Are you in the middle of an ant invasion? … warfare isn’t easy, you would need to equip yourself with the best ant killer.
Ants have a unique social setup. Only the queen lays eggs while workers collect food, and soldier ants fight to increase their territory.
If you don’t kill the queen and keep killing the ants that you see outside their nest, the queen will lay more eggs, and ants would come back stronger in numbers.
It’s an endless battle!… So, how do you get rid of ants?
The solution is to learn about ant behavior. Once you learn the ant’s behavior, you can kill the queen and stop them from coming back to your home in the future.
Best Ant Killer – Our Top Picks
Product Model | Type | Rating | Price |
---|---|---|---|
Terro Liquid Ant Baits | Liquid Baits | 4.5 | |
Hot Shot Ant Baits | Liquid Baits | 4.4 | |
Advion Ant Gel Insecticide | Gel Baits | 4.8 | |
Ortho Home Defense Insect Killer | Spray | 4.0 |
Locating an Ant Colony
Locating an Ant’s nest isn’t easy. They could nest in various locations in your home, from cracks in walls to the soft ground in your lawn.
Each ant colony can vary in the number of ants – ranging anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000. When threatened, these ants can relocate entirely within a few hours.
Individual ants have a different lifespan. For example, worker ants usually live for 5 to 7 years.
Where do Ants live?
Ants are everywhere except Antarctica, Greenland and few other remote islands. So forget about eliminating them from those regions. Your only option is to drive them out of your home by denying them food and killing the queen.
Ants in your home
Ants are tiny insects. They can enter your home through even the tiniest openings. The only reason they will enter your home is to find sweet or greasy food in your home.
Types of Any Killers
To get rid of ants, you have the following options:
Ant Killers – How do they work?
The majority of ant killers you see in the market these days are either baits or sprays. Ant killer sprays contain a poisonous mixture. You spray this mixture on the ants directly to kill them.
Ant baits work entirely differently. They don’t kill ants on sight. You place the bait where you usually see the ants.
Then you wait for ants to take the bait back to their nest. Don’t wipe the floor or change the environment unless more ants have returned to collect the bait.
When using bait, be sure to pick the right bait depending on the type of ants in your home.
TERRO Liquid Ant Baits:
TERRO Liquid Ant Baits are perfect for getting rid of ants by killing the queen. It’s the best ant killer that kills the entire colony even when you can’t locate the nest.
These liquid baits from TERRO kill all common ants. However, they don’t kill carpenter ants.
TERRO Liquid baits won’t dry out because of a special patented design. It attracts worker ants with its unique ingredients. These ants contribute to spreading the poison to their nest, eventually killing the queen.
How it works
TERRO’s best ant killer works like a charm. It comes with ready-to-use bait stations with pre-filled liquid baits. You will place these bait stations in various locations of your home where you have seen ants moving. When ants come in contact with these baits, they drink some and leave a trail for others to find the bait.
After a few hours, a lot of ants will follow the trail and take the bait back to their nest, killing the entire colony within a few days. If the ant colony is massive, it might take a week or so to kill the nest completely.
For quick action and increased effectiveness of this solution, place the baits where you see a lot of ants.
- Liquid bait is easy to use
- Effective against all household ant species
- Kills the entire colony including the queen
- It won’t work if you can’t find the trail
- This bait is unsafe for homes with kids and pets if you don’t hide the baits
Hot Shot Ant Baits
HotShot Ant Baits is another great option if you are looking for the best ant killer. This bait works on most common ants. Due to powerful ingredients, it can help you manage even severe infestations. You can use this bait to kill the queen and get rid of ants in the colony.
When you place these baits, you don’t have to worry about them drying up any sooner. They will remain effective for three months. If ants come back within this period, the bait will get rid of them again.
This brand new line of fast ant killer has a fast-killing formula that works even when other ant killer baits fail. This best ant killer also works with many common household pests.
How It Works
Like other liquid baits, HotShot baits are also easy to use. You only need to place the baits in the area where you see ants a lot of ants, or you can spot a trail. The ants will drink the liquid bait and take it back to its nest, killing everyone who takes this food.
This product is safe to use in a home with pets. It doesn’t attract them. However, if you have kids at home, you should be careful to place the baits in places where they are inaccessible to children.
- It takes longer to dry, making it more effective than other products
- Fast killer
- Doesn’t attract Pets
- Easy to use
- You need to spot a trail to kill the colony with this bait
- It may take up to three weeks to get rid of ants completely
Advion Ant Gel Insecticide
Advion Ant Bait Gel is superior gel bait that can help you take control of server ant infestations. This product is broad spectrum so you can even deal with carpenter ants and other household pests.
If you have traditional ant species infesting your home, the best way to get rid of them is to deploy gel baits by Advion. This is the same tube that many professional exterminators use when they can’t control the manifestation using regular techniques.
This best ant killer can easily wipe entire ant colonies as its formulation affects all life stages of ants. You will have the queen and all the other ants gone within a week even when the infestation is severe.
How it works
Advion insecticide gel comes in a tube. The tube has a cap, which means you can use as much gel as much needed and save the remaining. You don’t need to use the entire tube in one go. The tube can be used within two years of the manufacturing date. You can see this date on the tube and calculate the expiry date accordingly.
When you want to use this bait outside the home, be sure to hide the baits under something to avoid poisoning birds and animals that may come in contact with this best ant killer.
- Superior product designed to control severe infestations
- Works against all common household ants
- Easy to place the baits using PVC tubing
- Comes with cap so you can reuse the gel
- Doesn’t include bait stations
- The tube nozzle gets clogged often
Ortho Insect Spray Killer
Ortho Insect Spray Killer is the best ant killer when you want to kill ants and other insects on contact. Surprisingly, this spray also provides 12-month protection against future invasion by spiders, ants, and roaches.
Ortho Insect Spray Killer is effective against all common ant species. This includes carpenter ants, foraging fire ants, Argentine ants, pyramid ants, harvester ants, red ants, lawn ants, and pavement ants. It doesn’t have any odor, and it dries fast. This easy to use spray builds a long-lasting bug barrier.
This spray is broad spectrum, which means you can expect it to work even if you can’t determine the species of ants that have infested your home. The company claims that it works against 130+ insects. For ants, this is the best ant killer for those who want to kill the insects on contact.
How it works
This insect spray from Ortho kills insects on contact and creates a barrier for future invaders. The barrier can last as long as 12-months on non-porous surfaces.
If your home has a serious infestation, you should create a 4-inch border in all the important places, starting with the kitchen.
The next place should be the bathroom. A 4-inch border alongside windows and doors will also stop a lot of insects from coming inside. If you have a basement in your home, don’t forget to spray this insecticide around wall perimeters.
If you need to use this best ant killer outdoors, be sure to create wider borders, up to 12 inches. This will ensure that insects other than ants such as spiders and roaches won’t get inside.
- Broad spectrum formulation makes it the best ant killer for a variety of any species
- Creates a 12-month barrier against future invasions
- Works on other insects
- Kills ants and many other insects on contact
- Don’t expect it to kill the queen or wipe out the entire colony. This product kills ants only on contact.
- It could be a health hazard when you spray it near food and pets
Future Ant Invasion preventions
After you get rid of ants using the best ant killer from the list of products reviewed earlier, you should prepare to prevent these insects from infesting your home in the future. Below are some handy tips.
What is the best Ant Killer – Conclusion
Getting rid of ants could take time. However, using the best ant killer will help you kill the entire colony. We recommend Advion Ant Gel Insecticide as it works even when the infestation is severe. It’s easy to apply, and it works even when other insecticides fail terribly.