Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

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Dilduo
Posts: 7
Joined: Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:17 am
Location: Singapore

Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86755Post Dilduo
Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:37 am

Hi All

Firstly I am new to the forums here and Ant keeping in general,
I am looking into raising a colony soon myself. Which got my thinking

I live in Singapore, and well there are a lot of ants here, mostly in peoples homes.

I do believe I have roughly I would think at least 2 but likely 3 colonies living inside my walls
as I have seen ants walking into several small holes in the walls in my kitchen and in each of my bedrooms.
And at least one colony in the stairwell down the hall (not my property, think apartment complex)
actually living inside the metal hollow railing. I think it is many because it seems quite a distance for such a small ant to travel, going from my kitchen to the bedroom might be a half a days walk for them for all I know.

They are really tiny worker ants, like pin head size, maybe 1mm, I am not sure the species but its definitely the most common ant in Singapore at least to my general eye, you can find them in almost anyone's house.
I am not sure how large the queen is but I think it would be safe to say she likely wouldn't be able to fit in any of the holes I see her workers crawling out of as they can hardly fit in them. If I had to guess she likely flew into a hole somewhere on the exterior of my apartment that was larger but its hard to find that as I live on the second floor and I cant really view the outside walls easily outside of my window.

I am wondering if there is a way I can lure out the queen and capture the colony (or as much as possible) into a formicarium
Does any one have experience doing this? I was thinking of maybe setting up a formicarium right outside one of their main holes, with really good conditions and maybe some food/water in it and just hope they move into it?
If I say even leave a cup of water out at night I will find an ant trail in the morning to my glass.
A lot of them congregate around the sink for a drink as well.
I obviously cant damage the walls, but I could maybe make a slightly bigger queen sized hole that a landlord wouldn't notice.

If I had to guess my home is their main food source, and likely some dead cockroaches outside (Singapore also has a Cockroach problem)

My housemates clearly want them gone as they are likely doing some damage and are just in general a "Nuisance"

Is there anyway I can save these lil dudes before my housemates put out some poison traps?

Cheers and thanks for the advice

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Antloverhuman
Posts: 1135
Joined: Wed May 19, 2021 3:38 am
Location: Delhi, India

Re: Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86756Post Antloverhuman
Wed Jan 12, 2022 5:54 am

Its almost impossible to lure the queen out. Unless you see their colony shifting to another location, then you can catch the queen.
Ants I have-
camponotus compressus colony- the shadow warriors.
Pls just let me have a tetramorium colony

AntsLuxembourg
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Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86758Post AntsLuxembourg
Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:20 am

If I'm not mistaken it could be ghost ants. They look smaller than they are. Not sure how to lure out a queen but you can lure workers out with food but you might attract more wild ants.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86763Post SolenopsisKeeper
Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:58 am

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:20 am
If I'm not mistaken it could be ghost ants. They look smaller than they are. Not sure how to lure out a queen but you can lure workers out with food but you might attract more wild ants.
I once saw the ghost ant queen in my house. I didn’t catch her Becuase they can get through Cotten balls so…. You could try to set a test tube on the ground, but I doubt this would work. Do you have any pots around your house? You could see if they are living in the soil and using your house as a foraging route.
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
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Re: Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86764Post AntsLuxembourg
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:13 am

SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:58 am
I once saw the ghost ant queen in my house. I didn’t catch her Becuase they can get through Cotten balls so…. You could try to set a test tube on the ground, but I doubt this would work. Do you have any pots around your house? You could see if they are living in the soil and using your house as a foraging route.
Dilduo could also try to clean the area with something like vinegar to get ride of the pheromone trails. This might help to get ride of the ants.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86766Post SolenopsisKeeper
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:31 am

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:13 am
SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Wed Jan 12, 2022 6:58 am
I once saw the ghost ant queen in my house. I didn’t catch her Becuase they can get through Cotten balls so…. You could try to set a test tube on the ground, but I doubt this would work. Do you have any pots around your house? You could see if they are living in the soil and using your house as a foraging route.
Dilduo could also try to clean the area with something like vinegar to get ride of the pheromone trails. This might help to get ride of the ants.
Apparently ants hate cinamon. Sadly, if it does come down to where the ants are a serious problem, you could use boric acid….
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

AntsLuxembourg
Posts: 1578
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2018 7:17 am
Location: Luxembourg
Contact:

Re: Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86768Post AntsLuxembourg
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:40 am

SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:31 am
Apparently ants hate cinamon. Sadly, if it does come down to where the ants are a serious problem, you could use boric acid….
This may depend on the species. My aunt once told me that tomato plant leaves help against ants. Not sure how true or untrue it is. I never did any experiment on this. Cinnamon might work too or not. It's the first time I hear this.
Doing some proper research is the best way to start an antcolony.

Need help or want to help? https://forum.AntsCanada.com/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=18153#p70566

Currently not keeping any ants anymore.

SolenopsisKeeper
Posts: 2402
Joined: Sun Dec 12, 2021 11:41 am
Location: United States, Florida

Re: Anyone know How to Lure a Queen ant out of my interior walls?

Post: # 86770Post SolenopsisKeeper
Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:21 am

AntsLuxembourg wrote:
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:40 am
SolenopsisKeeper wrote:
Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:31 am
Apparently ants hate cinamon. Sadly, if it does come down to where the ants are a serious problem, you could use boric acid….
This may depend on the species. My aunt once told me that tomato plant leaves help against ants. Not sure how true or untrue it is. I never did any experiment on this. Cinnamon might work too or not. It's the first time I hear this.
Peppermint also repels. Tomato leaves, I am not sure as I grew them and mealybugs infested them with the help of these small black ants about 4mm… probably depends on species
Some people say cinamon kills the ants, as they inhale it, others say they can’t stand smell.

Here is a link to get rid of if u need
https://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Ants-with-Cinnamon
When you accidentally reply to yourself…

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