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Fireants: Biology, Products, Elimination
For every person (layman or professional) you talk to about the elimination or
control of fireants, you will hear a different opinion on what products to use and what
methods to employ in your ant control program. This article will address the
different issues: baits, granular insecticides, spray insecticides, various active
ingredients, methods of applying each type of pest control product -- and even debunk a couple of old wives tales!
On this page you will find links to different products and topics concerning
fireants (or fire ants, if you prefer) as well as other species of household ant pests:
Fire ants do not bite; they sting like wasps and bees. They
hold on with their mouthparts and inject venom into skin through a smooth - not barbed -
stinger.
It is thought that fire ants came into the United States in the 1930s aboard
ships from South America, entering through ports in Mobile, AL and Savannah, GA. The
pests are known for their aggressive behavior, nasty stings and huge mounds. Their
prolific breeding has allowed them to displace many native ants. The ants attack
anything that disturbs their colonies, making them a threat to small children who have
slow reaction to the ants' sting. The ants can also cause potholes by undermining roads
and can destroy electrical contacts.
Imported fire ants are 1/8 to 1/4 inch in length and are reddish brown to
black. They are social insects and live in colonies which may have up to 200,000
individuals. Fire ant colonies are made up of a queen ant, winged
males and females (virgin queens), workers, and brood (which is made up of ant eggs,
larvae, and pupae). The queen fire ant lives in a protected nest which may be
several feet deep and can be several feet away from the visible mound or mounds.
There may be several satellite nests near the main nest and some nests may have more than
one queen.
Fire ants usually have two flying swarms each year when winged males and females leave
the colony for their reproductive flights. This insures the spread and survival of
the species. Swarming usually occurs in late Spring and in Summer but can occur
during any time of the year. The number of swarms (and the number of swarmers) can
depend on the size, strength and health of the colony as well as contributing conditions:
abundance of food sources, rainfall, air and ground temperatures. Fire ant mating
occurs 300 to 800 feet in the air. After mating the fertilized queen begins a new
colony in the soil. Not every mated queen is successful. Flying ants
(swarmers) have many enemies: birds, lizards, frogs and other bugs -- even other ants.
Over the last few decades, fireants have shown us that they can readily adapt to different
weather patterns, locations and even complicated control measures targeting their
extinction. Past attempts at eliminating fireants from certain areas (with the use
of massive pesticide treatments from ground and air) have done little to inhibit the
tremendous march of these persistent pests. Most of these programs actually helped
the fireant by wiping out other species of ants that competed with the fireant for food!
There was a time when entomologists told us that only a few colonies of these biting pests
could survive per acre. It was believed that the different ant colonies would drive
out all competing fireants for territory and food. We were also told that each colony
would have only one viable queen. You may know travel through the southeast United
States and find dozens of colonies per acre. Each colony may contain several viable
queens and each colony may even share resources with its neighbors. This social
behavior resembles the satellites of other ant pests such as the white-footed ant, pharaoh ant and carpenter ant.
During a trip to the mountains of north Alabama during icy weather, the author noted
conical shaped piles of dirt & clay (the soils indigenous to the region) that averaged
3 feet in height, less than a foot in diameter at the base, tapering to a dull point at
its top. When broken (during the middle of the day) these mounds were found to house
thousands of worker fireants tending hundreds of ant larvae. The ants were building
mounds which obviously took advantage of the mid-day heat to help incubate and maintain
the ant larvae of the colony! When these same type of mounds were broken open for
inspection at sundown, no sign of ant or ant larvae were to be found. The ants had
returned underground to avoid night time temperatures. Their adaptation to the icy
temperatures was a sight to see, but this adaptation is also their undoing: the method
might work in northern Alabama and Tennessee but will not work in northern states, due to
the frost line. We might see imported fireants continue to migrate northward but do
not expect them to become a major pest above Maryland.
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How Ant Baits Work
Ant Baits Used by Professionals
How to Properly Use Baits for Fireants, Ants
Over the years, there have been numerous attempts to
develop the perfect fireant bait and every year the industry gets closer to its
goal. Any bait designed to kill fireants (or other ant pests) must contain the
perfect mixture of a carrier, attractants and a killing agent or insecticide. This
killing agent cannot be too strong. If the worker ants detect an insecticide in
their food (bait) the food will be rejected by the entire colony. This detection
could happen at different "check points" in the processing of an ant colony's
food. Worker ants cannot eat solid foods (debunking the myth of Kill Ants with
Grits) but they can drink liquids and carry solids back to the ant colony nursery.
