Without introducing an army of ants into homes, a solution would be to develop a natural pesticide that “respects the environment” using their secretions.

A recent study by biologists found that ants emit odors that may be present in our homes.

According to the newspaper “Le Parisien” (ParisianA team of French biologists avoids weaving webs where colonies of these insects live, as some domestic spiders are easy prey for certain ants.

The researchers selected three species of good ants, including the European red ant “Myrmica rubra”, which is widespread in some North American habitats found in global temperate regions.

Ants are highly aggressive and can repel spiders that seek to invade their territory, says Andreas Fisher of Simon Fraser University in Canada, author of a study by the Royal Society for Open Science (RFA).Royal Society Open Science).

The paper shows that researchers put ants on filter paper for 12 hours and allow their bodies to secrete chemicals such as pheromones. A variety of spiders were placed in small glass rooms connected to each other by tubes, some covered with paper smelled of ants and some with the same paper, but previously washed.

As a result, the olfactory stimuli of Mermaica rubra ants showed a major repulsive effect on selected 3 spider species: the erroneous black widow “Steododa grossa”, the western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus), and the wandering spider (Eratigena arrestis).

The olfactory stimulus of Mermaica rubra ants showed a major repulsive effect on 3 spider species (Shutterstock).

Natural pesticides

Although venomous, these spiders rarely bite and are not dangerous to humans, ”says Andreas Fisher. “A lot of misconceptions are spreading on the internet”, including confusion with other deadly venomous creatures that fuel spiders that live in dark corners of homes.

Humans have developed many ways to avoid things like chemical pesticides, but they have proven to be relatively ineffective. According to studies, natural jewelry, such as lemon essential oil, is no better.

Without introducing an army of ants into the home, the biologist argues that their secretions will “respect” the environment to develop natural pesticides and provide a solution to keep spiders away. These products are already being used against certain pests, such as pests, to break down their pheromones with the help of pheromones.

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