Many people want to use home ingredients to deal with ant problems naturally, which is considered a safe and non-toxic way to kill insects. Cornstarch can be an effective choice if you want to use natural ways of killing them.
Can You Use Cornstarch To Get Rid Of Ants? You can use cornstarch to get rid of ants by mixing it with sugar, borax, water, and baking soda. Moreover, you can add cornstarch powder to a vacuum cleaner bag filled with ants to suffocate them. Their legs can get stuck within cement-like material when you sprinkle water and trap them.
Many indoor and outdoor pests, like argentine, carpenter, pavement, pharaoh, sugar, and crazy ants, create problems by contaminating the food and destroying the lawn.
Should I use cornstarch to get rid of ants?
Cornstarch is a home ingredient obtained from corn’s endosperm or starch-rich part. It is commonly used as a thickening agent to prepare soups and other food items.
However, you can use this natural ingredient to control the population of ants outdoors and even indoors because it is not considered toxic for pets and children.
It is harmful to tiny insects because their stomach cannot deal with this food type, and it can become challenging when these insects drink water after its consumption.
Moreover, using cornstarch to remove ants from your home can be cost-effective as the costly commercial baits and insecticidal products can put a burden on your pocket.
You can get a box of cornstarch for $2 to $6, which seems a better option than expensive products designed for killing insects.
In addition, it is not highly effective like insecticidal products, but it can help avoid using toxic chemicals if the size of the infestation is small.
It is also easy to apply on infested surfaces, as you do not have to mix a large number of ingredients. It only requires direct contact of the powder with insects to start its killing action.
Furthermore, it is effective in dealing with ants as it interferes with their digestive system, but it creates a mess on the floor when you spread the powder.
How do you use cornstarch to get rid of ants?
You can use cornstarch to prepare ant baits by adding sugar, borax, and baking soda to the powder. Moreover, you can use water with powder to create problems in walking for the insects.
Spread cornstarch powder
You can spread cornstarch powder close to ant trails to draw the crawling insects out of their nests. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cornstarch powder close to their nests or the possible entry spots.
Moreover, its corn-like smell is pleasant for these insects, potentially attracting tiny creatures to the food. You do not have to make efforts to bring them out as this food allures their receptors.
This way, you can deal with a large number of insects living in the nest when they come out and gather at one spot around the food particles.
Additionally, it interferes with their stomach when they eat cornstarch and drink water as its particles expand, which can lead to the swallowing of bellies and death.
Cornstarch and water
You can trap ants in cornstarch powder by spreading it close to their trails. Make a line of this powder material along the trails to increase the chances of contact with their body parts.
Keep an eye on the insect’s activity and quickly sprinkle water on their bodies when they pass through the cornstarch. It leads to the formation of hard clumps in a short time that can trap their legs.
The cornstarch turns into a cement-like mixture when you sprinkle water on it, so this can interfere with the movement because their tiny legs can get stuck within it.
However, sprinkling a small amount of water is essential as excessive spraying can also lead to the removal of the powder from their bodies and provide a chance for an escape.
Cornstarch and sugar
You can prepare bait for some species of ants if they are not attracted to the cornstarch. Add around 2 teaspoons of sugar into 2 tablespoons of cornstarch and mix them well.
Make a sticky bait by adding around 10 to 15ml of water because ants are usually less attracted to dry baits. So, adding sugar and water increases the chances of bait consumption.
Spread this homemade bait close to their trails or mounds outdoors and wait for these insects to come out and consume the bait material.
You can increase sugar content if you do not find any ants around it because sweet food items are usually more attractive to them.
Cornstarch and borax
Borax is a highly toxic compound for ants and improves the efficiency of baits to kill the nuisance pests inside the home. You can 1 part of borax into 2 parts of cornstarch to make bait.
In addition, add 1 part of sugar to make it appealing for the sugar-loving insects as it helps increase the number of insects drawn towards the bait.
Show some patience and wait for these insects to come and eat the particles while workers carry the food particles back to their nests.
This behavior of feeding the colony members with the same food can help get rid of the entire colonies of these insects in a short time.
Cornstarch and vacuuming
You can also combine two different methods to remove the annoying insects from your home. Vacuum clean the floor infested with long trails of ants to remove them quickly.
After that, remove the vacuum bag, add two tablespoons of cornstarch powder into the bag, and seal it properly before disposal.
In addition, you can also sprinkle the powder on their bodies and vacuum the trails quickly. Remove the bag, seal it properly, and throw it out in the trash bin immediately to avoid an escape.
Cornstarch and baking soda
Another way to improve the effectiveness of cornstarch is to add baking soda to it to make an effective killing powder against ants, as both are toxic for ants.
You have to add sugar into the mixture to make it attractive for the insects because the above two ingredients cannot allure the receptors of ants.
So, mix 1 part of sugar and 1 part of baking soda into two parts of the cornstarch to deal with the population of insects infesting indoors or living outdoors.
How long does it take cornstarch to kill ants?
Many people consider cornstarch a deadly meal for ants as it can solidify in their stomachs, and they can die in some time.
Moreover, these insects have simpler digestive systems that cannot digest the high starch content in their food because they lack the enzymes required to digest starch.
Excessive consumption of starch can lead to discomfort in their bellies because its particles increase in size when they drink water to swallow the dry powder.
This can lead to bloating and even death in insects if they consume a large amount of the powder. It is not considered a good repelling agent because ants consider it food due to its pleasant odor.
However, its toxicity increases when you add toxic powders like boric acid and baking soda, which can lead to severe digestive upset and cause problems in digestion processes.
Furthermore, killing the colonies can take almost 1 or 2 days because workers carry the particles back to their nests and feed the colony members, which takes time.
Its effect becomes visible after 24 hours when you see a few dead insects close to the entry hole of their mounds, but the entire colony dies after a few days of consumption.
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