Ant Pest Control Brisbane
Professional Ant Control Services
to Get Rid of Annoying Ants
Professional Ant Exterminator Services
MAD ANT Termite and Pest Control provides a range of specialist ant control services from North Brisbane to Caboolture. Whether you have ants in the house, in the yard or in the lawn, we have a specialist ant extermination service to get rid of your ant problem and provide lasting protection.
We utilise a range of specialist ant products to design a customised treatment to target the type of ants found at your property.
If ants are annoying in the house, yard or lawn, just give us a call!
SERVICE FREE PERIOD: We offer a 6 month service-free period for ants inside the house and a 3-month service free period for ants outside the house or in the lawn.
Our Specialist Ant Treatments
We are ant experts – our company name gives it away! Successful ant control requires correct identification of the ant species present and a thorough understanding of their behaviour. It’s important to understand their likely nest location, colony structure and feeding preferences. This information determines where we apply the product and what products we use – different ant species have different food preferences and so require different baits. All of this is essential information to design a successful treatment.
Ants inside the house can be particularly annoying, especially in the kitchen when they can get into food. To get rid of ants inside the house it’s important to determine whether the ants are coming in from outside or whether the nest is actually inside the house. Typically, if the ants are coming in from outside, we will rely on an external perimeter spray treatment, whereas if there is a nest inside the house, we will generally use ant baits to eliminate the nest.
Ants outside the home can be present in great numbers, especially in late summer and early Autumn. Some of the species (such as coastal brown ants) can build super colonies – massive colonies made up of hundreds of nests, which are spread over large areas. In such situations, any treatment can only suppress the population and prevent them from entering the building. Eventually the ants will re-invade treated areas.
Treating ants outside the house to reduce their number and prevent them entering, requires the use of specialist ant sprays. These products will kill ants hit with the initial spray and then leave a long-lasting residual treatment on the surface. Ants walking on the surface will also pick up the insecticide and die. The insecticide is relatively slow acting which allows ants exposed to the insecticide to transfer to its nest mates before dying, magnifying the impact of the treatment.
Coastal brown ants are common in Brisbane and they love nesting under pavers and concrete. They excavate large quantities of dirt. Not only does this look unsightly, but it can create uneven paved areas, which can be expensive to fix.
We treat ants in paved areas with a combination of specialist ant sprays and granular ant baits. These treatments will keep the pavers clear of ants for several months, before the treatment wears off and ants move in from surrounding areas.
There are a number of ants that cause problems in lawns – biting green-head ants and the damaging funnel ants are the two most common lawn ants.
Green-head ants have a painful sting which can itch for days afterwards. Keeping your lawn free from green-head ants is essential to protect yourself, your children and pets from painful bites. We utilise a combination of direct nest treatments with sprays and granular ant baits to eliminate green-head ant nests.
Funnel ants are a significant problem in a number of North Brisbane suburbs and require a specialist funnel ant treatment. Funnel ant nests are not just unsightly but they cause significant damage to lawns, through subsidence, which can cause injuries and damage to equipment.
We utilise a specialist ant granule which eliminates funnel ants in lawns. We warranty the treatment will keep the lawn free of funnel ants for 3 months, but it can last much longer – it really depends on how long it takes for ants to reinvade from surrounding areas.
Why Choose MAD ANT to Get Rid of Annoying Ants?
- Trusted, local, family run pest control business
- Exceptional service – We treat our customers as one of the family
- Tailored pest solutions to protect your home
- Termite and Pest Control specialists
- Servicing Caboolture, the Redcliffe Peninsula and North Brisbane
- Residential and Commercial Pest Control
- Fully qualified, licensed and insured
- Warranties with all work
What our customers say?
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Ant Control FAQ
If you have an ant nest in the house, the only way to get rid of them permanently is to kill the nest and to kill the nest you need to kill all the queens in the colony, so there are no queens to produce new eggs. If the nest can be located it can be treated directly. If the nest cannot be found, ant baits are the best way to eliminate the nest.
It’s generally impossible to get rid of ants permanently outside the home. Even if you kill all the ants in an area, ants in the surrounding area will eventually reinvade a treated area.
