Product Description:
TERRO® Outdoor Liquid Ant Baits attract and kill common household ants.
To use this outdoor liquid ant bait, simply place the pre-filled, ready-to-use liquid bait stations outdoors in areas where ants are observed and, if desired, secure the baits with the stakes provided. The patented outdoor ant baits prevent the liquid bait from drying out, providing the ants with a continuous supply of food, day and night. Ants typically follow defined trails from the nest to food or water. Placing the outdoor ant baits close to these trails will improve control.
How Does This Outside Ant Control Work?
While the active ingredient in TERRO® Outdoor Liquid Ant Baits will ultimately kill the worker ant, this outdoor ant bait interferes with the ant's digestive system and works slowly enough that the worker has time to get back and share the ant bait with the rest of the colony. This slow kill is needed to allow time for the foraging ants to make several trips to the outdoor ant bait stations and deliver enough bait to the rest of the colony. Baiting enables you to get rid of both the ants you see and the ants you don’t. Complete control may take up to two weeks.
All About Ants
There are more than 10,000 known species of ants living throughout the world. Like other insects, they have six legs; each with three joints. Ants have large heads with compound eyes, elbowed antennae and powerful jaws. Ants are social insects that live in structured nest communities throughout the world. The species of ant determines whether they live underground, in mounds built at ground level, in wood structures or in plants or trees.
What’s the difference between liquid and gel ant baits?
It’s a little known fact that adult worker ants cannot digest solid food (bait). Their anatomy is designed for transporting and digesting liquids only. Solid foods must be carried back to the colony for additional processing by the larvae stage. Liquid baits exploit this unique physiology by making it easy for ants to transport the liquid bait back to the rest of the colony, including the queen, larvae and other workers.
I just placed several TERRO® Liquid Ant Baits on my deck and it’s attracting more ants, not killing them! What’s going on?
You have nothing to worry about! Initially, you will see more ants. As ant foragers look for food, they are attracted to the sweet liquid in the bait which they consume and carry back to feed to the rest of the colony. On the way back to the nest, the ants drop what it called a ‘trail pheromone’, letting the other ants know where the tasty food supply is. In turn, these ants follow the trail to the bait which explains why you initially see more ants.
The active ingredient in the bait interferes with the ants' digestive systems, eventually killing the ants within 24-48 hours after consumption. This slow kill gives the worker ants enough to get back and share the bait with the colony. Baiting is the only way to successfully wipe out the ants you see and the thousands you don’t.
