VALLEY INVADED BY ANTS! THOUSANDS MARCH INTO HOMES AS WEATHER HEATS UP.

Byline: Barbara De Witt Staff Writer

Down the wall, across the stove top and up the pantry door, they march in single file.

Thousands of them, tracking who-knows-what onto your kitchen counters as they search for water, cookie crumbs or your pet's kibbles.

We're talking about ants. They're invading the San Fernando and surrounding valleys as temperatures soar.

According to pest control experts, ants are the No. 1 pest problem during the summer months, and one of the most challenging to get rid of.

You put out baits and they ignore them.

You spray and they come back.

You scrub down the kitchen, and they keep coming.

``Ants seem to show up unexpectedly, but if you consider that ants are social like people, you'll understand them better. For instance, when it's too cold outside, they want to come in to get warm, and when it's really hot outside they want to cool off inside with a drink of water. And they love treats,'' says Sid Shoemaker, manager of Dewey Pest Control in Van Nuys.

Identifying the type of ant you've got is the first step, because then you'll understand their culture and food preferences, says Laura Krueger, an entomologist for Western Exterminators who gets hundreds of calls a day from Valley residents complaining of ants.

``Argentine ants, which arrived in California in the early 1900s, are the most common,'' says Krueger, ``and they're easily identified by their long trails.'' She adds that they like a mild and moist climate and love citrus trees, which is why there are so many of them in the San Fernando Valley.

And they love the backyard barbecue lifestyle, says Michael Bohdan, a Texas exterminator and author of the guide to pet control ``What's Buggin' You?'' (Santa Monica Press; $12.95).

``Ants are busy first thing in the morning, but also in the early evening and they're attracted to the smell of grease on the grill, so you need to burn off and clean the barbecue grill before you go back into the house,'' says Bohdan.

Got water?

Bohdan says leaky pipes and dripping faucets will attract ants inside a home, while Shoemaker says overly watered lawns disturb the ants' nests and forces them to seek refuge in dryer digs - like your house.

And ants love pet food. ``If you've got to leave food out,'' says Shoemaker, ``place the bowl of pet kibbles in a larger pan of water, such as a pie tin, to create a moat, as ants will not cross water even to get food.''

Once you've got them, you'll need to identify which type of ant they are, because some like sweets and others prefer protein. And that's where home pest control becomes challenging. When you buy ant baits at the store, you don't always know if it has a protein or sweet flavor, says Bohdan.

And just like people, ants crave variety.

According to Shoemaker, an Argentine ant is usually attracted to sweets, but will occasionally march right past the cookies in its search for protein (such as pet food) because that's what the queen ant ordered that day. And sometimes you've got the right bait but its poison power has evaporated so it never makes it back to the queen to destroy the colony.

``Baits do work well, but you've got to replace them every three or four weeks for them to be effective,'' Shoemaker stresses.

To get rid of an ant trail in a hurry (especially if you're having houseguests), use the vacuum cleaner or spray them with ammonia mixtures (such as Windex), but they will come back for leftovers.

Ants and other pests make life crazy for most of us, but it's just another day in the life of a bug-buster.

Not your father's bug guy

Once a business that prided itself on spraying the life out of anything that moved, pest control experts now only use residual pesticides as a last resort.

Modern exterminators are now educated in insect behavior, with degrees and certificates, but they come by their sense of humor naturally.

Shoemaker likes to tell about the time a woman called and said she'd captured a ``baby alien.'' ``I thought we'd heard it all, so naturally I was curious. The baby alien turned out to be a Jerusalem cricket, otherwise known as a potato bug,'' he chuckles.

And then there was the Reseda woman who was sure a rattle snake was in her apartment. It turned out to be an ordinary garden snake, says Shoemaker, who adds that most of the rattlesnakes they've found are in the foothills of Northridge and Sherman Oaks. Bohdan, who's a self-proclaimed cockroach expert, can still be seen on reruns of ``Ripley's Believe It or Not,'' in a coffin with 1,000 live cockroaches poured over him, but he says his chat about cockroaches with Johnny Carson on the old ``Tonight Show'' remains the highlight of his life.

