Ants tunneling in our Styrofoam Insulation!!!

[gobblertales]

We found very fine dust on our top bunk and at first could not figure out what it was. Investigation finally showed it was ants!NOT carpenter ants but a small black ant like sugar ants. They were tunneling in the insulation in the ceiling and the fine dust was coming down on the bunk. We began to see where they were crawling and got some bait so they will take it back to the queen (and well thinking of thousands of dead ants laying dead in the insulation doesn't make me happy I guess it is better than live ones) lol Anyway, we checked again yesterday and we saw one ant, eating the bait (after a week). We laid some sugary pie out for a test spot and no ants came to taste the pie. We aren't sure how to tell beyond that if they are all dead or not. I just don't want the queen surviving but can't figure out how to tell if they are all dead. We will take additional precautions to keep them out (trailer is in north central Florida) but really concerned about the future of the trailer. We never had this type of problem before but not sure if we ever had an rv that had styrofoam as the insulation before either. That may be a deal breaker on any future rv we get. If anyone has ever deal with this and can give some advise we would appreciate it. Again these were not carpenter ants but rather small black ants kinda like sugar ants. Thanks for any advise!!

[2013leprechaun319dsf]

I read somewhere to spread Comet or Ajax powder around all of your tires to repel ants. Might give that a try.


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[Blaster 84]

I had that problem a couple years ago. They were in the ceiling in the living area. I took the directiomal air vents off and applied some ant spray. I don't remember the brand and that took care of it. Before I did that I observed they were entering the interior through some exterior fixture that wasn't sealed. I believe it was a light. I also resealed that.

[Poppy94]

So were they wood ants? Pharaoh ants ( piss ants) or, God forbid, fire ants? Comet does work as does boric acid

[gobblertales]

Not sure what kind of ants. They are all small black after looking at the internet is seems they "might" be acrobat ants as they are noted to nest in foam insulation ?? but they are small for sure.

[Rockwoodjoe]

We spray ant and roach killer on our stabilizers, tires, water hose and electrical connections when we set up.

[gobblertales]

Yep we will be doing that from now on BUT we have to get rid of the colony that is inside the insulation too. we were not diligent in stopping them from getting in and will do that from now on but we need to get them to stop chewing up our insulation and get the queen etc.

[Filthy Beast]

If you are stationary and can find one of the paths they use, we have had real good luck with Terro Liquid Bait Ant Traps. You put it near one of their paths that they use. They will find it and start taking it back to their nest area. This then kills off the nest.

[gobblertales]

Thanks Filthy Beast ... we are doing that right now !!

[harderd]

I would then suspect a water leak. Ants will not live stay if one of two things is missing, food and water. If you have ants, you have a food source and water.

[ronb707]

The ant trap bait will work but it takes time to get the whole colony. I believe they go thru the whole cycle of an ant to get them all. Took us aboutl 6-8 weeks. Just vacuumed about daily and occasionally emptied the overhead led light fixtures of ants. Ours were the larger black carpenter ants but as I said more immature and baby ants were the last ones seen before all were gone.

I had a fresh water tank leak (finally got it repaired under warranty) under the trailer that leaked down on the chloroplast sheeting that likely attracted the ants.

Be patient, the ant bait will get them!!

[mark0224]

set a fogger for ants off in your trailer and turn ac fan on low at the same time , this gets the fogger up in ceiling better. You may have to do this 2 or 3 times to get all the ones in the trailer. After Spray with a good Ant killer that they track back to the nest. once this has set for about a week clean everything inside ants should be all dead. I carry an ant powder in my trailer and if I see a lot of ant activity sprinkle it where our trailer will be parked so we don't get any little black visitors. I also spray everything a couple of times a year, undercarriage, tires any points of entrance. On our old trailer we had that problem and this worked, had ants bad found they came in on electrical cord.

[Sportracker]

We had the problem...we spray around tires etc. What I found was ants used a branch of a tree which was overhanging and touching the roof. I now carry a set of pruners to trim a potential highway back.

[Dkjones28]

This sounds crazy but an old timer told me to sprinkle comet cleanser around each tire when parked, and you will never have a bug problem.

[gobblertales]

Well we are spraying around the wheels and such. Not sure about the comet because we have a dachshund so not sure if she would get into the comet. But we are spraying (letting it dry before the pup gets around the trailer) but the bi concern was how to get them out of the RV (they were/are tunneling into the styrofoam in the ceiling). We should have done more to keep them out..true but it is getting them out that is our concern for now. But we sure thank you for telling us that info!! might have to try it if we can work around the dog. thank you so much!!

[DDC]

Icing sugar mixed with baking powder, they love the icing sugar and the baking powder expands when they consume it and they blow up.

[gobblertales]

Ah thank you !!! Very much appreciated !! Will they carry it back to the group in the ceiling or eat it where they are??