I live in a fairly good size apt and when we first moved in we had camel crickets or cave crickets. (whatever you want to call them) Well I bought some cheap bug spray in a sprayer from walmart and it finally did the trick. Now we have ants on my kitchen sink all the time. Clean, dirty, it doesn't matter and I can't figure out where they are coming from. I've looked up and down and around. How do I get rid of them because the spray isn't working. Can't I just live in peace bug and insect free!!

May I please answer a question you are not asking. If you have crickets and ants, surely you must have a roach or two occasionally. Who doesn't?

For roaches, try Bengal in an aerosol can. Should be at the supermarket or Wal-Mart, K-Mart or similar discount stores.

May I please answer a question you are not asking. If you have crickets and ants, surely you must have a roach or two occasionally. Who doesn't?

For roaches, try Bengal in an aerosol can. Should be at the supermarket or Wal-Mart, K-Mart or similar discount stores.


I've only had 1 roach the entire time I've lived there and got rid of the crickets but how do I get rid of the ants?

Take a sample to your local orkin or terminex service center for proper id of ant species.

Using baits on ants is the best way to avoid contamination.

But you need to combine both protein and sugar based baits to keep the ants from stopping feeding on the bait until colony is dead.

A product called drax ant bait is a boric acid based bait that comes in both protein and sugar formulations. See Ant control, ant bait, drax ant bait (http://www.pestcontrol-products.com/drax.htm) or Antbait.com - Drax Ant Bait (http://www.antbait.com/drax.html)

Sprays are repellent and for most species they will avoid treated areas until compound degrades or is washed away.

In the case of pharaoh ants spraying causes multiple queen colonies to fracture into new colonies spreading the ant colonies out and creating a bigger problem.

Ants are exploiting food sources so improving sanitation by removing any other food sources other then the baits will greatly speed up the die off your ant colonies

themouseman gave a pretty good answer. ID is the first rule of pest control.

To add... watch the ants to see where their trails are. Then cut small pieces of straw, some filled with peanut butter, some w/ jelly mixed with boric acid or another low/no odor toxin and place on the trails. (PB satisfies protein, jelly the carb/sweet). Check them fairly often to see if need replaced.

Also check outside to see if you can find the mound (if they are small ants).

Ants are poisoned by aspartame (Equal) and they hate chalk. These are both cheap and non-toxic. Children's sidewalk chalk will work. Ants do not want to cross a line of chalk. Sprinkle aspartame along the 90% angle of counter top and wall. The ants eat it like sugar, then they die.

themouseman gave a pretty good answer. ID is the first rule of pest control.

To add... watch the ants to see where their trails are. Then cut small pieces of straw, some filled with peanut butter, some w/ jelly mixed with boric acid or another low/no odor toxin and place on the trails. (PB satisfies protein, jelly the carb/sweet). Check them fairly often to see if need replaced.

Also check outside to see if you can find the mound (if they are small ants).


All very good answers. Honestly they look like your normal piss ant I guess you could say. Just a really small ant and they are black. If that tells you anything.

a really small ant and they are black. If that tells you anything.

That means it's prob not a carpenter ant. Try the baits. But don't spray. If they are pharaoh ants, spraying is bad, like mouse said.

Something that worked well for me with small black ants, was to put "Borax" in the corners and crevices around the sinks countertop, and on the floor in the corners, wherever you find the ants are going. They will eat this also, and it kills them pretty quickly.

Do not do this if you have small children crawling around on the floor.

If you can, try caulking all wall penetrations and mortar masonry cracks. Wall penetrations include utility lines, air conditioning, refrigerant pipes, phone lines, etc.
Sprinkle food-grade DE, talcum powder, baking soda, Comet® and/ or medicated body powders where you believe they may have access.

Possibly alert your property to the situation manager, there maybe a section written into your lease that deals with this issue.

For your question of where they come from, they may come from the sink itself as you mentioned that they were found in it. Try to follow them. Perhaps that the have made their nest on the outside of your house and are entering though the waste pipe of your sink. Or under your sink. Verify this. If you find their nest, you may perhaps find it easier to kill 'em all, with their queen. Good luck!