Prolonged winter drives ants into Galway homes in search of food
Galway City Tribune - Householders around Galway are reporting an influx of ants!
Dr Michel Dugon, Lecturer in Zoology, Venom Systems and Proteomics Laboratory, at the Ryan Institute in NUIG, said he is totally unsurprised by anecdotal accounts that ants are traipsing into our homes.
The absence of green flies and black flies, the lack of sap produced by trees and virtually no slugs, bugs or other pests in the garden have forced them to become more adventurous than normal.
“This Spring, conditions are so bad that their habitat is completely drenched and they don’t have resources to eat so they must go further to feed, and they are especially looking for sugar, but a few breadcrumbs will do it . . . anything sticky,” he explains.
“When one scout finds a food source and brings it back to the next they leave behind a chemical trail, so the rest follow the path.”
Cathal Dockery of Westpest in Shantalla said this period between Winter and the Spring is when ants are born and traditionally inside buildings until food becomes more abundant.
“Unfortunately, ants have nests under floor boards of a house and they come out in search of food.
“In a few weeks’ time they will have plenty of food outside, but until then you should keep all food tightly sealed. If there’s no food out, there’s no reason for them to be coming in.” To read the rest of this article, see this week's Galway City Tribune. Buy a digital edition of this week's paper here, or download the app for Android or iPhone.