I notice those pesky ants (formigas in Portuguese) are back this year, including some inside one of my cupboards, and fortunately, Portugal hosts only around 34 species of them (which is enough, thanks very much). They take scavenged food back to their nests, with a single ant able to carry 50 times its own body weight, but collectively will work together to move bigger objects. I get a kind of perverse enjoyment by dropping a crisp or crust and watching a gang of them struggling to cart it away.


Up Close and Personal

All of them are really ugly up close, and a special effects designer from a movie set would be proud to create such masks! Being very aggressive when their nests are disturbed, they will swarm an intruder, and although nearly all species can bite or sting, few cause major problems in humans. Most ants are too small to inflict any serious damage, and their sting is mild – but harvester ants and fire ants, both of which are here in Portugal, can both cause unpleasant symptoms or may lead to allergic reactions.

Common or pavement ants are the ones we see the most. They have multiple queens and will mine tunnels and nests under rocks, pavements, driveways, and paving slabs. These ants are all one size and do possess a stinger, but generally, a person is not stung easily unless you happen to rest an arm or leg over a nest! Because these ants nest underground, they are hard to manage and will dig in places that are dry and easy to tunnel through. Loose soil in outdoor containers is a prime target - if soil falls out of a dry pot’s drainage hole, it presents the perfect area for a colony to start building a nest. If you get invasions in your pots, keep the soil moist, and if the pot dries out completely, just soak it in water, and let it drain.


Ants get everywhere

Ants could be considered as your little ‘garden helper’ as most will eat small insect pests and aerate the soil by their constant burrowing, but are sometimes a sign of bigger problems. Most ants provide nutrients to the soil and help pollinate garden plants, but ant colonies can also be a sign of aphids - a garden pest - that feeds on plant sap, and ants feed on the honeydew that the aphids produce. Garden ants won’t eat plant roots, but will tunnel or build their nests in and around the roots because the soil is generally looser there. Most of the time, the ones you see crawling on the leaves are feeding on that sweet sap.

Credits: envato elements;

Get rid of them!

Ants don't care where you live, so you can get ants on a third-floor or a 30thfloor. They form a line and look like they are whispering secrets to one another, but they are following pheromones the leader left behind. Once the ants find food and head back to the nest, they will lay down another trail of pheromones, allowing others to pick up their scent and follow the same route.

The simple solution is to eliminate their food source, but there are also many products available to control them. Make your own ant bait using one part Borax to three parts sugar, and stir into a cup of water to dissolve the mixture, or mix less water to make a paste for a dry bait. They are attracted to the sugar, but the Borax interferes with their digestive system and eventually kills them. Mix up the baits – adults only eat liquids but larvae will eat solids, and turn that into a liquid the queen will eat. For effective ant control, you need to eliminate the queen as well. Worker ants will eat the bait and bring it back to the colony for all the other ants to consume. Remember to wash your mixing containers thoroughly afterwards, and keep them away from pets and children as it may be harmful.

Or maybe use sprays and ant traps that can be found in both hardware stores and supermarkets for instANT results!

Author

Marilyn writes regularly for The Portugal News, and has lived in the Algarve for some years. A dog-lover, she has lived in Ireland, UK, Bermuda and the Isle of Man. 

Marilyn Sheridan