Analysis and Comparison of Safe Organic Ant Repellents

Abstract

Household ant invasion can cause both family health damages and financial losses. Professionally-used insecticides are not recommended for household usage because they can reduce human and animal health. Moreover, families lack knowledge on safe ant repellents because studies on organic ant repellents often showed inconsistent results. To provide concrete instruction on choosing safe organic ant repellents, this study investigated the topic in terms of the biochemistry of natural ant repellents that have been considered safe and effective, and provided a comparison among the repellents using a Y-tube olfactometer to determine the effectiveness of the ant repellents against two ant species. Spearmint, mint oil, and Chinese essential balm are shown to be effective ant repellents by using the plant alone or by mixing it with honey working as a bait. Although the choice of ants in the experiment does not represent all household-invasive ants, this study is still worth referencing for families plagued by ant invasions and for further studies on household ant control.