How to Get Rid of Acrobat Ants

How to Get Rid of Acrobat Ants

• Store sugar, cereal, pet food and leftovers in containers with snug lids. Wipe up spills and crumbs the same day.
• Cut back limbs, vines and palm fronds so nothing touches the roof, walls or screen enclosure. Ants use these as bridges straight onto the house.
• Caulk gaps in the foundation and around the spots where plumbing, cable and electrical lines pass through exterior walls.
• Look over soffit and attic vents, and replace any torn or loose screening.
• Stack firewood off the ground and away from the house. An old stump near the home can shelter a colony, so consider grinding it out.
• Set ant bait stations along the routes workers travel and check them over several days. The goal is for workers to carry bait back and share it with the colony, so give them time to feed.
• Heavy activity around the outside of the house may call for a professional treatment along the foundation.
• Acrobat ant nests are often tucked inside wall voids or dead limbs. If you cannot find the nest, Florida Bug Control can track it down during a free inspection.

Fix What Attracts Them, Then Treat the Nest

Acrobat ants move into wood that moisture has already softened, so the longest-lasting step is fixing the water problem. Look for leaking window and door frames, gutters that spill against fascia boards, plumbing leaks under sinks, and trim that stays damp. Afterward, replace damaged wood so a new colony cannot reuse the same cavities.

Outdoors, these ants feed heavily on honeydew, the sugary waste of aphids, scale insects and mealybugs. Keeping those plant pests in check on shrubs and trees near the house shrinks the food supply that keeps colonies large.

Common mistakes

• Spraying the trail. Store-bought sprays kill visible workers, miss the queen and nest, and erase the trail that leads back to the colony.
• Spraying near bait. Repellent sprays keep ants from feeding on the bait you just set out.
• Treating only indoors. Many ants in the kitchen are foraging from a nest in a stump, tree cavity or woodpile outside.

What professional treatment involves: A technician inspects inside and out to locate the nest and the moisture problem behind it, follows foraging trails to the colony, and treats the nest site and the voids it occupies directly. That is paired with exclusion work on gaps and wire entry points, and a follow-up visit to confirm activity has stopped. Florida Bug Control works without long-term contracts and re-treats at no charge if ants return between scheduled visits. Signs to watch for are on the acrobat ant infestation page.