How to Get Rid of Funnel Ants In Lawn?

Great question Daniel. Funnel ants in lawn or grass can become quite a nuisance, especially as they’re destructive in nature – as well causing an unsightly mess in your yard. Here’s our advice.

If your lawn is suddenly littered with hundreds or thousands of small cone-shaped dirt mounds, it’s a likely sign that your grass might be infested with funnel ants. It usually happens after rain because the insects dig up the soil to allow their nests to dry out.

Although funnel ants are widespread across Australia, they are more prominent in Queensland due to the tropical climate and frequent rainfall. They can become a terrible annoyance for homeowners as they ruin yards, so they’re definitely a pest you’ll want to get rid of as soon as possible.

IDENTIFYING FUNNEL ANTS AND THEIR DAMAGE

Funnel ants are light brown or tan in colour and are about a centimetre long. The only way you can really distinguish them from other species is their signature habit of creating ant mounds in lawn areas.

They cause a couple of issues when they do this.

Firstly, the soil that they excavate pushes up and covers small areas of grass, depriving them of sunlight, which, of course, kills off the grass. Once the soil has settled, you’re left with unsightly patches of dead grass everywhere. Weeds can also start to grow through the compromised areas, and soon you’ve got a yard that’s uneven, muddy and looks a mess. The uneven surface and ant mounds in lawns can also make yard keeping more difficult, not to mention the possible damage caused to mower blades and other equipment.

WHY DIY TREATMENTS WON’T WORK FOR FUNNEL ANTS

We often see customers who’ve tried to solve their funnel ant issue with DIY products they’ve bought off the shelf at a local hardware or convenience store. The pesticides used in these products are usually either Permethrin or Bifenthrin.

These chemicals kill the ants on contact, which is utterly pointless, as it’s impossible to kill ants deep beneath the surface. This, of course, means you’re spot treating a handful of ants only, and after a couple of days, it rains, the mounds reappear, the ants return, and you’re back where you started. You’re just wasting your money and your time.

The bottom line is that you’ll never get on top of a funnel ant infestation using DIY products. Professional ant pest control services are essential for a more effective and lasting outcome.

PROFESSIONAL FUNNEL ANTS TREATMENT: INVESTING IN A LONG-TERM SOLUTION

At Pest-Ex, we use a product called Termidor to eradicate funnel ants. Termidor is a long-term solution that binds to soil and usually lasts 1 to 3 years once applied correctly.

The funnel ants treatment basically works like this:

Before arriving, we’ll ask you to mow the lawn to prepare it for treatment. Shortly after, we’ll spray the ant holes in the yard and then blanket spray the rest of the lawn with Termidor. The spray isn’t designed to kill the insects immediately. Instead, the product works like a virus, infecting the ants that come into contact with it and killing off other ants as they pass it on.

This is achieved as the affected ants retreat back into the nests, where they die and are consumed by other ants. Of course, this begins a chain reaction, which makes it possible to kill off large colonies of ants deep beneath the surface.

Homeowners fail to understand the vast quantities of product we apply to achieve this outcome. When applying the treatment, we use a professional Honda-powered pump, ensuring thorough area coverage. An average lawn is about 800 square metres; out of that, we’ll typically apply between 50 and 70 litres of Termidor. In comparison, homeowners who try the DIY route typically use one litre of store-bought product and a tiny backpack squirter.

With this approach, you won’t get an adequate distribution of pesticide, which will not fix the problem of multiple ant hills in the yard.

LONG-LASTING PROTECTION: KEEPING YOU COVERED

A Termidor treatment binds to the soil, providing long-term protection against further funnel ant invasions for up to two years. We’ve seen customers achieve and maintain ant-free lawns while their neighbours on either side have funnel-infested grass. If you have a Termidor treatment, ants from other properties will die when they attempt to build a nest in your lawn.

Another great thing about Termidor is that it doesn’t kill the grass and is completely safe for your family and pets. Fipronil is the same ingredient in animal flea and tick tablets. However, as a precaution, we recommend avoiding coming into contact with the treated grass for a couple of hours after we’ve sprayed so it can dry.

TIMING YOUR FUNNEL ANTS TREATMENT

The best time to book a funnel ant treatment is during the cooler months. We don’t recommend applying it during the height of summer as the product will evaporate too quickly and won’t have time to bind to the soil. The best time to perform the treatment is during mid- to late afternoon while the affected area is shaded.

COMMON TYPES OF ANT PROBLEMS IN AUSTRALIAN LAWNS

Little Ant Hills All Over Lawn

If you’ve noticed little ant hills all over lawn areas, you’re likely dealing with funnel ants. These small, conical mounds appear especially after rainfall when the ants are trying to ventilate their nests. While they might initially seem harmless, these small ant hills all over the yard can quickly multiply and cause significant lawn damage.

Small Ant Mounds in Yard

Small ant mounds in yard spaces are telltale signs of funnel ant activity. These mounds typically measure 2-5cm in height and have a distinctive funnel-shaped entrance. After heavy rain, you might notice an explosion of tiny ant hills all over your yard as the colonies work to repair and dry out their nests.

GOT AN ANT PROBLEM? GIVE US A CALL

If funnel ants have killed off patches of grass, leaving it lumpy and uneven, you want a professional-grade treatment that offers you a long-term solution. We can help by restoring the condition of your lawn and leaving you confident in knowing that you’ve protected it from further funnel ant activity for up to two years. Call us if you have a problem with funnel ants in your lawn or yard. We’ll inspect your property, give the best advice, and remove them permanently!

Our focus areas include Brisbane, Gold Coast, Tweed Heads & Logan.