Ants can exploit any gap wider than a few hundredths of an inch. That’s enough to get into screw-top jars, snap lids, zip-top bags, and cardboard boxes. Containers with rubber gaskets and a clamp or latch can keep ants out.
Anyone who has opened a supposedly sealed sugar canister and found a moving column of ants inside knows this question isn't hypothetical. Containers that look “sealed” can still have gaps wide enough to let in ants because they’re just that small.
Argentine ants, the small brown ants responsible for most Los Angeles household invasions, are roughly two to three millimeters long and considerably narrower, and workers can flatten and squeeze through openings far smaller than their apparent size. Screw top lids have spiral channels that ants can crawl through. Snap-on plastic lids tend to warp with age. Zip-top bags close along a track that never quite meets at the ends. Ants will also simply chew through thin plastic film and cardboard when they feel the need to. Even a well-fitting lid on a jar with a barely perceptible nick in the rim gives them a door.
The good news is that ants seldom leave you guessing for long. Foragers follow scent to food, and once one gets in, it lays a pheromone trail that recruits the rest. Then they follow the trail which shows up as a literal line of ants. Sweet, greasy, and protein-rich foods all draw them, and in Southern California the pressure is essentially year-round due to either heat or drought.
Still, there are containers that fare better against ants. Look for containers with a silicone or rubber gasket and a locking clamp or a tight threaded lid, glass or hard plastic, and store the most attractive items, sugar, honey, cereal, pet food, in those. Wipe container exteriors, since residue on the outside recruits ants to investigate. If you can’t seem to totally prevent ants from getting in, you can always put the item in the refrigerator.
Arguably more important is to find out how ants are getting in. This will let you seal entry points like small gaps by windows, doors, and plumbing.
If ants keep getting into your food storage, Mosquito Squad of Los Angeles can help. Mosquito Squad's home and yard coverage treats the ant colonies outside and the entry points they use. This will help you protect your kitchen at the source.
