Leaf Cutter Ant Control

Most Effective Products

Dominion 2L Insecticide
Suspended Concentrate
As low as $37.24
Keith's Pro Tips

"Finding the Leaf Cutter Ant mound and shooting a pin stream shot of Dominion 2L in the hole of each mound has proven to be a great method of control. The problem is finding all the mounds as some can be hidden and tucked away around a property. A thorough inspection to locate all the mounds is crucial."

Leaf Cutter Ant Control: How To Get Rid of Leaf Cutter Ants

This page is a Leaf Cutter Ant control guide. Follow this guide and use the recommended products and we guarantee your yard will be free of damage from Leaf Cutter Ants.

The Leaf Cutter Ant (a.k.a. Parasol Ant or Town Ant) is an ant species known for cutting and carrying leaves back to their nest to cultivate fungus. This ant type is typically a problem in rural or agricultural areas, but has steadily become a more common threat in residential settings, especially in the state of Texas.

Leaf Cutter Ants and their colonies can be found in a variety of habitats such as in yards, meadows, next to roads, in fields, in woody areas, and where the soil is deep enough to create colonies. A single colony of Leaf Cutter Ants can have up to 2 million ants living in it.

Leaf Cutter Ants actually create their own food source by using leaf clippings that they take back to their nest. They feed off a fungus garden that is grown by the chewed leaves they collect. This is why you'll always see them carrying bits of leaves on their foraging trails. If your field, garden, or property offers them with plenty of vegetation, they will set up camp and begin to collect leaves.

Leaf Cutter ants are mainly a problem for agricultural fields and gardens. If their population is left unchecked, small and young trees can be quickly defoliated and die. Even medium-sized trees can be defoliated in a single night by large Leaf Cutter Ant colonies. This is why it's important to address a Leaf Cutter Ant infestation immediately with professional pesticides.

If you are encountering Leaf Cutter Ants, follow our DIY Treatment guide below which will give you the expert advice and product recommendations you need to totally get rid of Leaf Cutter Ants.

Identification 

Before you can treat you need to make sure you're dealing with Leaf Cutter Ants. Fortunately, Leaf Cutter Ants are easy to identify because you will regularly see them carrying bits of vegetation. Below we'll go over the characteristics that set them apart from other ant species.

Leaf Cutter Ant Carrying Leaf

  • Adult Leaf Cutter Ants can be anywhere from 1/16 to 1/2 an inch in size. Adult leafcutter ant queens size will vary between 3/4 to 2 inches in length.
  • They are usually reddish brown or dark brown in color.
  • They can easily be identified by the spines on their bodies.
  • They are commonly seen carrying bits of vegetation on their foraging trails.
  • Their dirt mounds are about 5 to 14 inches high and 1 foot (or larger) in diameter. Leaf Cutter Ant colonies are notoriously large. Most colonies can range in the millions of ants.

Inspection

Once you have confirmed that you are dealing with Leaf Cutter Ants, you can move on with the inspection. Carefully inspect your property for Leaf Cutter Ant damage or dirt mounds they have created. This will help you in figuring out exactly where you need to focus your insecticide treatment.

Leaf Cutter Ants on Log with Leaves

Where To Inspect

Leaf Cutter Ants are usually active and a problem in rural or agricultural areas, but have increasingly been pushing into residential areas. To look for activity, begin your inspection outdoors as Leaf Cutter Ants rarely invade indoor spaces.

Inspect your lawn, turf, or land, searching close to vegetation, ornamental plants, and trees. Check where the soil is sandy and good for burrowing.

What To Look For

You're looking for Leaf Cutter Ant dirt mounds and activity. These mounds can be anywhere from 5 to 14 inches in size and have a diameter of one 1 foot or longer.

During the summer, Leaf Cutter Ants will only forage at night. The rest of the year, they forage during the day and you will be able to see their foraging trails, which will lead you to the nest, or where their dirt mounds are located. 

