I use the drops of liquid Terro, then clean up the bodies w paper towel. Still a bunch, but this works most of the time.

One part boric acid to five parts sugar, mix with water and soak cotton balls. It works wonders.

Wow, that is quite the invasion! I second yaya's advice but be sure to put the soaked cotton balls on paper towels or plates because they'll glue themselves to your floor when they dry. (Ask me how I know this!) I wonder if you can call your city's extension service, if you have one. I would be so freaked out to see this, so kudos to you for handling it!

Sprinkle borax around where they are walking. Some diatomaceous earth is good to sprinkle around it gets on the legs then cuts up their bodies.

Thank you all so much - it is freaking me out. Usually the bait always works and these guys are just marching right through it (since I posted this, put chalk lines down, diatomaceous earth line, refreshed all baits with cooking oil, sprayed peppermint essential oil on surfaces). They just keep coming.

Silly question but is it possible for me to hand wash my mound of dirty dishes in my laundry room sink? I've been papertoweling the dishes and stacking on a separate counter but lord knows it's only time before they are discovered. Ants are still swarming on the dirty dishes in the DW.

Word of warning Borax is toxic to pets.

I put a few ant bait traps around the outside of my house. That seems to help more than putting liquid torro around the inside. Last year I placed liquid torro everywhere. Especially in the heater vents. under the sink and around the inside of our garage and at every window downstairs. So far so good this year. I think placing the bait outside is working.

I have some Terro outdoor ant bait traps but I think out here in dry Southern California the traps seem to stop quickly. Plus I have to put them in dirt. These ants seem to be coming in from concrete patio areas and I cannot find the "master" nest. But I agree with you that the outdoor destruction works best. They are now ignoring all the baits and still expanding their search area.

I will try the sugar cotton balls now. Dogs are crated. But the ants prefer protein. Would you believe a few tiny scraps of cabbage and blue cheese dressing in sink caused this second invasion?

I keep Terro on hand too for ants inside. There will be times when the want nothing to do with it. We were having issues here at work and to where Terro wasn't working for use so we finally had the exterminator put out something...some type of clear gel looking stuff. Very small amount in a few places. Took care of the ants in no time at all.

Wow, wonder what was in his clear gel?!

I've managed to "slow" the advancement by good ol' fashioned painters tape on all seams where they are coming in, and using squares of duct tape to grab 'em on surfaces. Moved all baits outside house to where they seem to be entering. Still haven't figured out which bait to lure them. Seems they are smart enough to send some ants in for the bait and others go forward to look for more, like advanced warfare. Asked hubby to pickup some kind of outdoor caulking to seal the outer cracks.

Any other bait ideas please post! Again, these are not sugar ants but protein ants.

I'd call an exterminator. In fact, I did call one yesterday. We never have ant problems, but our entire weather pattern has changed. We had no real *winter' this year and lots of rain from January until end of May. I don't know if these ants are 'local', or if they arrived along with the mulch our landscaper put down a couple weeks ago.

I'm fighting at least three different kinds of ants -- four, if you count the cement ants under the patio outside the back door. None are the teeny, nearly transparent, water-seeking ants I have sometimes on Maui. (Terro eliminates those.) I have giant, inch-long brown ants, teeny red ants, and some one-eighth-inch brown ones. I see some marching up the drainpipe outside my front door and into the attic.

You'll probably have to remove your bird and animals to let the exterminator do his work.

This. Is. War.

God bless both of you! I am an Amazon prime member so that works great. Even reading on doityourself pest control looks like Advion uses a different toxin. We have many, many outdoor nests and any of them could be leading inside if I could just find the trail.

Chisue, I'm just glad I'm not alone in this War.

Debo_2006, how do you use this gel outdoors? Does it poison other things like rodents, rabbits etc? (I'm very cautious about poisoning the entire ecosystem) Do you just squeeze out into the nest holes? Worried about our dogs getting into it. Oh, let me read the questions and reviews on Amazon. Thank you so much.

Then swarms came up thru the kitchen sink overflow thingy within seconds of rinsing out a bowl. Now in sink, stovetop, DW, exploring floor.

No suggestions, but commiseration: I'd be totally freaked if ants came pouring out of the overflow. I never heard of grease ants. Hope to never see them.

Out exterminator had some sort of tube like that too. Must be the same thing. It worked though!!

I have had a few minor ant infestations, but nothing like this.

Terro worked for me, and it worked MUCH better when I put the Terro OUTSIDE the door they were coming under. I finally had a Homer Simpson DOH! moment when I saw that more and more ants were coming inside to get the goodies. Uh, the point is NOT to have them come in, right? So I put it outside the door.

You need to find their nest.

When we lived in So. Cal. We would spray the outside trails with Raid, then the same inside. Always worked, BUT I don't know that we had grease ants. Are they a different breed?

Terro is designed to destroy the colony, not kill the ants in the kitchen. It always works for me. I put it by man door entrance at garage, mechanical room, and closets. I never see ants in the living spaces.

I learned a trick when I lived in California--suck them up with the vacuum attachment. If there's dust in the bag, they must suffocate because I never saw any escape. For just a few ants, pick them up with a piece of masking tape.

