Released October 21, 2011
PINE BLUFF, Ark. – “Ornery” may be the common way to describe fire ants, but a better word might be “determined,” according to Dennis Bailey, Jefferson County staff chair for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.
Now that fall has arrived, signaling a time when fire ant populations are less likely to reproduce quickly, homeowners are just as determined to remove them.
Bailey became known as the “Ant Man” in 1985, when he was credited with finding the first red imported fire ants in Oklahoma. “Actually, when I collected that sample I was stung a few times and developed a deep resentment for the mean little creatures to this day,” he said.
Mean little creatures have a knack for surviving
“Fire ants are sophisticated insects similar to honeybees in intelligence, and they are quick to protect their colonies,” he said. “In floodwaters they will create a ball of floating ants to protect their queen, actually sacrificing their worker-ant bodies.
“Their motto is, ‘Long live the queen!’”
It’s the queen that’s key to fire ant survival. Winged reproductive ants can mate in midair, and any fertilized female ant lands, “chews off her wings, crawls in the ground and sets up shop,” said Bailey.
Best time to treat fire ant mounds is late spring and late fall, after the winged reproductive ants have flown away
“By waiting ‘til that happens, you have more security that neighboring ants won’t fly back in to start new colonies after your treatment has become ineffective,” he said.
Most insecticides have a short lifespan in the environment. Almost any one of them will kill ants, but most will only kill those in the top part of the ant mound, said Bailey. “The queens they protect may be several feet deep in the ground,” he said.
Any major threat will usually move the colony. Even running over a mound with a lawnmower or kicking it may do the job, said Bailey. But that will only serve to relocate the ants.
“When they sense death among the troops, they will move the queen,” he said. “You may think you had total success until a week later, when a new mound appears 10 feet away.”
Once late spring or fall arrives, it’s time to get rid of the ants. First, test the area for worker ants by leaving a few corn chips or pieces of hot dog. “Workers like oils and fats, and in just a few minutes they will be all over those items,” Bailey explained. That’s the time to apply a good bait-and-kill product for rapid intake down to the queens.
Spreaders can be used to lightly disperse the product, or it can be done by hand. Ants feed as much as 100 feet from their mounds, so a wide area is recommended. “One pound per acre is almost invisible, but it only takes a little to do the trick,” said Bailey.
Combination products, like Extinguish Plus, work well. Its two main ingredients are hydramethylinon — the ingredient in Amdro — and a regulator or IGR, such as methoprene. “The key is to get methoprene to the queen before the ants detect they are dying,” he said.
“The hydramethylinon part of the mix will start killing ants a short time later but the queens, if moved, will no longer lay viable eggs,” said Bailey. That’s the methoprene at work. “Then you’ll have total control,” he said. “By doing this for a year or two, you will have few fire ants.”
Cost can be minimal. “Figure about $10 to $15 for a small city yard per year,” said Bailey.
He encouraged neighbors to share control products due to a short shelf life. A concerted treatment effort by neighbors and community associations can eradicate the pest from entire neighborhoods if applied correctly.
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University of Arkansas, http://www.uaex.edu/news/october2011/1021FireAnts.html
Contact: Mary Hightower, (501) 671-2126, mhightower@uaex.edu