``It changed my life,'' says Bohdan, ``because right after the show, Combat hired me as their spokesperson and I traveled the country judging cockroach contests for the largest and also the best-dressed.''

Some of those costumed cockroaches can be found in Bohdan's Cockroach Hall of Fame in Plano, Texas, where Bohdan lives and continues to work as exterminator. ``It all goes back to what I realized a long time ago when I first started my business in Dallas: If you make bugs fun, people will learn ... and it must work, since I've had about 4,000 visitors a year since I opened it in 1991,'' Bohdan says.

This exterminator likes to study cockroaches up close, and in his office he's got a covered aquarium with a few 4-inch-long hissing cockroaches that dine on dog food, beer and bananas, which he's learned are their favorite foods. ``No, I don't have names for them; I'm not that eccentric,'' he says with a chuckle. ``But I've learned a lot about them. For instance, they don't bite, like to be petted and actually are pretty meticulous about cleaning themselves - much like a mouse. Unfortunately, they do stink ... and because they're oily, other insects won't eat them,'' Bohdan says.

Valley roaches

The Valley's most common cockroach is the Oriental roach, a large, black variety that actually prefers to be outdoors under a rock or damp wood, but they - like ants - will come inside when the weather gets hot and dry.

On his rounds, Shoemaker has found Oriental roaches inside fireplaces, under refrigerators and sinks, and in garages under the washing machine, but they don't concern him much.

German roaches, a smaller brown variety, aren't as common in the Valley as Oriental roaches, but they're the ones most people fear and exterminators hate.

``They're the worst. ... They thrive on poor sanitation and can take over an entire apartment building in weeks if they aren't stopped,'' Shoemaker says.

While cockroaches are often associated with filth, anybody can get them, as they come come home with your bag of groceries.

``We've learned they love the glue on the paper bags and cardboard boxes, so I always tell people that they should leave the boxes and bags outside the door,'' says Shoemaker, who personally prefers plastic bags.

He also looks for their droppings, which look like a few black dots stuck in a corner of a room. ``If you ever see that in a restaurant, don't eat there,'' Shoemaker warns.

To avoid other summer pests such as flies, wash pet dishes regularly and clean up pet messes. And make sure your window screens don't have any large holes in them.

Bees are another problem, says Krueger, and to prevent them from getting into your house she suggests plugging or patching any holes that give them access. If you've got swarms of them, she suggests calling a bee keeper or pest control service.

PEST CONTROL TIPS

If you've been invaded by pests, try to determine the variety. For instance, when it comes to ants, put petroleum jelly on a Q-Tip and dab at the ants, dropping a couple into a plastic bag for the exterminator to identify. To avoid an invasion, keep your perimeters clean and try these tips from local exterminators:

Don't feed pets outside.

Clean up pet messes frequently.

Keep bushes trimmed away from your house.

Keep your lawn short and don't overwater (to avoid wasps and ants).

Keep dry food (cereal, sugar, etc.) in plastic containers.

Do not bring paper bags or boxes from the market into your kitchen.

Fix all leaks and dripping faucets to avoid ants and cockroaches. Check frequently under the sink with a flashlight for bugs or droppings.

Fill any access holes into your home with plaster or use Stuft, a roll of copper mesh that keeps insects and rodents out.

Fill bird baths with fresh water daily to avoid mosquito problems.

Don't feed wild birds.

Keep kitchen counters and all floors meticulously clean and dry.

- B.D.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) When ants ATTACK!

Experts offer tips on weatherring summer's annual onslaught

Jon Gerung/Staff Artist

(2 -- color) Michael Bohdan

(3) Michael Bohdan, an exterminator and author of the guide to pet control ``What's Buggin' You?'' studies creeepy-crawlers up close at his Cockroach Hall of Fame in Plano, Texas.

Box: Pest Control Tips (see text)