[maxine sczepanik]

We live in a very sandy area and have lots of leaf cutter ants. (I'm not sure that is the correct name) The ants are red and have long spidery legs. They make trails when they are searching for whatever they are going to cut down. You may have a flower bed with beautiful flowers in it today and by tomorrow it could be gone. They actually strip all the leaves and carry them back to their nest. I have not found anything that will kill these ants. If I put out ant bait, they will disappear for a while but it does not kill them. I have spent literally hundreds of dollars on my yard only to have these ants ruin everything. Does anyone have any information on these ants? And is there anything out there that will actually kill them? Please help.

[bashkirhorses]

Hi Maxine!

You might want to try some of the following solutions depending on your site and needs:

Garlic spray (this works well in deterring rodents too)
Lime barriers
Basil oil extracts
Lemon grass and other plants that repel
Plastic skirts with sap or long lasting adhesive
Orthene dust

The ant colonies are huge (2 million ants+) so it will take awhile to kill all of them. They are territorial, so once you kill off the colony, chances are you'll have the problem under control. These are hard little buggers to get rid off though. Good luck!

[waynesworld]

I live in the DEEP south and we have to deal with a LOT of fire ants.
The BEST thing I have found is Orothene.
It comes in a round, tall container and stinks just like a rotten egg.
There are a lot of different brands on the market, but make sure it stinks!
Best of all, you only use it by the teaspoon, or you can mix and spray it on and around plants for a general pesticide.
Works wonders down south!
Good luck...

[cjcdallas]

If you can find the nest you can attack them there with the poison.