Quick And Easy Indoor/Outdoor Ant Poison

This is my first published instructable, so be nice!!! (please) [Note: I do not claim responsibility for anything that may happen from this (aka, your ant farm getting out and dying.)] This is how to make an ant poison that is kid friendly and pet safe, and is completely edible, at least for things that aren't ants (and possibly other insects, but i haven't tested). You can get most of the supplies from a restaurant or around your house. (Plus, you get to eat out!)

Step 1 Ingredients

1. Artificial sugar from a restaurant that includes aspartame, or some other product with aspartame.
2. Peanut butter, jelly, or if you're allergic to those, you can always use water.

Comments

[KMCopeland]

I hope I'm not being the original buzz kill here, but I had to post this link from Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/antpoison.asp

[gangstaladd]

well then the scoripon has a deadly poision so put that on an arrow

[Javin007]

I hate to sound like a conspiracy theorist here, but Aspartame truly is a poison. Now, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon of one Betty Martini (aka: Nancy Markle) who claims that aspartame can cause everything from MS, to Brain Tumors, to IBS, to Lupus (it's never Lupus!) to Fibromyalgia, to Death and everything in between. While I'm not saying it isn't possible, no real studies have been done here. However, even the Nutra Sweet company cannot dispute the fact that at 86 degrees Farenheit it breaks down into formaldahyde and formic acid. But the FDA says it's "ok" because they don't believe there's enough of it that breaks down in the 96 degree human body to be a problem. In other words, "A little bit of poison is ok." The FDA admits that for certain individuals (some pregnant women, people with liver disease, people with phenylketonuria, etc) it can cause brain damage in small doses. It's been proven in governmental studies to cause headaches in some individuals. The more REAL studies that are being done on it, the more it looks like the "Conspiracy Theorists" may actually be on to something. At any rate, it has been observed that it does, indeed, kill insects, and even small mammals in high enough doses. (Feed 10 packets to your pet rat if you don't like him very much, and test it for yourself.) An ant eating it is getting roughly 1000x the dose that a human consumes. Even being cold blooded doesn't help them at these dosage levels. I will warn you, though, that using a fast-acting poison against household ants can in fact worsen the ant problem. Small black ants (also referred to as "sugar ants") do not have a queen in the nest, but rather each of the female ants takes part in the egg laying. When a large number of the nest dies, in order for the rest of the nest to survive, they split off into smaller nests moving throughout the house. This is called "budding" and can actually end up with one ant colony becoming many. Your best bet for killing sugar ants is a 1:10 ratio of borax (regular old laundry borax, costs like $1 for 400 lbs.) and caro syrup. (Or jelly, or any other sweet solution.) At 10% (do not use more) it will be enough to eventually kill the ants, but not before they've brought the poison back to share with the entire nest, thus killing the whole colony and preventing budding. The aspartame method works well for most kinds of ants, but be careful using it on "sugar ants."

[AmyLuthien]

I agree, aspartame should be outlawed. It should never have been allowed in the first place!

I don't know about aspartame's efficacy against ants one way or the other. I use borax personally. That's VERY effective against all sorts of pests and it also doesn't leave a sticky mess behind. I even use it to clean my windows, works better than Windex!

[trebuchet03]

The FDA admits that for certain individuals (some pregnant women, people with liver disease, people with phenylketonuria, etc) it can cause brain damage in small doses.

High levels of Phenylalanine can cause brain damage. It should also be said that those that are at risk (PKU and pregnant women with hyperphenylalanine) must also watch their protein and milk intake for the same reason. The reason aspartame products contain a Phenylalanine warning are for those people that must pay attention to that amino acid (not really expected in sugar products :p)

At any rate, it has been observed that it does, indeed, kill insects...
Can you cite credible sources?

For Thoroughness....
FDA

And here's an MIT study that gave high doses of aspartame to subjects for four months... Conclusion - no difference
MIT Study

I personally am sticking with cane sugar where possible. Why? I prefer the taste and texture (and prefer not depending on corn so much).

[Mr. Rig It]

Wow I had no idea it was poisonous, good info

[gangstaladd]

yo dude what bout a scorpion

[tanmanknex]

good to know, especially about the sugar ants. thanks for the comment.

[austin]

sorry to bust your bubble but this is not true
aspartame does not kill ants.
http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/antpoison.asp

[tanmanknex]

I have just two questions. If you still want to hold onto your position after this, then there's nothing i can do. Okay, lets begin. One, why did the ants in my house disappear within three days of putting the poison out? did they get full and figure that there's no more food? no, it killed them. there were dead ants around the PB&A mix. "well, they might have died of other causes", you may say. what other causes? Did they die of starvation? No. Thirst? No. what else could it be... hmm... maybe aspartame does kill ants, after all. second question, how do you know this study isn't a hoax? my grandpa is a professor at BYU and even he said that it kills them.

[grue]

correlation does not imply causation

[dmitchell1]

Aspartame does not kill ants. It's a silly myth.

http://fireant.tamu.edu/research/projects/pdf/pgs33-35.pdf

[Cubie2]

If trees could scream would we be okay chopping them down? ---.....Well... Maybe. If they screamed all the time and for no good reason :)

[tanmanknex]

Another question, if a man was made of chocolate, and thought, ate, breathed, and did everything a normal human did, would it be considered cannibalism to eat him?

[Cubie2]

Hey!!! I asked that to you first!

[tanmanknex]

Yes, but you didn't take the opportunity to post it.

[Lftndbt]

Don't kill the ants!! They serve a most honourable pupose.

Fix you homes gaps If ants are getting in, heat is escaping etc.
Clean up your mess Ants generally only seek heat and nutrients.
Follow the trail If you want to actual remove the ants, follow the trail and pour boiling water down the nest. No poisons needed.

This is a awesome I'ble!! I have a dog and cat, if I was ever in need of a "poison" I would follow this guide. Thanks!!

[puppylinux]

(removed by author or community request)

[Mr. Rig It]

Great idea and a very good first instructable congratulations!

[rimar2000]

Very interesting. The comment of Javin007, too.

[Bongmaster]

any info on how aspartame is supposed to kill the ants and why?

[tanmanknex]

also, some people say that it messes with their nervous system and makes them go crazy and stop eating. eleraama's seems more likely.

[eleraama]

Presumably it's because aspartame has no caloric value, so they get "full" eating on it and starve to death.

[hominid]

This is mightily intriguing. Thanks for the 'ible.