Although we understand that insects are part of the ecosystem that supports our existence on earth, their importance is sometimes hard to see. Most of us may not appreciate them. We may see them as pests but insects play various importance in our lives. But while others are obviously helpful like the bees and butterflies who help in the pollination of plants and flowers. They are the most common insects we see and appreciate. How about ants, do you ever wonder why do we have ants in our bathroom? What tasks are they trying to accomplish there, of all places?
To see ants in our kitchen is pretty normal, especially if we don’t clean spotlessly, leaving any crumbs or scraps of food behind. In the garden, you can also find ants. It is where they build their homes on soils or barks of trees. But to see ants in our bathroom is quite puzzling. Why would they roam around our bathroom? Certainly, it is the last place in our home where we will bring food to that they can feast on.
So before we go to the topic of ants, let’s discuss here briefly some importance of insects in general. And hopefully, we can see where the ants belong on the importance of one of the tiniest units in the animal kingdom — the insects.
Before hating ants in your bathroom, here’s a list on the importance of insects:
As mentioned, not everyone may appreciate the existence of insects as most of us considered them pests. However, not everyone knows that insects play an important role on our planet. Before we hate ants, let’s see how we may see their importance based on this list.
Here are some of the important among the numerous reasons there may be :
1. Ants in your bathroom have ecological importance.
The majority of insects are found in areas where the climate is warm or moist tropical areas. They are adaptable to a large range of habitats where they look for food in order to live and eat about anything which provides them nutrition.
Being crucial components of the ecosystem, Insects perform many important functions.
- They enrich the soil with their droppings and decomposition process
- Insects help in the pollination of flowers.
- They control other insects and plant pests.
- Some insects (like ants) are like ecosystem engineers who dig soil which becomes a channel where water flows. Thus, helpful with plants.
2. Economic
Insects produce substances that are helpful to humans and therefore, become a source of economic supply. Here are some of the insects that play economic importance to our planet. Although considered as an “ecosystem engineer”, ants dig holes on the ground that helps with the irrigation for the plants. But sadly they are mainly considered pests.
- Bees. — they produce honey and wax
- Silkworm. — worms can produce silk fabrics.
- Crickets and larvae. — as fishing bait, crickets and larvae become important.
3. Insects like ants can be food and is important in the food cycle.
Insects are not only food for animals like amphibians, reptiles, or birds but also for humans. They play an important role in the food chain. Insects are used as food by humans in most third-world countries. They are a rich source of vitamins, protein, and minerals that’s why many people see them as exotic food. They are something that’s healthy (and others are pricey actually).
Cicadas, locusts, mantises, grubs, caterpillars, crickets, and wasps are some of the most popular ones. Some people love to roast insects. Grasshoppers and beetles are among the most popular insects that are best eaten when roasted. As an exotic delicacy in Bangkok, are harvested and served as food.
4. Medicine
One common use of insects is to serve as medicine. The use of maggots (fly larvae) is to treat wounds and to prevent infection. Gangrene will result in infected dead flesh. Since maggots eat dead flesh, it helps prevent infection. This type of treatment wherein maggots are put on dead flesh is still used by some hospitals until this day.
There, hopefully we have shed a little light on how insects can be helpful to humans who are just pests to most of us. We tried to also see how ants can fit into this “importance list” with the hope that you will hate them less now. Before we further talk about ants and the reasons why they are in your bathroom let us get to know these kinds of ants.
Firstly, for your information, these ants that you found in your bathroom are either carpenter ants, pharaoh ants, or Argentine.
Carpenter ants in your bathroom
They have the ability to damage wooden structures. Carpenter ants can also be a nuisance in homes as they search for food. They eat both plants and animals. Naturally, they eat insects, sweet body fluids from other insects, and dead butterflies, flies, cockroaches, and other small invertebrates.
Pharaoh Ants
Pharaoh ants have a yellow to light brown color. They are particularly the most resilient ants. Having multiple queens and over 300,000 workers, when disturbed it will often disperse. But they will only scatter in your homes to establish multiple colonies again.
Argentine ants
Argentine ants’ color varies from brown to black and has a shiny back. They are nuisance and get into your food supply and even to your pets. Sweet or greasy foods attract them. As well as other food like meat, eggs, and other insects.
Like the Pharaoh, Argentine ant colonies have multiple queens that can lay up to 60 eggs every day. After laying the eggs, the queens leave the nest and will soon be out to build new colonies.
Secondly, upon identifying these types of ants that are commonly found in our bathroom, let us understand what’s the reasons why they are there. What attract ants to invade our bathroom? Clue : 3 things — water, food, and shelter.