Treatment

Prior to treatment, remember to read all product labels and follow the application instructions on these labels and stay safe by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Our main recommendation for addressing Leaf Cutter Ant Infestations is an outdoor treatment of Dominion 2L. This is a powerful non-repellent, systemic insecticide that is great for treating ants because they are unable to detect it. This will help prevent scattering the colony.

Locating and drenching the mounds with Dominion 2L will effectively put an end to the population and their damage.

Step 1 - Measure and Mix Dominion 2L

Mixing Product

Dominion 2L is a systemic insecticide which contains Imidacloprid and works by interfering with the insect's nervous system. Because Dominion 2L is a non-repellent, systemic insecticide, ants will not be able to detect the insecticide as they pass through treated areas while also spreading the product to other ants, creating a systemic elimination of an entire colony.

To apply Dominion 2L, it will need to be mixed with water. We recommend you use a 1 to 1.5 gallon sprayer since you will be making localized treatments to the Leaf Cutter Mounds.

Measure the square footage (measure and calculate length x width) of the treatment area to help you determine how much Dominion 2L you need to mix. We suggest using a 0.05% (0.3 fl. oz.) to 0.1% (0.6 fl. oz.) dilution ratio in 1 gallon of water, which will usually treat 1,000 sq. ft. For a typical control situation, a 0.05% dilution is used. For more severe or persistent infestations, use the 0.1% dilution rate.

Fill your sprayer halfway with water and then measure the appropriate amount of Dominion 2L, then fill the sprayer the rest of the way with water. Agitate the sprayer to mix the product well and you're ready to apply.

Step 2 - Apply Dominion 2L to Leaf Cutter Mounds

Drenching Leaf Cutter Ant Mound

To treat Leaf Cutter Ant dirt mounds, you will need to do a drench treatment. This is a simple application, but you will want to make sure that you are diligent and do your best to not skip over any parts.

Check the weather ahead of time and make sure that you are treating on a calm, clear day.

First, spray around the diameter of the dirt mound to prevent ants from escaping. Then spray the mound directly until it is completely drenched. Also treat any Leaf Cutter Ant foraging trails you may have found by spraying along the trail's path with light pressure.

Be sure to treat each mound, entrance, and foraging trail you found during your inspection so that every ant that travels through the treated areas will pick up the product and transfer it to other ants within the colony.

After application, do not allow people or pets in or around the treated areas until it has fully dried. After several weeks, you should notice a significant decrease in ant activity.

Prevention

Once you have treated and killed the Leaf Cutter Ant infestation, you will want to make sure they don't make a return. Total prevention of Leaf Cutter Ants can be difficult but not impossible. Here are the preventative measures we suggest:

Drenching Leaf Cutter Ant Hill

  • For farms, plantations, crops, and fields that are susceptible to Leaf Cutter Ant damage, we recommend diversifying your crops with different species of trees which might reduce the damage that Leaf Cutter Ants might create in these large areas.
  • Applying Dominion 2L on a quarterly basis will protect your plants and trees and conducting drenching on the dirt mounds as soon as they appear may be necessary to achieve continuous production and control.
  • Clear up excess leaf litter and yard debris from the area to make the landscape less appealing for Leaf Cutter Ant harborage.

Key Takeaways

What are Leaf Cutter Ants?

  • Leaf Cutter Ants are plant damaging ants known to create large colonies in various landscapes.
  • They stand out by their signature carrying of large leaves as they travel back to their nests.

How To Get Rid of Leaf Cutter Ants

  • We recommend applying Dominion 2L to Leaf Cutter Ant mounds as a drench treatment to control the Leaf Cutter Ant and put a stop to their damage.
  • Dominion 2L is the recommended product because it is a non-repellent, systemic insecticide. This will help you get control of ants because they will not be able to detect the insecticide while also spreading it to their nest mates.

Preventing Leaf Cutter Ant Infestations

  • Preventative applications of Dominion 2L can reduce the likelihood of Leaf Cutter Ant re-infestation along with environmental modifications such as reducing leaf litter and yard debris.
  • Check around your property every 60 to 90 days to ensure no new ant mounds have appeared. If ant mounds are seen after that time, re-apply Dominion 2L for continued control.
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