Ant larvae can digest solids. These solids are given back to workers (by
regurgitating liquids) who (in turn) feed 10 or more other workers, who feed other workers
-- eventually reaching the queen (or queens) and their workers. If a dangerous
material (poisons, pesticides, etc.) are detected early enough in this chain of colony
digestion of food, the contaminated food is earmarked by the entire colony. If
"food source A" is found to be dangerous, the alarm goes out through the entire
colony: "Do not eat food source A!" In this manner, the colony is
protected.
As you can see, there is a delicate balance of insecticide and proper attractants in an
ant bait. Too much insecticide will be rejected; too little insecticide will not be
strong enough to penetrate to the inner workings of the ant colony.
There are several professional ant baits being used by pest
control operators, golf courses and homeowners to combat fire ants. There are other
baits which target carpenter ants which are not listed or
discussed in this article.
The most popular (click on links for detailed information on each product):
Ascend Fire Ant Bait Extinguish
Fire Ant Bait
Maxforce Fireant Bait Maxforce Granular Bait Niban
Granular Bait
Each fireant bait has its advantages, whether it be its mode of action, areas where it may
be used or simply affordability for each situation. This section summarizes each ant
bait listed:
Ascend Fire Ant Bait is a bait preferred by
those who need to broadcast bait over a large area but are on a more limited budget.
When properly broadcasting a large area for control or prevention of ants, following label
instructions might be quite expensive when covering several acres with a
contact insecticide. Ascend Fireant Bait can be broadcast using a rotary
granule spreader.
Extinguish Fire Ant Bait is a bait that
may be used in graze lands and pastures. Its active ingredient (Methoprene) is not
actually an insecticide, but an IGR which inhibits the reproduction of the queen and
growth of immature ants, thus breaking the life cycle of the ant colony. This is a
very slow acting product that can take 6 weeks to effectively destroy a colony.
Maxforce Fireant Bait is
one of the newest from the Maxforce Baits product line, targeting fire ants. This
product contains the same active ingredient as similar Maxforce products but at a much
higher dosage.
Maxforce Granular Bait has been a
strong performer for several areas. It targets ants, fire
ants, crickets and roaches.
Maxforce FG is a variant (containing smaller granular size) that is easily injected into
wall voids for house cricket and pharaoh
ant elimination.
Niban Granular Bait is a honey and boric
acid bait that is labeled for killing ants, crickets,
roaches and silverfish.
Although it is not used extensively for outdoor fire ant elimination, Niban and Niban FG
are both used indoors by many people for controlling targeted pests.
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Proper Use of Fire Ant Bait
Spot Treating Mounds
Broadcasting Infested Areas with Bait
Baiting for ants of any kind (at least for those ants that will readily accept your
bait) has distinct advantages: the ants do all the work and very little active ingredient
is introduced into the environment. There are also disadvantages: cost of covering
large areas, stability of material (rain can be an enemy) and timing of application.
The first mistake most people make (when using a fire ant bait, or
other ant bait) is directly treating the mounds with the material. Although some
bait labels will encourage you to apply their bait directly to the mound, we have found
many ant control programs (large and small) that fail because of this method. If the
size of your infested property prohibits proper broadcasting, you can achieve control by
spot treating in the proper manner: apply bait around each individual mound where the
material is easily found by the worker ants. It also helps to sprinkle ant bait in
areas where fire ants are seen foraging for food.
Never "water in" ant baits. Many people confuse insecticide granules (used
for broadcasting) and granular baits. Insecticide granules need water to release the
active ingredient into the soil. Granular ant baits work best when applied at least
2 days before anticipated rainfall or irrigation. Many labels state that certain
baits will hold up to normal rainfall but this is not always accurate. For best
results, keep your granular bait dry for at least a couple of days to insure the ants will
accept your bait readily.
Most outdoor ant baits should be broadcast
with a granule spreader over entire area
(in the case of numerous mounds, severe imported fire ant infestations) in the spring and
fall of the first two years. In summer months, spot treat individual mounds that
might have survived the initial application or are the result of new colonies moving into
the territory. When this method is employed, fewer mounds will be found on the
property from year to year. The most popular baits used by professionals (when
broadcasting an acre or more) are Ascend Fire Ant Bait, Maxforce Fire Ant Killer Granular Bait and Extinguish Fire Ant Bait. Fireant infestations located in
pastures or graze lands should be treated with Extinguish.
This product works very slow but is safe for cattle, horses, goats or other grazing
animals.
Many baits require one pound of bait per acre. Read the label of your bait and
follow the application rates when broadcasting large areas.
Much fire ant bait research is done in the above mentioned manner. In certain South
American countries, fire ants are found in extremely large populations and are a constant
danger to the people of small villages and farms. Researchers have found that by
broadcasting baits over large areas they are able to greatly reduce the ant population and
help create a safer environment for the people of the area.
