Ken installing another AntPro liquid ant bait station.

Eliminates the Entire White Footed Ant Colony Not Just the Foraging Ants

White Footed Ants

White Footed Ant Control (using Liquid Ant Bait)

They don’t bite; they don’t sting; but they sure get into everything.

The white footed ant is the most notorious recent invader of Florida. Originally a native of Southern Japan and its neighboring islands, this ant specie has been on the move north and west from southeast Florida. Identified by entomologist Mark Derup in 1991, the white foots are believed to have settled in the Homestead, Florida area in the mid 1980’s.

Picture of White Footed Ants. The KM Ant Pro ant control system, controls imported fire ants, carpenter ants, white footed ants, argentine ants & many other ant species.

White footed ants invading a wall switch by Fred J. Santana, Entomologist.

Originally thought to be a minor problem, the white footed ant reached pest alert status in 1998. They have now been confirmed to have spread and are thriving in at least nine Florida counties.

The white footed ants obvious success in adapting and colonizing in new locations is cause for great concern throughout Florida. There are currently several quarantines in effect at and around agricultural areas. Understanding the impact on Florida’s agricultural communities as well as homes and industries is as unique as this invasive ant itself.

White footed ant biology:

White footed ant Colonies grow quickly and may exceed over two million inhabitants in each colony.
It is believed that in some instances, up to 50 % of the colony members may be female reproductives.
They create swarmers for mating flights, which provide them with much greater range for initiating new colonies. They also bud; a process by which workers and female reproductives separate from the main colony and establish new ones.
Unlike most ant species, the foraging workers do not regurgitate the food they have eaten to provide to the nursery and non foraging ants in the nest. Instead they digest the food and produce a trophic egg. It is an unique unfertilized egg which provides all the nourishment the whitefooted ants require. The foraging workers, while providing the close to perfect food source to the colony, also, filter out much of the pesticides that may have been present in the original food.
White footed ants are strongly attracted to sweets, although they will eat dead insects and have been observed attacking termites, worms and other small prey. For the most part, they are generally found foraging in great numbers where carbohydrate-producing plants, crops and other organisms are. They will protect and farm aphids, mealybugs and scale for the purpose of harvesting their honeydew. The end result leads to crop and plant damage.

The white footed ant structural invasion is not an experience you want to have. You have to truly see it to believe it. The white footed ant is without a doubt the most invasive ant in Florida, today. Once they are inside, they are close to impossible to eradicate. They invade wall voids, outlets, appliances, pantries and just about every nook and cranny you can imagine.

White footed ants are dark brown to brownish black and appear to be little black ants from a distance. Their large numbers foraging make their presence known quickly. They do not actually have white feet; their tibia and tarsi are light yellow.

White Footed Ant Control

"Most Important: Do not spray or spread insecticides inside or outside your home. This alerts the ants to danger and causes them to stop their feeding and begin to reproduce in larger numbers."

If this ant has made it into your home or facility, you should contact a qualified professional pest control service, or be prepared to make a disciplined "do-it-yourself" effort.

Do not spray insecticides in your environment.

The best way to stop this invader is outside of your home:

Keep bushes and trees trimmed back from structures.
Keep moisture sources around the exterior to a minimum.
Use a systemic pesticide on the carbohydrate producing plants and shrubs (take their food source away).
Place Ant Pro ant bait stations where the ants are foraging.

At least every second week, inspect for new areas where they may be foraging and repeat recommendations 3 and 4, as needed.

"Laboratory tests... have shown baits to be the only effective management method to date for WFA (White Footed Ant) control." "No surface or residuals treatments with liquid insecticides have yet been found to be effective for controlling these ants." "Management has only been accomplished by treating infested homes exclusively with baits containing borates." Management of white-footed ants - University of Florida.

Customer Testimonials for White Footed Ants

KM Ant Pro LLC
P.O. Box 967, Nokomis, FL 34275
(941)445-4252
Contact Us

"Until a few months ago these white footed ants have been a constant presence, crawling on the outside walls, showing up on counter tops and sinks in the kitchen and bathrooms, dropping from receded lighting and exhaust fan fixtures, and invading wall switches and sockets. My wife felt completely harassed by them and I wondered if anything was ever going to control them...Since these (AntPro bait stations) have been in place, the presence of white footed ants on my house has stopped. Their trailing lines under the walls and along the soffit-wall juncture are gone. My wife and I have our home back and are grateful to Ken and his AntPro System."

Sincerely

F.J.S., Entomologist Ph.D., Sarasota, FL