Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi my name is Maria and I am researching ants and their trail pheromones. I wanted to know what natural repellents could be used to keep ants from using this pheromone that would then lead to more ants following that trail. I found that the most common repellents were vinegar, cinnamon, and sometimes chalk. My question is why do these things repel ants? Is there something specific in them that the ants do not like?

Dear Maria,

vinegar: this is an acid. While not really that harmful for humans when on skin, for ants it is very harmful. Vinegar will burn up ants and denature the proteins that make up their pheromones

cinnamon and other spices: like humans, ants have a sense of smell (their antennae sense smell). Very spicy materials will agitate both humans and ants. For example, if you were to eat a tablespoon of cinnamon you would probably react to it or repel it in some way because your body doesn't want to accept something so spicy. Likewise, if an ant senses a really spicy material like cinnamon, a signal would trigger the ant to react to it and repel.

chalk: im not exactly sure. I would google the question, but this is what I think: real chalk is derived from limestone. Under the right conditions limestone can turn into carbonic acid and calcium hydroxide. This would have the same effect as vinegar (carbonic acid= acid, calcium hydroxide= base) and would burn the ants and denature the proteins that make up pheromones.

let me know if you have any more questions

good luck,
scienceexpert123