For the past two months, I've noticed stark increases in ants along my driveway. As of yesterday, it's gotten bad to the point where I can't travel outside my home without having a few crawl up my leg. Upon examination of their behavior, numbers, and looks, I have identified them as Crazy Ants. The move VERY erratically, and seem to have no central hole or mound of soil they trail from. One trail across my yard runs from my neighbor on one side, to the neighbor on my other side. As for their other trails, they seem to be random and not originating form any one place. They are a reddish-brown, and it appears as though there are MILLIONS of them on the ground at one time. They are not fire ants because there is no central location they originate from, and I've been bit by one Crazy Ant. I have found a few holes in the ground where a few ants break off from their broken trails and enter, and these holes are all around my yard. I have also noticed that there a LARGE piles of DEAD ants that reappear no matter how many times I sweep them away. These dead ants fill the cracks in the driveway, except for one spot where I think some of these ants originate from. One other thing I've noticed is that I had to change a photocell on my outdoor floodlight, the clear glass in the photocell was CAKED with these same dead ants.
"Crazy Ants" is the type of ant that fits this description best, and according to my research, these ants are hard to get rid of. I do have some Taurus SC left (from my previous treatment of Termites) and I have some Bifenthrin also. Both of these pesticides have been listed as treatments. I have treated the trails of these ants with Taurus SC about 2 weeks ago, then after not seeing too much of a difference, tried some Cyonara. Both didn't make much of a difference. I've been removing all dead vegetation from the perimeter of my home, but the trails, broken or not, are still there.
Are there any Exterminators out there that can tell me how to lay these poisons down to get rid of these ants? Is there a certain WAY I need to apply these poisons? I have bifenthrin, Taurus SC, and Cyonara at my disposal. I need to get rid of them across the yard, but I still need my yard to be safe enough for children after these ants are gone (no poisons in the dirt that will make children sick).