Can Crazy Ants Damage Electronics
There are plenty of ant species that roam not only around our house but even in different parts of the world. Ants aren’t really specific to one place and even their characteristic isn’t stuck with just one mechanism. Each ant specie is their own individual and some ants can definitely cause damages, such as carpenter ants being able to destroy wooden objects by creating their nests in them, field ants whom create ant mounds making it difficult to mow the grass due to unevenness, and pavement ants being able to damage concrete. Crazy ants are also able to do the same thing, but rather than wood or the ground, they are able to damage electronics.
Crazy ants are actually known for damaging electronics, may it be electrical outlets, switches or even gadgets and devices. They seem to be attracted to these electronics although there isn’t an exact reason as to why but there are multiple theories on it such as they’re attracted to the heat released by the electronic or one of their comrades got electrocuted and sent out an alarm pheromone that attracts them to come to its aid.
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CRAZY ANTS IDENTIFICATION
SIGNS OF CRAZY ANTS IN YOUR ELECTRONICS
REMOVING CRAZY ANTS NATURALLY
REMOVING CRAZY ANTS WITH CHEMICALS
HOW TO PREVENT CRAZY ANTS NATURALLY FROM COMING BACK
CRAZY ANTS IDENTIFICATION
Seeing ants roam around your house and they’re running in a “crazy” manner? Well, they might be crazy ants. In case you aren’t convinced by that then, I guess you’ll just have to learn more about Crazy Ants, you know, just to make sure.
You might think that there is only one type of crazy ant but actually there are three common types of the Crazy Ants, the Rasberry or Tawny Crazy Ant, Black Crazy Ant, and the Caribbean Crazy Ant. There is of course other different types of crazy ants seeing as there are 12,000 species of ants in general.
The Rasberry or Tawny Crazy Ant, scientifically known as the Nylanderia fulva, it’s features include being Reddish-brown in color, has a measurement of ⅛ inch in terms of length, there is coarse hair all over its body, and they have really long legs as well as a 12 segment antennae which is pretty much, long as well.
The Black or Longhorn Crazy Ant, scientifically known as the Paratrechina longicornis. The feature of this ant is similar to the Tawny Crazy Ants, they also have extremely long legs and have a 12-segment antennae. Although their colors are more in the shades of dark brown to black although sometimes it might seem like their is a blue tone on it.
The Caribbean Crazy Ant, scientifically known as the Nylanderia pubens. As for this type of ant, its feature is also similar with the Tawny Crazy Ants, but it’s color is more of a golden-brown to reddish-brown rather than reddish-brown alone, and like both of the mentioned crazy ants, it has a long leg and antennae.
All of these ants have one common characteristic that we can’t remove from them, it’s the way they run just about anywhere, they don’t form a straight path when walking but go around in zig zags, these ants also do not form any kind of mounds.
SIGNS OF CRAZY ANTS IN YOUR ELECTRONICS
Starting to spot some ants roaming around your house and worse, near your electronics? Well, that might just be a sign for crazy ants. Crazy ants love to wander around with no specific trail to follow, they instead move aimlessly and just about anywhere. By looking at the features of the ants you see and the mentioned traits, then those might just be crazy ants.
As for electronics specifically, when you unplug from your electrical outlet, crazy ants might come out due to the disturbance. As for electronics, if for some reason a random ant walking without no direction popped out of your electronic devices such as your laptop that that’s also a sign for a crazy ants. The crazy ants don’t directly have to be in your electronics for you to have a sign that they’re there, simply by looking at your surroundings and identifying the ant you see with patience, you can find out if there are crazy ants.
You don’t have to wait for ants to be inside your electronics for you to take precaution. It’s much better to take a steps before they even they get into your electronics. But it’s not bad to look for signs of crazy ants in your electronics, albeit if confirmed that there are, there might be a slightly bigger crazy ant infestation than you’d have expected.
REMOVING CRAZY ANTS NATURALLY
Removing crazy ants isn’t easy as it seems, to some baits, they aren’t attracted at all and therefore ignoring them. But, seemingly, crazy ants dislike oils which is a good thing. All you have to do is get some essential oil such as a peppermint one and wipe it to any possible entrances for ants, trails, and the spots they frequent to.
The diatomaceous food grade that isn’t for a pool is can work in removing crazy ants, it’s all natural although the effects maybe for smaller infestations, just scatter the dust in the crazy ant infested areas as well as their pathways. As for baits or homemade baits it doesn’t usually work for crazy ants, it’s hard to get by where they actually take in the bait unlike other ants that usually go directly for it.
REMOVING CRAZY ANTS WITH CHEMICALS
In removing crazy ants, you can use what you want to use, as long as its legal of course. Crazy ants seem to like both protein and sugar so if you plan to use a bait, make sure that the bait you’ve got can not only kill them but also attract them with its substance.
Liquid Insecticides are available for you to get, you can use them to remove crazy ants as it can knock them down and can also be used as a repellent. All you have to do with the liquid insecticides is spray them on the crazy ants nest, it could be anywhere and might even be outside your house, as long as you’ve tracked their nest just spray it there, if in any case it’s in an electrical socket then it’s best not to use it directly but just on the sides, avoid any socket or wires getting bet as it can in turn damage the wires or sockets you’ve sprayed. Since a liquid insecticide is a spray, spray it on all the possible entry points of the ants, it should stop them from coming in your home.
Another product which you can use is an insecticidal dust, it’s definitely usable for your outlet, sockets or even maybe your electronics. It’s not wet and therefore all you have to do is scatter it on the problematic areas that are most likely swarmed with crazy ants.
HOW TO PREVENT CRAZY ANTS NATURALLY FROM COMING BACK
The crazy ants from your home has finally been removed and these ants pretty much waved you a goodbye, but if you’re not careful enough, it might turn into a see you soon. In order to prevent the crazy ants from ever coming back in your home, there are natural ways or rather steps that you can do, and it’s not just based on products. It’s definitely more than that.
In honesty, it’s pretty difficult to prevent crazy ants to come back as they could first nest outdoor first before attacking your home but of course, it’s not impossible to have steps that can help in making sure that they’re not coming back inside your home anymore.
There are simple steps that you can do everyday in your daily life, it doesn’t seem much of a chore because well, you’re already doing it anyway but this maybe a bit more frequently.
These ants always come in your home because you’ve got spaces that the ants could easily access for their entrance such as holes, cracks, and the like. All you have to do is seal these in and this should help you but that’s not all, you should also check the gaps between your windows and doors, there might be some gaps there that you definitely might what to also seal.
As for the outside of your home, ants can be just about anywhere so don’t let those trees touch your house or its branches might just become a bridge for the ants. Be sure to trim those trees, bushes, and anything in your garden or greens around your home. It’s also best to remove fallen leaves from your yard and dead trees.
As for the management of your home, never forget about the garbage can you own, make sure you regularly check it and throw the trash away properly as well as keep your house’s cleanliness maintained. If you keep on ignore the speck of foods you sees on your bed or on the table then, it might just backfire on you so be sure to clean them. Lastly, your dishes and your pets bowls, you shouldn’t forget to clean those as this is where you primarily put food that you eat therefore, one should definitely ensure that it’s pristine as it could be.
