Costa Rica Cleaner Ants
Oh, hell no!!
We are being invaded again. Our first invasion happened during dry season. As we were sitting on the porch one evening, we looked out over the rocks of the driveway. The ground appeared to be moving. It was kind of waving up and down.
It took a couple of seconds to realize that it wasn’t the ground that was moving but actually millions of ants!
Like a scene out of a horror sci-fi movie, it happened out of nowhere swarming every inch of the property from the ground up. I’m not kidding you! It took less than a minute and both the inside and outside walls were covered.
Grabbing the jeep's keys, our painful screams echoed through the jungle as we quickly realized we were no match to this amazing insect. These little buggers' pack a punch when they bite and as if that was not enough, they also send out a scent when they are in danger. This scent tells the rest of their troops to attack.
Trying our best to avoid stepping on them, it became increasingly difficult because with every step we took the more they swarmed. Not even the swimming pool was safe as they made life rafts out of their bodies by linking their arms and legs together. By the time we reached the jeep, the crystal blue water was divided by a black wavey bridge that allowed quicker access for the troops to cross and enter our home.
We are being invaded again
Black army ants are also known as "cleaner ants" here because they will clean your house. If you have spiders or any other insects, they will go through the nooks and crannies, and haul them off. The best part is, once they are done, they just leave!
We have had times where it can take anywhere between half an hour to several hours for them to complete their sweep and evacuate the area. They usually leave before nightfall, however, there was one occasion at the end of the dry season that the patrol stayed about an hour and a half past sundown.
Costa Rica Red Army Ants:
Actual footage of trying to get work done for the weekend in.
The Solution
Turn on the AC, they seem to not like the cold. It may not always stop them; however, it can help to keep them mostly on the outside.
Everyday cooking oil works great around door jams & windows. Ants don't like to cross the oil so just put a little on a cotton ball or Q-tip and run a line across the area. With that said, when the black ants come in swarms, there is no stopping them so it's best to pack up for a couple of hours.
This experience happened quite a few times during the year and a half when we lived in Marbella but not once during the three years in Tamarindo/Langosta. In those areas the battle was more of the red army and little piss ants.
We try our hardest not to kill anything, however, if you must, Borax works great. You can get it at your local Farmacia. Then mix 75% sugar to 25% Borax together in a little dish. The top of a coke bottle works nice. Place in the area where the ants are. They will carry it back to their nests where it will kill the whole colony.
Note: there will be an increase of ants in the first 24 hours while they take the poison back to the nest.