Ants?!?!?!

[MarcusMaximus]

Weird question. The last two days I’ve gone out to my car parked(in different spots) at work and found a large trail of ants going across the outside of the car to the front drivers side panel(immediately forward of the driver door, where it meets the windshield). I’ve checked inside and there are no ants actually in the cabin anywhere. I also opened the hood and they don’t seem to be going anywhere there. They just disappear behind the panel and then come back out the same way.

Is there anything they could get to behind that panel that could have something attractive to ants? I’m thinking coolant lines or anything? Want to make sure the little buggers aren’t damaging some part of the car I can’t get to.

 

[jdw]

Why 'Crazy Ants' Swarm Inside Electronics

Hopefully not *these* guys ....

 

[MarcusMaximus]

Why 'Crazy Ants' Swarm Inside Electronics

Hopefully not *these* guys ....

Oh god, reading up on them it actually could be... they are lighter color than most ants I’ve seen around here and have similar shaped long legs... No idea what to do

 

[rooter]

Sure most ants love -AC- power, but I don't think that's what's going on here.

I'll bet there's a food source. That's why they form a line. Snake? Mouse? Candy bar?

 

[MarcusMaximus]

Sure most ants love -AC- power, but I don't think that's what's going on here.

I'll bet there's a food source. That's why they form a line. Snake? Mouse? Candy bar?

I suppose it’s possible something got stuck under the body panel, but I don’t know any way to get back there to look. Tonight I took out all the plastic panels under the hood to look around, but there aren’t any there. I’ve looked all over the cabin and can’t see any in it either(despite there being a pastry wrapper that had some sugar in it), only on the outside.

I’m at home now, and it’s in the garage, but there’s still a trail of them going just around the top of the car all the way to the trunk and back up to the front passenger side panel. A little worried that they may have made a home in there. I put a liquid ant bait on top of the car, so hopefully that’ll help.

 

[Akikiki]

If it was my car, I would try this stuff. I'd smear it on a tire where the ants are climbing up, and walk it back to where they trek towards the car. Might have to put it on the tires a few times to maximize the opportunities., I do know this stuff works - well.
https://www.amazon.com/Highly-Effec...2533&s=gateway&sprefix=Advion+,aps,240&sr=8-4

 

[XLR82XS]

I'm currently driving a 90D loaner and there is a family of sugar ants all over the exterior - few made inside the cabin while driving. I'm assuming this car sits outside a lot + there me be some food source left behind from someone in the past.

Last night after a day-long road trip I found a swarm attracted to the guts of deceased love bugs on the windshield and front bumper. Gross dealing with it but not sure if spending the time to track down a potential nest is worth it.

 

[Kevin Bohacz]

I had an ant problem with one of our Teslas parked in our garage (my Model S). They were small and fast moving ants. So probably crazy ants. They were marching from the rear of the car to the same location you described. They never got inside the car. It turned out the ants were climbing up the charging cable which was lying on the ground. After a little experimentation it became clear they were attracted to the warmth coming from the cable. I used a cord to suspend the cable and keep it off the ground. My problem was solved.

 

[bob_p]

Our Model S had an ant infestation several years ago.

While the car was parked inside the garage charging, the ants evidently crawled up the charging cable and found an entry into the interior. As I was driving, I was squashing the ants as they were crawling on the dashboard and console.

Getting rid of the ants was a multi-step process, and they haven't returned:

• Sprayed insectside around inside and outside perimeter of the garage, this discouraged the ants from re-entering the garage
• Applied ant repellent goo around the edge of the garage floor, this helped in case they were nesting inside the exterior wall
• Closed the garage door, opened the car doors and sunroof and did several rounds of bug bomb sprays, and this appeared to get rid of any ants that weren't visible in the vehicle

This combination did the trick, though took a few days to completely eliminate the problem. Once they are in the vehicle (interior or exterior), it's difficult to reach them - and you probably don't want to be spraying insecticide around the exterior or interior.

Because they were coming through the power cable, I also looked at the inside of the Wall Connector and the nearby outlets to make sure they weren't inside the wall. We rented a townhome a few years ago which had an ant problem - and the ants were living inside the wall and had filled up the outlets with dirt.

 

[Cape Coddess]

I had ants last year here in Florida. I was parked under a tree next to the grass due to some roof work being done on our condo. The ants were inside and outside my car. I researched it and figured they were the crazy ants because they were tiny and lighter in color than regular ants. I used ant traps to get rid of them. It took a few days but I haven't seen them since. Of course I'm not parked in the same place anymore either.

 

[Stealth.Pilot]

You want to use Ant Bait to poison the entire colony.

 

[berkeley_ecar]

Is it possible that the ants are trying to get into the window washer reservoir (which is near the area where they are entering your vehicle)? See this discussion:
https://www.mr2oc.com/threads/ants-in-windshield-washer-tank.222038/