Broadcast Insecticides
Contact insecticides kill ants as the pests crawl through the material or the soil
which contains the material. Insecticides are broadcast in two ways: evenly spread
granular products (which are watered after application) and liquid concentrates applied
with your hose-end sprayer.
Using granules for ant elimination works well when applied correctly. Mound treating
with granules is a never-ending task that usually fails to give long term control.
When granules are evenly spread over entire fire ant infested area using the
proper granule spreader, the insecticide makes
the soil uninhabitable for ants, molecrickets, chinch bugs and other lawn pests.
Talstar Granules and Over'N Out are two of the many insecticides that can
be broadcast in such manner. Always use a good rotary granular
spreader for proper application.
Another method for applying insecticides over a broad area is by spraying concentrated
product through a hose-end sprayer. There are many brands and styles of hose-end
sprayers to choose from. We have seen best results using either a 20 gallon hose-end
or Gilmour
Dial-A-Mix sprayer. Sprayers designed for soluble fertilizers (no-clog sprayers)
do not properly disperse insecticides. You should choose a sprayer which has a
siphon tube; this type will empty itself and will distribute the same concentration of
product from beginning to end of the job.
There are several products to choose from when treating a lawn or other area for ants.
Our customers prefer to use Permethrin Pro or Talstar Concentrate. Both of these concentrated liquids
belong to the synthetic pyrethrin (pyrethroid) class of insecticides. Products of
this class are much safer for people, pets, plants and the environment than the older
classes (Dursban, Diazinon, Baygon, Lindane) and also work better on targeted pests.
Permethrin Pro (active ingredient: 36%
Permethrin) can be used indoors and outdoors. This odorless product is also used for
treating carpets and furniture when eliminating indoor flea and tick infestations.
Rate for outdoor ants: use 1 ounce of concentrate per 1,000 square feet of area to be
treated. Can also be used for mound drenching, using 1.6 ounces per gallon of water.
Talstar Concentrate (active ingredient: 7.9%
Bifenthrin) can be used for indoor and outdoor pest control. Talstar is
odorless and has become a favorite for professionals and do-it-yourselfers for eliminating
ants, molecrickets, ticks and fleas.
This product is unique from other insecticides: its molecules bond to soil
particles and do not leech through the soil, once it has been allowed to dry. Not
only is this safer for the surrounding environment but it also gives you longer control
when killing ants, ticks and other pests.
A little goes a long way! For initial application (when spraying for ants, fire
ants), only 1/2 ounce of Talstar concentrate is needed per 1,000 square feet of ground
area that is to be treated; 1/4 ounce per 1,000 can be used for follow-up applications or
preventative treatments. When drenching large fire ant mounds, use only 1/4 to 1/2
ounce per gallon of water.
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Debunking Myths
When any material is "dumped" on top of an ant bed, ants are not happy with the
situation. They merely stop using the mound and rebuild a short distance away.
This is where the methods of dumping a shovel full of one fire ant colony on top of
another colonies mound got popular. People saw mound activity stop and drew the
false conclusion that they had killed the colony. What actually happened was extreme
stress on the ant colony causing them to rebuild in another area. (The ant mound is
a door way to the colony -- it is not the actual colony!)
Using grits to eliminate ants became popular when people realized
that certain ant baits used small corn particles (grits) as a simple carrier for the ant
bait. Thinking that grits (corn) was the killing agent, thousands of people were
duped into dumping grits onto ant beds. When mound activity ceased, these
people proudly proclaimed that they had found an environmentally safe, easy and cheap
method for killing ants. As discussed earlier in this article, the stress of dumping
objects on mounds merely stresses the colony to rebuild another mound. In the case
of imported fire ants, the mounds are of tremendous size and take quite some time to
rebuild, giving the "grit applicator" a sense of victory. Sorry, grits do
not kill ants; grits do not make them blow up; grits do not even give them a
headache. If grits (corn) actually caused damage to fire ants, they why are so many
corn fields riddled with machine crippling fire ant mounds?
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Spot Treatment Insecticides
Spot treating or spraying is fine for very small mounds. Larger
mounds (such as those built by imported fire ants and Allegheny Mound Ants) should be
thoroughly drenched. Products used for drenching include Talstar
Concentrate, Permethrin Pro and Cypermethrin concentrates
-- Demon EC, Cynoff EC.
Mound drenching is favored by those who have several acres of land and do not have the
resources or time to broadcast the entire area. Mound
drenching is often combined with a broadcast treatment. This "one two"
punch gives a quick knock down and long term control of ants. The most economical
way to purchase a drench & broadcast combination is with one of several Ant Control Kits. When drenching, use enough
insecticide solution to soak through the mound and into the galleries beneath the soil's
surface. If water tables are high in your area, do not use this method. Our
goal is to safely rid your property of fire ants while protecting people, pets, wildlife
and the environment.
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fire ant control
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