I sure would like you to properly identify the ants. "Grease ant" can apply to several different species.....knowing who you're dealing with is important when it comes to ants, just as any other insect.

I tell you, if I had ANTS kick me out of my own kitchen, I would not hesitate to call a professional. What is keeping you from running the DW and running water in your sink?

I agree w/Chisue. It's time to call an exterminator.

Let the pros take care of it! For all you know, you may be applying too many and the wrong chemicals. Better safe than sorry.

If you are in southern California, your ants are very likely Argentine ants. These types of ants form megacolonies and there are many smaller nests in the overall, larger, colony. There can be hundreds of queens in a megacolony. If you kill one if the smaller nests, another queen will just move into the area. Terro will not work. There are only two things that I have ever done that have been effective against these ants. The first was to call an exterminator. They tend to spray AND place bait. The second thing that I have found effective (if you want to do it yourself) is to use a non-repellant spray, such as Taurus SC (fipronil). Argentine ants can be difficult to control and there is no finding the nest and getting rid of them. You can only control them by taking measures to keep them out of your yard and home.

Thank you all so much! I live in San Diego, otherwise known as "Ant Hill". :)

Rhizo_1, I only know that these ants are going after protein not sugar. You are correct that a better ID would help. Have many types of ants in our huge yard. This is the first time that my standby goto staple Terro (borax) has not affected them in the least and they are not drawn to it.

The sink was so full of ants and the DW still is, so didn't want to run it until the colony was tainted and started to "fall back". Somehow these guys came thru the DW and up the overflow from the outside of the house.

Littlebug, it definitely helped to put all baits outside the house once we were able to see them manifest their location. Terro has Borax and I also used Boric Acid in the Peanut butter mix. They are similar but not exactly the same.

As for exterminators, I am very hesitant to use them because our parrots are very susceptible to toxins. Trying less invasive things first. So far the duct tape (similar to masking tape Mayflowers!) and painting tape are helping to stave off the invasion until we can correctly identify their nest outside. Hopefully this discussion will help others who are in a panic over sudden invasions.

Now if anyone knows how to "seal off" a dishwasher I am all ears!

Veggiegardnr, just started reading about Taurus SC today. Will read up on Argentine. Have no idea. These ants are very small and reddish.

I have a parrot too, plus indoor cats. You are right to be careful. I've never let an exterminator put anything inside the house, either. They really don't need to come inside. If you get one, just have him spray outside and use your vacuum to suck up the ones inside (or spray them with Windex, which will kill them, then wipe them up). I'd run the dishwasher and kill the ones inside.

The dishwasher drain contains food residue. Clean the filter and run it empty with detergent. For the outside, bring in a few garter snakes.

Pest control professionals can usually take care of a pest problem in a safer and more efficient manner than uneducated homeowners. The products and methods that home pest control operators use today are sophisticated in their mode of action and much less dangerous for people and their pets.

I'm in Southern California, and our house and property has ants on three sides.

I know of two kinds: the small black ones which are probably the argentine ants and a slightly larger ant called the velvety tree ant. This one bites if it gets on you ( sometimes later after you've gone in the house, it just crawls around on you looking for a good spot), and if you pinch it, it has a bad smell – that's how you know it's the velvety tree ant. It will also bite the dog as he lies in the grass. If they feel threatened by you, they can crawl on you so fast it's unbelievable! I've had no luck with commercial baits or homemade baits. They like wet cat food, but mixed with boric acid not so much. The best I can do is spray where I see them, but I know their nests are fine anyway. So far they have not come in the house. I dislike using pesticides, one year we had a company come spray, but they come back. I see them crossing the sidewalk when I walk the dog.

Brushworks, thank you for that tip! Had no idea about the dishwasher filter so that must surely be what is drawing them. Will work on that today.

What a difference 24 hours makes. Crisis averted by moving all bait outside except one in DW, taping up entry points, duct taping up all inside crawlers. (Interesting note: by adding a few drops of cooking oil to the Terro bait and squishing around, got a lot more activity. Now most ants inside DW have retracted). I may not need any more chemical treatment but will keep all suggestions in mind. We are going to caulk around the outside entrance points.

Socks, so interesting about the velvety tree ant! Sometimes while gardening I disturb a nest that stings the dickens out of me.

Veggiegardnr thanks for understanding our pet concerns. Heck I'm even worried about the lizards and desert cottontails!

Thanks to everyone for all info and tips.

This reminds me of an evening when our neighbor on Maui passed me in the hall, going upstairs with groceries. A minute later she started screaming. She'd left her breakfast dishes in the DW without running a rinse cycle. ROACHES!

I knew her DW had a disposal feature, so we decided to just run it! Two cycles later, no roaches, but...ick! We've never had this problem, although bugs are more likely to seek shelter if it's been raining and the ground is saturated.

I feel for you, grease ants have been the bane of my existence for the past few years. I've modified certain aspects of lifestyle to cope with them- i.e. never shortening in the pantry only in the fridge, everything is sealed in containers or ziploc bags. My pantry must look funny with ziploc bags of crackers, cake mixes, ramen, etc. Oh, and soy candles, they found soy candles in the hall cabinet and burrowed through those- so those are also sealed these days...

