How about using "And Rid" powder (this contains Boron) or even a bucketful of
extra strength Pyrethrum (mix your own double/triple strength from bulk
concentrate)?
>The diotomaceous earth that Robert is thinking of is salt water
>(thanks for the spelling) diotomaceous earth. It is used for filtering
>systems (like the pool) but it is useless against insects. Be sure
>that if you do use this stuff, to be sure and get the _fresh_ water
>form... probably found in lawn and garden shops with an organic spin.
I think it may be actually they may be "diatoms" - but what difference does
one vowel make? These things are great for doing SEM micrographs on, but like
Perlite and Silica sand you want to be a bit careful with the dust (I think
it's also hazardous to your lungs - look what it was claimed to do to the ant's
armour-plating...).
>And for those of you who have never heard of Army ants (those
>unfortunates from England, perhaps) they are _large_ black ants
>that range from 7mm to 1 cm and have been known to carry away small
>dogs and babies. Although they do not bite, they can wreak havoc
>with a wood frame house. The best defense against them is a
> .22 bullet to the head, but Diazinon will work in the absence of
>fire arms.
Luckily we don't have Army ants here (although I think there may have been an
occasional outbreak of imported Fire ants :-( ). Probably one of the nastiest
ants here are the Bulldog ants (we used to call them bullants for short).
These things are about an inch long, maybe more, and like their name suggests
they latch on to you with their large mandibles and sting you. What's more,
they are pretty aggresive if you disturb their nest (what ants aren't?) and
often don't start stinging until they're in an inaccessible part of your
clothing... The smaller Jumping-Jacks aren't much better either.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| John Taylor [The Banshee] | Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology |
| rphjt@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au | Department of Applied Physics |
| MOKING IS A HEALTH HAZARD. | Melbourne, Victoria, AUSTRALIA |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+