There are many ways to control ants.

Indoors
A good start to controlling ants indoors at home is to remove and clean up the food that is attracting ants, spray areas where ants have been seen entering the home (on thresholds, windows and foundations) using an ant and roach aerosol or liquid, and place ant baits in several locations, at the sites of ant trails.

Ants can be controlled with a variety of products, some in combination as ant and roach products and some as specifically ant products. These include ant and roach aerosol sprays, which usually give a quick kill and provide residual activity. Ant and roach liquids have a trigger dispensing mechanism which will basically do the same thing as the aerosol. Ant baits are available for spot placement where ants are seen to be trailing. Ant dust products can be spread around ant trails, usually outdoors, if a consumer can spot where ants are entering into the building. Ant traps are similar to ant baits, usually with some type of food material inside which will encourage the ant to feed on the material and then die from the active ingredient.

Take steps to exclude ants from the home by reducing their access by caulking, sealing, structural repair, screening, and other maintenance steps.

Outdoors
For outdoor and building or other structure perimeters, apply treatments according to label instructions to reduce overall populations. Remove or treat nests if they can be located.

Traps and monitors can be used for large buildings such as hospitals and other structures.

Fire Ants - Control of fire ants is challenging. Often avoidance is the only practical way to assure safety. Insect repellents offer little help since fire ants normally attack en masse as a result of physical disruption of their nests. A number of insecticide products are available for area-wide treatment programs. Baits and individual mound treatments can also be used. In all cases, instructions must be carefully followed in order to obtain acceptable control and ensure safety to users and the environment.

Pharaoh Ants - Control of Pharaoh ants requires a comprehensive program of exclusion, inspection, sanitation, maintenance, harborage removal, trapping, baiting and carefully managed chemical application.