At this point they are mostly in check and we end up with an infestation about once a year. A week ago Monday was our annual infestation :^S

The way I've come to handle these guys is to use Hot Shot Kitchen Bug Killer. It comes in a blue can and I have only found it at Lowe's to date. Whenever I see a trail of those little buggers somewhere in the house, I spray them wherever they seem to be emerging (not the whole group, just the place where they seem to be coming in), then clean up the bodies and get on with my life. They are gone immediately and won't come back through that area for many months. Often within a day or two they will pop out a few feet away and then I spray the apparent entry point, clean up the thousands of bodies and wait for the next round.

Early in my battles, I would spray the perimeter of the family room and kitchen, but now the only place I spray on a regular basis is along the baseboard behind the cat food. I do that about every 6 months. I think if I cleaned the pantry and sprayed that every 10-12 months, they would probably not end up in there.

Good luck.

Quasifish, your situation sounds horrific!! I cannot believe the soy candles either.

Oddly our dishwasher does not have a cleaning filter (it is a 5 year old KA model). The ants came pouring out of the "drain air gap" on the top counter near the faucet, and somehow seem to be using a similar system to enter inside the DW.

Running a vinegar rinse thru the DW but saw 2 ants still entering. They are still outside using the bait. They disappear under the house/concrete crevice. Our only idea is to caulk this seam on the exterior and pray they do not enter back in. No idea how they are inside the drainage system.

I tried many different ways to get rid of my little small black ants. Terro didn't even work.

The following product worked like magic. The ants were all gone in a day or so. I bought it at a grocery store called Giant.

Fiveholetarget, this product gets decent reviews on Amazon. It appears to have a different rigid "gel" than Terro (yes that liquid is messy). Think I'll try some for under the DW. Thanks for the tip!

Zip lock bags offer little to no protection from ants, pantry beetles, etc. They can chew right through the plastic!

At least you won't have to sell the house and move. Problem partially solved. What about future 'invasion' situations?

I've always found Terro to be tremendously effective on grease ants but not the best for other types. Also helps a lot to put a drop of grease in the Terro. Little tip I read somewhere that the grease would attract them to the poison, which would make sense. Has worked well for me. For the black ants, I used the little round cans that you poke holes in the side. Seemed to work fairly well. Since I got rid of roommates, I seem to have also eliminated the ants too. Coincidence?

5birdy, it is not so bad now that we are able to control them effectively. A few years ago it felt like we might be heading for that TV show "Infested."

I forgot to mention in my first post that we had great luck with Terro on the first round and then it was as if they knew better and they wouldn't touch it. We also tried boric acid powder along inside perimeters of cabinets, and also along the outside of the house, but it seemed to be minimally effective.

Wherever we caulked or grouted cracks to keep them out, they chewed back through in time. If you were to look closely along our baseboard, you can see little round holes in the caulking where they have dug new passages through over the years. They can be persistent little buggers.

It also seems like our ant infestations follow some type of disruption- outside watering gets turned on or off, it rains, or most recently, they headed in within a day or two of DH spraying the perimeter of the house with that pest control stuff that is suppose to last a year (we spray for cockroaches, but thankfully haven't had too many of those). Maybe it drives them in a different direction, which happens to be inside...

rhizo_1, that is true that they can chew through the ziploc bags (and the plastic bags that Hershey Kisses comes in too :^( ), but they are a lot slower to get through the ziploc bags than they are to squeeze through the cardboard flaps on a pasta box, or through the screw lid on a jar of peanuts, or right under the snap-on lid of a can of shortening, so the ziploc bags do work sort of effectively as a deterrent from the standpoint that it slows them down long enough that I usually catch them before much damage is done.

Quasifish, I can totally relate to "infested!" While gardening yesterday, there are so many ant hills it is crazy insane to think you can eliminate them. So your tips to try and keep food less attractive is very smart. And yes, I had a roach run across the garage yesterday and hid before I could smack him (why isn't he eating leftover Terro hidden out there?) They sneak in at night from outside crazy weird, sometimes getting fried in electronic mouse trap. Not to mention the rodent nest my hubby found deeply hidden in my car's spare tire area, or the rattlesnake that almost bit me. It was a bad pest week. I'll keep an eye on the caulked areas for sure.

How do you find their nest? Would it be close to where they enter the house? They appear to exit through the window latch after sucking the Terro but I do not see any outside the house. Under the siding maybe?

Justretired, I've seen these amazingly creative industrious ants go great distances, sometimes up entire hills and across the street! If you are lucky, they will form a distinct line and you can just follow it carefully until you see a hole in the ground (usually fine dirt like sand is around like a mound). But my last attack did not have a distinct trail. I think their nest was under the house or maybe in the walls. They can get anywhere. Try to find where they go outside if possible. Leave some bait outside (can cover with a paper coffee cup and small hole and rock if pets around). After a few days once activity is much less try to seal the entrance to house.

Thanks, 5birdy. We do have a number of hills in the front of our house. These ants enter through the back near my kitchen window only when we have lots of rain. I guess it is possible they migrated that far?