Tiny ants on the counter: the Terro playbook

The tiny-ant playbook

This is the question we answer more than any other at the counter. The short version: those little ants on your counter are almost always ghost ants, and Terro liquid bait is what fixes them. Spraying is what keeps them coming back.

1. 1. Identify what you actually have

   Ghost ants (pale, almost translucent abdomen, very small) and white-footed ants are the two that trail across South Florida counters. Both are sweet-feeders with huge, multi-queen colonies — which is exactly why spraying makes them worse.

2. 2. Stop spraying the trail

   Contact spray kills the couple hundred workers you can see and signals the colony to bud into several new nests. If you already sprayed, wipe the area with plain soap and water and give it a day before baiting.

3. 3. Set liquid bait next to the trail

   Terro liquid ant bait is the product we hand across the counter most often for these. Place the stations right on the trail line — under the sink, behind the coffee maker, along the backsplash — and put out more than you think you need. Two or three per active room.

4. 4. Expect it to look worse first

   Within an hour there will be more ants than before, crowded around the bait. That's the point: they're carrying it back to feed the queens. Do not clean it up, do not spray it. Most kitchens go quiet in three to seven days.

5. 5. Treat the outside source

   They live outdoors and commute. Terro outdoor liquid bait stakes in the bed, plus a perimeter granule or spray band around the slab, keeps the next colony from finding the same door.

6. 6. Close the door behind them

   Caulk the gap where the counter meets the wall, seal around pipe penetrations, fix the drip under the sink, and pull mulch and potted plants back off the foundation. Water is what brings them in.