VERY small bugs, looks like ants. What are they and how to get rid of them?

Question

Hi. I bought a new home about 3 blocks away from the beach (Atlantic Ocean) and almost everything in the house is new including the flooring. I moved almost 2 weeks ago and since then I noticed if I leave food on the counter normal size small black ants will come out. They are very small and I only notice them when a crumb falls, etc.

Yesterday I found one tiny piece of my cats kibble food on the floor. Everyone knows how small one piece of cat food is; well there had to be 25 microscopic looking ants under it! When I moved the piece of food they all went running. They are so small they almost look like they have white on them. They were not in her food, just under that one little piece of her food.

I do not know if they are ants or what but I'm not sure what else they would be since they do resemble an ant. I've just never seen them so small before. They make my small black ants look huge!

I do not know if this is is par for the course for moving by the beach but is there a cat safe method I can use to get rid of them (both kinds). Should I try putting something around the outside of the house as well as the inside? Do the ant motels really work?

Any ideas or help is welcome!

Answer 1

I suggest corn meal.  It's not harmful to animals or humans and the ants love it but they can't digest it.  You can put some in a little pile where they're entering or wherever they're hanging out.  It may take a week or so but it does work.

Answer 2

We have the ant baits around the kitchen and near the back door. They also have ant spikes you can place around outside your house, ant baits on a spike that just gets pushed in the dirt.

Answer 3

there are a few ant species that makes the small argentine ant look like giants...  a new one that showed up in th Dallas area last year was the rove ant. Rather than the "motel", the plastic button, go with a gel bait. You can place it out of the way areas where the cats won't get to it. Since they went for cat food you might try Combat gel. It is protein based. If they don't go for it Terro is a good sugar based bait.  Treating the outside of the foundation would be a good idea.

Forget the corn meal...ants don't eat solid foods, they feed solids to the larvae that in turn turn the solids into a sugary liquid in which the ants now eat.

Answer 4

It sounds like the ant called Argentina ant.  They are very small.  Yes, the ant motels do really work. I used Grants and I have not had a problem in over a year.  If you have this problem, others around you may have it too.  Ask your neighbors or call your local pest control, they should know what they are if they aren't truly ants.  A line of chalk around the cat's dish will keep them away from the dish  They won't cross over the chalk.    Good luck!