Ant baits are the best way to eliminate an ant nest, especially if the nest cannot be located. Ant baits contain a food attractive to foraging ants and a slow acting insecticide. The ants take the bait back to the nest where it is feed to the queen(s), the young and other nest mates. As it is slow acting, the bait gets passed around the nest before the ants start becoming affected.
As long as enough bait has been applied for the size of the colony, the nest will be eliminated. Baits will have a big impact on ant numbers within 1-3 days, but it can take 1-2 weeks to completely kill the colony.
The challenge with ant baiting is that the different ant species have different food preferences. There are a range of different ant baits to appeal to these different food preferences. It is therefore important to choose the correct bait for the ant species present.
Our ant sprays start to work immediately. Ants hit directly with the spray will die within minutes and ants walking across a treated surface will take an hour or so to die. If there is a major infestation there will be a big drop in ant numbers within 24 hours. This should stop any ants coming into the house from outside.
For treatments involving ant baits, although there will be a drop in ant numbers within 1-3 days, it can take 1-2 weeks for the nest to be completely eliminated.
Ant baits will eliminate the nest, so obviously that nest can no longer cause any problems. But of course new ants can move into the area either through invading from surrounding areas or by the arrival of new queens, to start new nests.
For areas that have been treated with a spray, how long the treatment lasts will depend on the amount of sun and rain the surfaces are exposed to. Our treatments around the perimeter of the building last for around 3 months.
Types of Ants in Brisbane
There are many types of ants found around Brisbane. Most of the ant problems we deal with are with the black house ant, white footed ant, coastal brown ant, green-head ant and funnel ant.
Black house ants and white footed ants will nest both inside and outside the home, but both cause problems inside the house. Coastal brown ants generally build nests under pavers outside the house and cause problems both inside and outside. Green-head ants and funnel ants nest in lawns and gardens, which is where they are a pest.
Black house ants are a small black ant and are a common problem inside houses where they look for sugary foods. They often build their nests in roof voids and wall cavities. They do not bite or sting.
They are a relatively easy ant to control, as they only have a single queen in the nest and so baits are very effective.
White footed ants are a small black ant with pale ends to their legs – they look quite similar to black house ants. They are a common problem inside houses where they look for sugary foods. They often build their nests in roof voids and wall cavities. They do not bite or sting.
Unlike the black house ant, they are a difficult ant to control, as up to 50% of the ants in the nest are reproductives (capable of producing eggs). A combination of sprays and baits are often used to control the problem.
Coastal brown ants are a small reddish brown ant. There are minor (small) and major (large) workers. The major workers have large heads, which give them their alternative name (big-headed ant). They prefer oily foods. They generally nest outside under pavers, concrete and rocks, but will sometimes nest inside. Although they bite, it is not painful to humans.
Numbers can be successfully suppressed with a combination of sprays and baits. However, coastal brown ants can develop into super-colonies containing multiple nests over large areas. As a result, ants will reinvade treated areas after a period of time.
The green-head ant is a medium sized black ant, with an iridescent green sheen. They feed on insects and other invertebrates. They build their nests in lawns and under rocks and logs. They have a painful sting which can itch for several days.
Nests can be treated with baits or injected with insecticide. Once a lawn is cleared of nests, it takes a while for new nests to move in.
Funnel ants are a medium sized brown ant. However, you don’t often see them as they live under ground. What you do see are the earth shaped funnels (which are more obvious after rain), which are the excavations from their underground nests and tunnels.
Apart from being unsightly, these excavations can cause subsidence and uneven lawns, which can result in twisted ankles and damaged mowing equipment.
Our specialist funnel ant treatments will eliminate the nests. Re-invasion from surrounding areas happens over time and the speed of re-invasion depends on the overall neighbourhood infestation level.
Ant Prevention
Other than having an ant treatment, there is very little you can do to prevent ants becoming a problem outside, but there are some steps you can take to help prevent ants becoming a problem inside the house:
- Prevent ants entering the house by filling any cracks around windows, doors and utility pipes
- Don’t leave pet food bowls out (especially with food in)
- Clear up spilled food
- Don’t leave unwashed dishes on the side after meals
- Make sure food is stored in plastic or glass containers with tight fitting lids
- Rubbish should be put in sealed bags before placing in the bin
