If they are small ants, Terro is what I use, and advise schools to use. It is a boric acid solution, quite non toxic, and the ants take it back to the nest, which kills a lot of their families and friends.

It's also inexpensive and easy to use. You can spray the individual ants until the cows come home, but with Terro you take a lot of them out at the nest, and it won't hurt any other organisms.

I will definitely buy this. Thanks, danf! Can I buy it in Walmart or Home Depot or someplace similar? I will buy some today!

I've taken to insulting the bugs in my house. It seems to be working, the ant infestation from a few months ago is gone.

No, seriously, my bug killer of choice is the traps, and you can definitely get those at Wal-Mart or Home Depot.

No, seriously, my bug killer of choice is the traps,

Since I live in Eugene, I live-trap them and then release them outside with a stern warning. .

just kidding.

Can I buy it in Walmart or Home Depot or someplace similar?

I think so. Garden stores will carry it also. I have never stepped into a Walmart but Home Depot has a big pest control section, so I am pretty sure. On second read of your post, the wikipedia recipe is the same stuff.

Thanks to both of you. I really don't know if these ants will go into traps, TPS. They might. These ants are the strangest I have ever seen. They do not swarm over food like regular ants do. A cracker or a piece of bread goes untouched. It's the water! Insansity, I tell you! There is usually more than one queen per colony and they hunt right out with the other ants.

I put out the Wikipedia bait. I'm watching to see if any ants are on it. I guess I should give them a chance. This might take a while.

Maybe I'm dense but I don't know how this concoction would kill other ants. Do the ants save some of this poisonous water/sugar mixture and feed it to other ants? How do ants pass water? Hmm...

Maybe I'm dense but I don't know how this concoction would kill other ants. Do the ants save some of this poisonous water/sugar mixture and feed it to other ants? How do ants pass water? Hmm...

This is me thinking out loud. I guess they do pass it to ants somehow and that's all that matters.

danf, you're a good man. Never been inside a Wal-mart? That is something. You're missing out. ;-) JK.

You have my sympathy. I understand the Terro works grandly, tho.

If I'm not mistaken, the boric acid is combined with sugar/something the ants will eat. They eat it, go back, and regurgitate the substance to the other ants (ants often share food like this) thus killing them as well.

You're right, CitrusFreak, but it has to be a pretty specific concentration. The recipe I've been told is 1:20 borax:sugar, mixed with water until it's a paste (any more borax and they'll know it). I sympathize, LoriFLA--here the various big ants seem to be retreating, to be replaced by the tiny ants. (I haven't actually tried the solution, because that would mean buying borax, mixing up the paste, and applying it, which would mean being more organized than I actually am. Plus, I live in the bush and have reconciled myself to the occasional infestation.) What I have used with some success is diatomaceous earth around anywhere they might get in. (Backs of cupboards, under the sink, etc.)

Best of luck to you, valiant warrior! I hates ants. Nasty, hive-mind groupthink bastards

I've used Rentokil Ant, Fly and Wasp Killer. Worked very well in my small apartment. Just closed all the windows, sprayed it around (holding my breath), went out to work and that was that.