Rover Ant Control: How To Get Rid of Rover Ants

This page is a rover ant control guide. Using the products and methods suggested, you will get control of rover ants. Follow this guide and use the recommended products, and we guarantee 100% control over rover ants.

One of the most common ant problems that can occur in a home is an infestation by rover ants, also known as piss ants. Unlike other species of ants, rover ants can be challenging to control because of their adaptability and resistance to most pesticides.

They are not considered dangerous to a person's health or home since they do not sting, bite, or cause severe property damage. These ants usually remain outdoors to feed on honeydew created by aphids and scale insects. However, rover ants are capable of fast reproduction, causing them to become a problem, especially if they quickly decide to spread inside your home. 

If your home has become infested with rover ants, our DIY guide below can equip you with professional-grade products and knowledge to eliminate the infestation yourself. Read below to learn the best-recommended products for rover ant control and the best strategy to tackle these nuisances.

Identification

Before proceeding with a treatment program, you must ensure you're dealing with rover ants. Careless identification can lead to using the wrong products, which will be ineffective and cost you time and money. Below are some characteristics of what rover ants look like for easy identification.

• Rover ants are very tiny, between 1 and 3 mm in size, depending on their caste. The workers are 1 to 2 mm, the queens are 3 mm, and the males are 1 mm.
• They are typically reddish-brown in color with lightly colored mandibles and brownish-yellowish antennae. However, they can vary in other colors, such as black to dark brown and pale yellow. 
• Antennae are 9-segmented without a club, and they have one node on their waists, which is hidden under the gaster (abdomen). They also do not have any stingers. Instead, they have an opening surrounded by hairs at the end of the abdomen. 
• When viewed from the side, the rover ant thorax appears uneven, giving it a swollen and humped-like appearance, which covers the node. Another distinguishable trait is their large eyes.
• The workers are monomorphic, meaning they all have approximately the same size and body shape.
• From spring to summer, rover ant species such as the dark rover ants have winged alates (reproductive ants). Once they find a mate, they will shed their wings and start a new colony. The alates of rover ants are approximately the same size as their workers, not including wing length.
• Because of its small size and color, which is familiar with several different ant species, the rover ant has often been confused with many other ant types, such as little black ants. While both of these ants are small, they can be differentiated between their thorax and antennae. The little black ant will have a 12-segmented antennae, a 3-segmented club, and a more uniform body shape. 

Use the description and image above to determine whether the pest you encounter is a rover ant. If unsure, contact our experts; we will help you identify the correct one.

Inspection

Once you have confirmed that you are dealing with rover ants, you will need to perform an inspection to find out where they are nesting. During the inspection, you will focus on finding "hotspots" where rover ants are active and also try to locate their nest.

Where To Inspect 

Rover ants can create nests in a variety of indoor and outdoor habitats. 

Outdoors, they can live in woods, and other natural settings, as well as around buildings. Some common examples are mulch, leaf litter, trash piles, potted plants, around and up trees, underneath stones and other pavement, in soil, and in rotting wood. 

Indoors, rover ant infestations can be found in areas with high moisture, such as bathrooms, utility rooms, kitchens, electrical outlets, around indoor potted plants, underneath shingles, behind wall voids, and around plumbing. 

What To Look For

You're looking for rover ants and their foraging trails. Examine any rover ants that are traveling about closely and make note of the trails they are on. If you have the time, you can even follow the ants until they head back to their highly concentrated activity areas and possibly their nesting site.

If the trail isn’t obvious, use a harmless bait like peanut butter and wait for ants to come to it. You will then notice their ant trail. Once you have followed their ant trails and have identified their colonies, nests, or trails, you will apply treatment.

Treatment

Once you have confirmed rover ant activity, it is time to begin treatment. Remember to read all product labels, follow the application instructions on these labels, and stay safe by wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

Our top recommendation for rover ant control is to treat the outdoor area with Supreme IT Insecticide to create a barrier that will keep rover ants out of your home structure. Indoors, use a combination of Ant-Trax Ant Bait and Fipro Foaming Aerosol.

Step 1: Bait Indoors with Ant-Trax Ant Bait

If you have a rover ant infestation indoors, start with an application of Ant-Trax Ant Bait. 

Ant-Trax Ant Bait is a ready-to-use ant gel bait that uses an attractive sweet gel formulation with the active ingredient imidacloprid 0.01%. Ants, such as rover ants, cannot resist the formula and will return the bait to their nest to share with the colony, eventually exposing the whole population to the poison. 

Use 0.006 oz. of Ant-Trax Ant Bait per square yard or 0.066 oz. of product per 100 sq. ft. 

To use, press on the plunger. Apply at the labeled rate as a pea-sized rounded drop in areas where rover ants and their foraging trails have been observed.

