• Introduction
• Management Options
• Organizing a Suppression Program

• Consider Resources and Needs
• Program Planning

• Treatment Methods
• Biology and Identification
• Medical Problems
• History of Control Efforts
• Fire Ant Insecticides
• Policy Statement
• Acknowledgments
• Print this Lesson

Basic education is critical. If you treat and your neighbor does not, you will find your yard is quickly re-infested. If you educate your neighbors, you can coordinate your battle against the imported fire ant more effectively and efficiently. Developing leadership in some neighborhoods may be difficult, but is not an insurmountable problem. Many states have agencies that can help in organizing communities–be it a neighborhood watch program or a fire ant management program. There are many ways people can work together to conduct community-wide fire ant suppression programs.

Coordinating Neighborhood Treatment

Homeowners can coordinate treatment of their entire neighborhood each year, usually once in the fall and once in the spring. Each homeowner should receive instructions on: 1) appropriate fire ant bait products to purchase; 2) how to properly broadcast a bait; and 3) treatment date(s). Each homeowner is expected to make his own applications or arrange for treatment on the designated treatment date(s). Contingency dates should be scheduled in case rain is forecast or the temperature is lower than 65 or higher than 90 degrees F on the primary treatment date. Volunteers can be enlisted to treat common areas, vacant lots and yards for other participants who are unable to make applications themselves.

Working through homeowner associations

Homeowner associations might contract with a commercial applicator to broadcast fire ant bait over the entire subdivision periodically, including common areas, medians and other community property in the area. The contractor should be asked to monitor the area and re-treat areas as needed.

Working through local agencies, city and county government

Some states have legislation or other laws in place that can aid your community in organizing treatment programs (e.g., fire ant abatement legislation in place in Arkansas, or public health laws in many states). With enough citizen support, local governments can establish fire ant control programs that treat public areas and perhaps allow homeowners to have their properties treated for an additional fee. In California, Orange County and the Coachella Valley have passed fee assessments that provide funding for local agencies to control imported fire ant infestations within the assigned areas. The municipal or county government may be able to contract with a commercial pest control applicator. Advertising can encourage entire city blocks or neighborhoods to sign up because the larger the area treated, the longer lasting the control. Programs can include annual broadcast applications of a fire ant bait, follow-up checks, and possibly individual mound treatments as needed. Individual landowners may need to pay a fee for the program.

A city government might help coordinate the aerial application of a fire ant bait to an entire town. Areas where baits can not be applied or sites not listed on the product’s label, such as bodies of water and vegetable gardens, need to be covered or avoided during application. Widespread citizen support is essential. The aerial applicators contracted by the city must agree to modify equipment to apply the recommended amount of bait per acre, heed the FAA flying height over populated areas, and avoid bodies of water and agricultural land unless the product used is registered for these sites. The product(s) used must be registered for application to the sites treated. Many volunteers would be needed to successfully coordinate and implement this program.