Diatomaceous earth consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled microalgae. It is used as a filtration aid, mild abrasive in products including metal polishes and toothpaste, mechanical insecticide, absorbent for liquids, matting agent for coatings, reinforcing filler in plastics and rubber, anti-block in plastic films, porous support for chemical catalysts, cat litter, activator in coagulation studies, a stabilizing component of dynamite, a thermal insulator, and a soil for potted plants and trees as in the art of bonsai.[2][3] It is also used in gas chromatography packed columns made with glass or metal as stationary phase.
It is extremely good at killing insects. Especially ants. You can spread it in a perimeter around your house and insects will pick it up as they try to come in and it will kill them. IIRC ants bring it back to the colony on their bodies and it spreads which is what makes it so effective against ants.
My understanding is not that they pick it up and carry it back, but rather they don’t make it far past the line of it before it shreds them to death, and thus they can’t leave their scent trail to anything inside your house.
We’ve successfully used it to stop a sugar ant invasion.
It does not shred, it acts as a dessicant, much like the silica packets that come with shoes, it dehydrates them relatively rapidly. And in some cases insects do bring it back as it sticks to their bodies, spreading it around their peers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth
Huh.
It is extremely good at killing insects. Especially ants. You can spread it in a perimeter around your house and insects will pick it up as they try to come in and it will kill them. IIRC ants bring it back to the colony on their bodies and it spreads which is what makes it so effective against ants.
My understanding is not that they pick it up and carry it back, but rather they don’t make it far past the line of it before it shreds them to death, and thus they can’t leave their scent trail to anything inside your house.
We’ve successfully used it to stop a sugar ant invasion.
It does not shred, it acts as a dessicant, much like the silica packets that come with shoes, it dehydrates them relatively rapidly. And in some cases insects do bring it back as it sticks to their bodies, spreading it around their peers.
Also helpful for bedbugs.
It’s also dangerous to breathe, if the packaging is to be believed. Apparently it can cut your lungs up? Yeesh!
It’s tiny enough the breathe, tough enough not to break down, and sharp enough to cut your lungs up. All those traits are shared with asbestos…