Fire Ant Treatment Organic Insecticides

• Introduction
• Management Options
• Organizing a Community-Wide Suppression Program
• Treatment Methods

• Natural and Biological Control
• Physical and Mechanical Methods
• Control Devices
• Home Remedies
• Organic Insecticides
• Chemical Control

• Baits
• Contact Insecticides for Individual Mounds
• Mound Drenches
• Granular Products
• Dusts
• Injectable Products
• Surface Applications

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

Man applying fire ant treatment to lawn using hand-held spreader.

Any chemical-based product sold with a claim that it kills fire ants must be registered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or approved for sale by the appropriate state regulatory agency. Several products said to be “organic” (of natural origin) are currently marketed for fire ant control (see the listing of “organic” or naturally produced insecticides). All of these products are registered by the EPA as pesticides and some are very effective. Some “organic” treatments, however, are not necessarily safer than conventional insecticides and should always be used as directed and with care.

Several products containing spinosad, a combination of toxins produced by a soil micro-organism, have been listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in organic production. Spinosad bait and a d-limonene ant mound drench can be used as an organic two-step program and have been packaged together in the Safer® brand Fire Ant Control Kit.