Thank you everyone for the response. I ordered the earth.

Please leave me a small part to live on for a few more years..........

We simply don't leave them anything to eat. If you are diligent in keeping your kitchen clean, they won't be a problem.

Not always that easy. I've had the little bastards infiltrate unopened--yet clearly inadequately sealed--boxes of cereal. Sometimes the ants are there because of other food sources, like a dead moth under the fridge.

Then there are those time ants come for something one would assume completely uninteresting to ants. A book I pulled off the shelf...teaming with ants, between the pages, in and around the adjacent books. There was apparently something in the binding--maybe the glue--of this particular book that was like ant fentanyl or something.

Other times, ants just seem to materialize from another dimension. Just to say "Greetings human. We were here when you arrived; we will be here when you are gone. Now bugger off."

Diatomaceous Earth (Fossil Shell Flour)- our house is on a concrete slab - along with various bugs which we don't mind, the tiny ants start to appear in the spring into summer in various parts of the house as well as the outdoors along the side of our house. I sprinkle the ants and their trail with the powder and they disappear within a short period of time. Works up here in Canada - it can be found in garden stores as well as pet supply stores.

I use Diatomaceous Earth also. It's been quite effective, and is completely harmless except for small pests like fleas, ticks, and ants. However, humidity reduces its effectiveness, so to make it work here, it requires frequent and diligent application. I apply it every few days, about mid-morning after the sun has heated the ground. Use a paintbrush and you can flick the powder into cracks or brush it on vertical surfaces; it doesn't take much. Been at it several months, but our really bad ant problem is largely under control and without spraying any poison around.

Don't know of anyone who sells it here in Zihuatanejo; we ordered from Amazon.

Speaking of leafcutter ants....... We had serious problems with them for the last 5 years, and at one point had a huge nest, maybe 8' by 8' For two years, we diligently poured boiling water down the nest twice a day. Yes, they do have a special entrance which is supposed to keep water out, but we did it.

Success! This year, none until Saturday, when they found two of our crotons. Tracked the lines back to the neighbors gate, two doors down. Sprayed the whole line to the gate, two nights in a row. Last night? No ants, but no leaves on the crotons either. Maybe a win/lose situation.

You know those little tiny ants that don't leave a crumb alone and call all its relatives for the feast? I'm looking for a non toxic fix as this is mainly for the kitchen.

We simply don't leave them anything to eat. If you are diligent in keeping your kitchen clean, they won't be a problem.