Combat Ant Killing Bait Strips Review
Ants are a household pest that is vilified simply for their presence alone as they frequently invade homes seeking sugar and other glucose-rich foods. There is actually a good reason to be fearful of an ant invasion, as the studious and industrious insects can contaminate food and create invasions by the hundreds in your kitchen, porch area, and your yard.
There are many steps you can take to prevent an ant invasion, but due to their infantry-like invasion tactics, you will need a product that can lure the insects to their death as opposed to attacking the herd all at once.
Combat Bait Strips
Combat Ant Killing Bait Strips provide a luring substance that works to attack ants with a deadly chemical once they cross into the bait strip. Unlike mechanisms that trap ants, this product makes the chemical fipronil available as a substance that can be carried away by worker ants to take back to the colony. Once the ants within the colony, including the queen, are exposed to the poison, the product begins to work killing the ants within hours.
This product kills ants with fipronil, a powerful central nervous system antagonist in insects from the phenylpyrazole family. Along with this chemical, it attracts ants with substances designed to respond to the antenna of ants, which causes them to seek out the source and carry the chemical back to the colony where the distribution of the substance occurs. The product is highly effective, but the adhesive backing that keeps the product in place may erode very quickly–so a few replacement strips may be necessary to reapply.
Pros
- Powerful ant attractant
- Coats poison inside of ant food source
- Fast-acting
- Easy to apply to hard-to-reach areas
- Eliminates entire colony
Cons
- Adhesive backing wears away quickly
- The larger the colony, the longer the product takes to eliminate it
- Not recommended for damp areas such as piping
- May take multiple applications to eliminate a large colony
How Long Does Combat Ant Bait Take to Work?
Fipronil is a powerful chemical and will begin killing ants immediately upon contact. The benefit of this product is that the ants recognize the substance as a food source due to the alluring scent and workers carry the poison back to the colony. Once back at the colony, the ants distribute the poison to soldiers and the poison eventually makes its way back to the queen who is the reproductive center of the ant colony.
Because ants are social creatures, this mechanism is highly effective, but ants are also incredibly focused insects and you will have to ensure that the strips are positioned in places near an ant herd and that they have easy access to it. If the ants actively take the poison back to the colony, you can expect the elimination of a colony within 2-3 days. For larger colonies who are living off of substances within your home, you may need multiple strips in place and it can take upwards of 7-10 days to eliminate a large colony.
Does Ant Bait Attract More Ants?
Ants use sensory perception to seek out food sources and water. Sweet, sugary, and foods rich in glucose, such as carbohydrates, are the main substances that ants are seeking inside of your home. The efficient aspect of Combat Ant Killing Strips is that this product uses a powerful substance that mixes water with strong sugar odors, which will deter ants from seeking food sources due to the powerful smell.
Once ants begin taking the poison from the strips, more and more ants will notice the activity and begin to surround the strips. Ants are capable of laying down invisible odor trails which will alert other workers that there is a trail leading to food and water. Once the substance is discovered, it becomes an ant free-for-all and numerous workers will begin taking the poison back to the colony making for an equal and quantitative distribution of the poison back home.
Are Combat Ant Killing Bait Strips Dangerous to Humans and Pets?
Due to the strips being hidden in corners and around structures on the ground, this product poses no real risk to human health. Fipronil is very similar to pyrethroids, both in mechanism and toxicity, which means that apart from some minor reactions, the chemical is mostly safe. Fipronil in this form can cause reactions in humans from direct contact to bear skin, so gloves are a good tool to utilize when applying the strips; if you do not have any gloves on hand, be sure and thoroughly wash hands with soap and warm water after applying the strips.
Pets would likely be prone to be exposed to the adverse effects of fipronil before humans. Pets are closer to the ground and will typically explore new or alluring substances with their noses or their tongues. Try and keep pets away from the strips as much as possible and if any health effects occur, consult a veterinarian. Additionally, this product is highly toxic to aquatic animals, but due to the enclosed nature of the poison inside of the strip, it is unlikely that fish would come into contact with the poison.
Do Ant Traps Work on Cockroaches?
Although this product is not targeted against cockroaches, you may very well find that it works against killing cockroaches. Like ants, roaches are attracted to sweet substances and water, therefore, you may find a few dead ones on or near the strips as well. Unlike ants, roaches are more solitary and independent insects, who are usually only in groups when mating.
The best method for using bait to kill cockroaches would be to utilize bait contraptions that trap cockroaches in a substance that prevents their escape. Although this product will work at killing roaches, you would want to be able to keep track of how many roaches are being killed, since roaches hide and nest anywhere within a home whereas ants have one nest and one colony. This will work against cockroaches, but if you are noticing roaches in your home–a more specific product targeting them would be advisable.
How Do You Kill a Queen Ant?
This question warrants concern, since the single queen of an ant colony, is the life or death of a colony. The queen ant is hidden deep inside a colony and for good reason, seeing as how she keeps the colony fresh in new ants. It would be incredibly difficult to try and find a queen since often times–the queen will even be a few inches underground below the colony.
To kill a queen ant, you would need chemicals to penetrate into her lair. Combat Ant Killing Bait Strips are effective at killing the queen due to the poison being distributed throughout the colony once it arrives. Alternatively, you can drown a colony with water or even bleach to ensure the queen is killed.
In Summary
Combat Ant Killing Bait Strips are highly effective at eliminating an entire ant colony and keeping ants out of your home. The product works by masking fipronil inside of attractive food and moisture substances that ants seek out. Once taken back to a colony by worker ants, the chemical begins to be spread to all ants, including the queen, ensuring elimination within days.
The strips come with an adhesive backing that needs to be firmly applied to a dry area to stay in place. This product addresses an ant invasion by luring ants to the poison and eliminates the need to track ants and try to destroy them with sprays. Within 2-3 days, this product can make your home ant-free and can work to keep any future ant invasions at bay.
Fipronil. (2009). Retrieved from http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/fipronil.html.
Potter, M. (2018). Ant control for householders. Retrieved from https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef619.
