How to Get Rid of Cow Ants

Hi friends, I'm Mark Govan here with ABC Pest Control in Largo, Florida. Getting rid of cow ants or as we would refer to them as a velvety tree ant. They're not really an ant at all. They're more of a wingless wasp. And they're called cow ants because of the painfulness of their sting. They can actually bring down a cow, when they attack a cow in a large number. So, where do these velvety tree ants or cow ants live? Well normally you're going to find these things out resting on sides of trees or on trees themselves, or even in large areas. We've even seen them sometimes in sand on beaches. But very, very rarely in those areas. Now, how can you get rid of them? Area sprays is all you're going to be able to do. If they're in a tree you want to go ahead and get a professional applicator that can come out as properly equipped where he'll spray the trunk and the branches of the trees. That's number one, to get them out of the trees. If they're on the ground in an area you can have that whole area sprayed with a product such as pyrethrin or even a Tall Star, which is bifenthrin, the active ingredient. Now another product that maybe a home owner might be able to use is such as Wisdom EZ which is also known as Tall Star. That's the active ingredient. Now that can be put down with a granular hand held spreader or a lawn spreader as well. All these are good methods but I'll recommend that professional if you're going to tackle this type of an ant because they can really cause a very painful sting. I'm Mark Govan with ABC Pest Control in Largo, Florida hoping you have a pest free day.