put that dim. earth.
    Well now I am dealing with a new type of ant – so small and fast in my kitchen cupboards and counters. I think it’s just as bad as having cockroaches. There is an endless supply of them. I removed my food from the cupboards and my counters are one big ant bait.
    To make matters worse, I got some big black ants on balcony -it has an eroded cement floor.They got into my livingroom. I think I got rid of these by pouring hot water and bleach on the balcony and put some baits with holes in them in the living room.

    Are building with cement floors susceptible to having a variety of ants? Do they attract each other?

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