Dark rover ants do not pose any significant threat to living creatures due to their peaceful nature. Ants are known to be nuisance pests indoors, but a few can threaten humans and pet animals depending on their stinging and biting potential.
Are Dark Rover Ants Dangerous? Dark rover ants are not dangerous because they lack stingers and avoid bites until they feel threatened. They are not responsible for any structural damage or transmission of diseases. However, you can control these nuisance pests by reducing moisture, killing aphids, and using baits or vinegar solutions.
They are not a threat to pets and other animals but can irritate them by entering their enclosures.
Why are dark rover ants not dangerous?
Dark rover ants are pretty small species of ants that are seen to invade indoors and build their nests outdoors. These are commonly found in Paraguay, Argentina, and the south of the US.
They are not considered dangerous due to their non-aggressive nature as they do not attack humans or pets aggressively but can fight with other ants’ species for food resources.
Moreover, you do not have to worry about aggressive attacks of Brachymyrmex patagonicus, but they are nuisance pests invading indoors to get food and moisture.
However, they show some aggressiveness towards other species of ants that can cause interference with their invasion and stops them from getting access to a food source.
They cannot sting their prey or predators because they do not possess a stinging organ at the end of the last segment of their body or an abdominal region.
Accordingly, they cannot cause painful stings like fire ants and are not responsible for allergic reactions in the affected areas of the body if they attempt to attack.
Moreover, they cannot inflict irritating bites due to smaller mandibles that cannot help cause deep injuries to the skin. Commonly, they avoid bites and remain busy with their activities.
You do not have to worry about structural damage to buildings, as these are not wood-chewing pests, and avoid making holes in the pavements or walls.
They are not attracted to electricity and electrical appliances, so they are not supposed to cause damage to electrical wires or avoid the risk of short circuits.
Additionally, they do not transmit diseases and are not responsible for foodborne illnesses because they are usually more interested in eating plant nectar and honeydew.
So, it is challenging to control the population of dark rover ants in the summer and spring because these are the mating seasons of insects.
The flying insects come out of their colonies for mating and produce a large number of eggs. The nest population needs more food and water to feed the new batch of eggs and larvae.
So, the workers can reach indoors in search of resources and get inside the kitchen and bathroom.
How do you identify dark rover ants?
You can identify dark rover ants by their physical and behavioral features, including their body size, color, eyes, and antennae. These are tiny insects with body lengths of around 1.5 to 2mm.
Moreover, they appear in brownish-black and pale yellow body color and possess prominent eyes, making them different from others.
These indoor pests have bigger heads and humped thorax. They can be distinguished by their 9-segmented antennae instead of the 12 segments commonly seen in other insect species.
However, it shares physical features with other insects belonging to the ant’s group, like a ring of hair covering its gaster tip. They also have a single node on the petiole, hidden under the gaster.
Their nests are commonly found in potted plants, leaf litter, and wall voids because they attack plant nectaries to get their food and live in close association with aphids.
How do you get rid of dark rover ants?
Dark rover ants are nuisance pests that can create trouble after reaching indoors when the outdoor environment does not support their survival.
Control humidity or moisture level
You have to control the humidity level within the building if you want to get rid of dark rover ants. They can make their way through cracked walls and get inside the bathroom with a wet floor.
In the same way, kitchen sinks can also provide a permanent source of moisture to tiny insects looking for water. Accordingly, you have to reduce the moisture level by keeping floors dry.
It is better to dehumidify bathrooms after taking a shower and wipe out the countertop or areas around the sink with a cloth to keep them dry.
Treat aphid infestation on trees
These insects are known to build a mutual relationship with aphids or other soft-bodied organisms, like scale insects producing sweet secretions or honeydew.
You have to get rid of the aphid population living on plants and sucking nutrients from the sap. Wash the plant leaves and stem with soapy water to wipe them off the plant surface.
In addition, neem oil sprays are effective against aphid infestations when you adequately cover the foliage with a solution to make it reach every insect.
This spraying method can also help control other plant pests and cut off all the possible food sources of these insects that can attract them to the plant.
Remove piles of leaf, wood, trash
Piles of leaves and wood can become a suitable nesting spot for dark rover ants, so you need to remove these piles before using any chemical or natural method to remove them.
These insects usually come indoors to get food and water but have outdoor nests in the trash piles or choose wood piles to hide.
So, you have to seal the possible entry points and remove the mulch or leaves from the ground to provide them no spot for hiding and reproducing.
Use vinegar and neem oil spray
You can use vinegar and neem oil spray to get rid of dark rover ants because they do not like the strong scents of both ingredients. Mix one part of vinegar with one part of water thoroughly.
You can mix 12 to 14 drops of neem oil into the solution and spray the solution on the possible spots of infestation, like plants, countertops, and even floors.
It takes a few minutes to an hour to make a particular area free of pests because they run in the opposite direction after detecting repelling odors in their surroundings.
Keep your house clean
You have to make your home unattractive to ants by cutting off the food supplies indoors. They get attracted to sweet items and dead insects, so keep the floors clean to avoid them.
In addition, do not forget to empty the trash cans regularly, as the odor of rotting food can grab their attention and make them come inside.
Remove food stains from the floor and countertop and clean the floor quickly after juice spills, as these do not take much time to reach their food source.
Call ant exterminators
Some people do not know how to deal with indoor pests and rely only on natural insect-killing methods. It is essential to target the queen in a dark rover ant colony to get rid of them permanently.
Killing a few workers cannot remove them, so you need to call exterminators to attack their colonies. Toxic insecticidal sprays can kill the queens when sprayed directly on the mounds.
These professional and skilled people can also use sweet baits to get benefit from the ants’ nature of taking food back to the colony. The toxic baits can reach every colony member and kill them.
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