Place the bait under baseboards, sinks, countertops, around water pipes, water heaters, dishwasher equipment, and other areas out of the reach of children and pets. Apply the product close to foraging ant trails and areas of activity. 

If you followed the ant trails during the inspection, which led you to cracks and crevices in the home, apply bait in these areas.

Do not treat food preparation surfaces. Keep the gel away from foods and food contact surfaces. 

Step 2: Treat Cracks and Crevices with Fipro Aerosol

Next, we recommend you apply FiPro Foaming Insecticide. 

Fipro Foaming Aerosol is a ready-to-use foaming insecticide and termiticide that contains the lethal active ingredient Fipronil. 

Thoroughly shake the can before application. To use, insert the injector straw into the nozzle tip. 

Apply it to cracks and crevices around plumbing and utility lines, wall voids, and other areas where this pest may enter, hide, or harbor. 

Hold the injector straw tip in place for 8 seconds after application. Wipe up any excess product on exposed surfaces. 

Ants affected by FiPro will have their nervous systems impacted and die within a few hours.

This product may be reapplied to previously treated sites if activity is found 30 days after application. 

Step 3: Spray with Supreme IT Insecticide

After indoor ant activity has stopped, perform a perimeter treatment outdoors around your structure with Supreme IT. 

Supreme IT is a powerful insecticide concentrate that controls up to 70 pests, including ants. Once applied, it will create a 90-day residual that will repel and kill any ants that contact treated surfaces. 

You will need to mix this product with water inside of a handheld pump sprayer or backpack sprayer. 

To control ants, mix 1 fl. oz. of Supreme IT with 1 gallon of water to treat 1,000 sq. ft. 

Determine how much Supreme IT to use by measuring the square footage of the treatment area. Find the square footage by measuring the treatment areas length and width in feet, then multiplying them together (length X width = square footage). 

Treat the perimeter of your home with Supreme by spraying 3 feet up and 10 feet out from the foundation all the way around. While spraying in this manner, also spray window frames, door frames, eaves, soffits, rain gutters, electrical/plumbing penetrations, and cracks and crevices. 

Be sure to also treat ant trails and other places where these pests have been seen or are likely to forage. 

We also recommend treating tree trunks that have seen rover ant activity at the rate of 1 fl. oz. of product per 1 gallon of water. Apply to the bark, completely wetting it from the bottom of the tree to the highest possible point on the trunk.

Ants will be repelled from treated areas, stopping them from foraging indoors.

Do not let people or pets enter areas treated until the spray has completely dried.

Prevention

Your rover ant problem should be controlled shortly after treatment, but you must implement preventative measures to ensure they don't return.

• Start by reducing moisture issues around your home or property. Eliminate any standing water, fix leaky faucets, and fix faulty plumbing. This will go a long way in reducing their water sources, which will force them to move and look for other areas that provide them with moisture. 
• Maintain a regular cleaning schedule. 
• Regularly take out the trash, wipe down surfaces, sweep or vacuum the floors, and dry the kitchen and bathroom sinks. Outdoors, rake away leaves and remove plant debris, trim away overgrown shrubbery and branches, and mow your lawn regularly to the grass’s preferred mowing height. Indoors, seal loose foods like cereal, flour, and pet food in airtight containers. Yard debris that might create harborage areas for rover ants, especially decaying wood, should be removed. Remove your yard's woodpiles, logs, rocks, bricks, leaf litter, and general clutter. 
• We also recommend you apply exclusion methods to block off potential pest entry points. Cracks and crevices should be sealed with caulk or an expanding foam like Solutions Sealator Pro Black Foam. Look for thin cracks and openings in the foundation, around window and door frames, and utility penetrations.
• Finally, keep up with preventive applications of your pesticide products. You can apply Supreme I/T around your home’s perimeter quarterly and FiPro once a month to maintain control year-round. Apply at the rate of 1 fl. oz. of product per 1 gallon of water per 1,000 sq. ft. Spray 3 feet up the building's exterior foundation and 3 feet out on the adjacent ground. Be sure also to spray around window and door frames, eaves, soffits, cracks, crevices, and voids around the building.

Key Takeaways

What are Rover Ants?

• Rover ants are a nuisance species known for creating large colonies and trespassing inside homes to forage for food.

How to get rid of Rover Ants

• Our suggestion to eliminate rover ants is to treat the outdoor perimeter with Supreme IT Insecticide and the indoors with Ant-Trax Ant Bait and Fipro Aerosol.

Preventing Rover Ant Reinfestation

• Prevent future infestations of rover ants by reducing moisture and limiting leaf litter and yard debris. Keep up with regular applications of Supreme IT every 90 days to continue repelling and controlling rover ants.