The Crow's Nest

Dotting windowsills, kitchen counters and desks, six-legged little beasts have moved into Residence Hall One and the Student Life Center. According to USF St. Petersburg Student Services, multiple students have filed work orders to eliminate ant infestations in the last few weeks.

Sophomore and RHO resident Tessa Owens found ants crawling from the top of her window, down the sill and on to her desk. Another student, Bailey Cahill, discovered the pests in the kitchen and bedrooms of her dorm.

In the SLC, ants march along laminate floors, across desks and even into restrooms, leaving at least one student, Lazar Anderson, with a literal case of ants in his pants.

After weeks of ant homicide by way of swatting and stomping, USFSP brought in Orkin, a pest control and exterminator service, to finish the job. Orkin treated the SLC last week and has been treating RHO dorm rooms upon request. In addition to pesticide spray, exterminators are using ant baits, which will cause the ants to travel in lines, rather than spread themselves throughout a room.

One exterminator said the treatment will take a few weeks before killing all the ants, but according to Cahill, it’s working quickly. “Once they sprayed, the ants were gone,” she said.

Students experiencing infestations should contact their resident assistant as soon as possible to file a work order with the maintenance department.

Deby Cassill, USFSP biology professor and expert on ants, provided insight on ant behavior.

“Wherever they find crumbs of food, they will take that information back to their family members and then recruit other workers in large numbers,” she said.

To prevent further infestations, Cassill advises students to “keep their living quarters, their books and their clothes clean of food stains and crumbs.”

Though a nuisance for most, the pests may be a necessary evil for some. As Cassill puts it, “Ants tell us when we are not cleaning up after ourselves.”

Additional reporting done by Tyler Killette

Home remedies for ants

After some highly involved Google searching, The Crow’s Nest came up with this list of home remedies for ant infestations, many of which may already be in your kitchen.

• Vinegar. Mop your floor with a vinegar and water solution. Ants won’t be able to stand the smell either.

• Lemon juice. Squirt it on doorways, windowsills and any other opening to the outside.

• Chalk or baby powder. Draw a line of chalk across doorways and windowsills. Talcum is a natural ant repellant (we hear it works for demons too.)

• Water and dish soap. A mixture of the two can be sprayed directly onto ants, killing them in their tracks just as a pesticide would.

• Equal and apple juice. Equal serves as a neurotoxin to ants (might make you rethink your sweetener of choice).

• Coffee grounds. Ants are repelled by the smell. Sprinkle some wherever they’re dwelling.