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Start Winning the War on Fire Ants
Bastiaan M. Drees, Coordinator for the Texas Imported Fire Ant Research & Management Project
Spring is coming and imported fire ants will be active soon! Unless the weather remains dry, the ants will soon be building up their earthen mounds. Like it or not, some action will be needed to control the situation.
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Eradication won’t happen - at least not any time soon. Early attempts to eradicate the ant using ant bait dropped out of airplanes during the 1960s and 1970s failed.
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No big government programs are planned to aerially treat this pest from large infested areas like the Southeast, although the possibility to try to eradicate “spot infestations” in western urban areas far away from the rest of the infested part of the country are being considered.
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Current methods of control, which predominantly use some type of chemical insecticide, provide only temporary suppression (weeks to many months, depending on the treatment selected) and must be periodically re-applied to maintain control.
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In fact, if you apply control methods and stop, the ants will be back -- occasionally in numbers higher than they were before!
Don’t feel helpless, though. Get even! Managing imported fire ants is fairly easy and does not have to take a lot of money or use a lot of insecticide. Take some time to learn about the available solutions and have a little faith in modern technology and START WINNING:
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Work with your neighbors to coordinate and implement a plan of attack.
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Use the least toxic, most target-specific and economical method(s) available to address your particular ant problem (find this information on the World Wide Web at http://fireant.tamu.edu or visit your local County Extension Agent’s office)
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Broadcast-applying an effective fire ant bait can be done for less than $10 for a ½ acre yard (22,000 sq ft), providing 80 to 90 percent control for up to a year.
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Support our investment into research through the Texas Imported Fire Ant Research & Management Plan, funded by the Texas Legislature in 1998. This project is designed to develop even better ways to attack the fire ant problem in Texas through biological control and other new technology.
Above all, do the right thing for yourself, your property and the environment by educating yourself about control options. Use insecticides, home remedies or “organic” controls only when and where necessary. Set a good example to your children by carefully selecting and using pesticides properly. Follow closely the directions provided on the product labels.
For more information contact:
Paul Nester
Extension Agent - IPM
Fire Ant Project
Harris County
Phone: (281) 855-5600
or visit http://fireant.tamu.edu.
Educational programs of the Texas AgriLife Extension Service are open to all people without regard to race, color, sex, disability, religion, age, or national origin. Individuals with disabilities requiring auxilary aids, services or accommodations in order to participate in Extension programs are encouraged to call 281.855.5600 to discuss specific needs.