Top Reasons Why You Have Ants In Your Bathroom.
1. Water Quest
Ants are diligent creatures who know where the source of water is. Your bathroom is one of the largest sources of water in the house that’s why they are there. They are aware that the bathroom was constantly damp.
How to drive ants away:
- Keep your bathroom dry after you use it. Make sure there are no water puddles.
- If you have wooden objects, ladders, or any aids in the bathroom, remove them. It will certainly attract carpenter ants.
- The humidity in the bathroom starts to affect the wooden objects. It emits an odor that attracts ants especially when they start to rot.
- Close any entry that is open for ants to pass and stay in your bathroom.
- In a spray bottle, mix a few drops of peppermint oil in water and spray it in your bathroom. Not only that it gives your bathroom a refreshing scent, but it also drives the ants away.
- They love the moisture in your bathroom so make sure to wipe away water on the sink, tub, and shower between uses. It keeps the moisture away and ants as well.
2. Dead skin cells and hair follicles.
When you take a bath, you don’t realize how many dead skin cells and hair follicles you shed. These shedding off as we get cleaned provides food to ants.
How to drive ants away from your bathroom:
- Rinse away your floors and shower walls after your bath to make sure there will be fewer traces of your shampoo or soaps. Remember, ants love sweets. The sweet smell of your soap or shampoo will surely drive them wild. So try to wash traces as much as you can. And as mentioned on #1, keep the bathroom dry.
- Clear your bathroom floors from falling hair. Don’t just rinse the floor with water, but also bring to the trash any falling hair left in the drain.
- If you still see suds of soaps on the floor after rinsing your body, it means your dead skin cells are on the floor now. Inviting the little pests to come and have a feast. Again, clean and rinse, then dry your bathroom as much as you can.
3. Ants love the humidity of the bathroom
Don’t be surprised to see ants during winter most especially. It is when their activities decrease as they find look for shelter with favorable temperatures. They find great shelter in your bathroom where humidity is just right for them to survive the winter. Not to mention, there is food and water for them in the bathroom, remember?
How to drive ants away during winter.
- If you don’t want to provide board and lodging for ants during winter (pun intended), the best way is to follow #s 1 and 2. But do understand that they can be resilient especially, it’s their instinct to survive so be ready if they stick around.
- Prepare a homemade spray and use it in your bathroom to disgust them and be forced to leave.
- They particularly don’t like the smell of tea tree oil, peppermint, cayenne, and vinegar.
- Mix 15-20 drops of tea tree oil or peppermint oil to a little spray bottle filled with water.
- For severe ant infestation, add a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper spice to it and the ants and their trails with this solution.
4. Smell of your bathroom
Apart from the reasons that ants are after water, food, and shelter from your bathroom, ants are simply attracted to the smell of your bathroom. You can blame it on your sweet-smelling shampoo or soaps. But you can actually control them from getting in to your bathroom.
Aside from the solution given on #3, you prepare a vinegar solution. This may not be a popular option especially if there is tea tree oil or peppermint to use. But did you know that ants have an innate ability to smell any chemical at a great distance even at very low concentrations? Truth to be told, your shampoo or soap may have that chemical that tricks them to think it’s sweet food in there. And vinegar, has a component that eliminate strong odors. Without the odor that attracts them, they won’t pay a visit to your bathroom.
Get rid of ants with the use of vinegar.
- Mix 50% vinegar with water. Shake. And spray to eliminate smell.
- Spray the solution on their trail or any entry passage for them to cross to your bathroom.
Conclusion:
To have ants in your bathroom can be pretty disgusting. We do understand that all living things by instinct want to survive. They are driven by the need for shelter, food, and water. Your bathroom may have it all for them.
In addition to the solution to your problems with ants, here are a few more tips you may want to try for your home in general.
- Aside from keeping moisture in your bathroom in control, get your leaking faucets, roof leaks, and water drainage checked.
- Replace all termite-damaged or water-damaged wood. Carpenter ants will surely detect them from afar if you keep them in the house.
- Proper clearance between soil and wood must be ensured.
- Provide good ventilation because it will help to avoid humidity and moisture in the house.
- Remove wood debris, logs, and stumps of trees surrounding your home. But if you must store in your homes firewood keep them away from the house and off the ground.
- Trim away trees, plants, or shrubs that are touching your house.
- Ensure that all holes through pipes and wiring, as well as outside crack and crevices, are properly sealed.
- Seal your window and door frames that may serve as their passage to your home.
