• Introduction
• Management Options

• Home Lawns and Ornamental Turf
• Homes and Buildings
• Electrical Equipment and Utility Housing
• Home Gardens
• Composting, Mulch and Pavement
• Bodies of Water

• Organizing a Community-Wide Suppression Program
• Treatment Methods
• Biology and Identification
• Medical Problems
• History of Control Efforts
• Fire Ant Insecticides
• Policy Statement
• Acknowledgments
• Print this Lesson

Fire ants feeding on okra bud. Photo by Bart Drees.

Ants occasionally feed on vegetable plants in home gardens. They tunnel into potatoes underground and feed on okra buds and developing pods. The worst damage usually occurs during hot, dry weather. Ants may be a nuisance to gardeners during weeding and harvesting. Ants prey on some garden pests such as caterpillars, but protect or “tend” others, such as aphids, by keeping their natural enemies away.

Treatment Options

• Ant mounds can be shoveled out of the garden or treated with very hot water, taking care not to disturb plants or allow hot water to contact them.

• Only a few bait products are specifically registered for treating imported fire ants in home gardens, including Greenlight® Fire Ant Control with Conserve® (spinosad) and Fertilome Come and Get It (spinosad). The bait product Extinguish®, which contains methoprene, is registered for use in “cropland.” Other bait products are not specifically registered for use inside home vegetable gardens, although they can be applied outside the garden’s perimeter. Foraging ants from colonies both inside and outside the garden will collect the bait and take it to their colonies.

• A number of contact insecticides are registered to treat general insect problems in home vegetable gardens. Those labeled for control of “ants” include products containing carbaryl, es-fenvalerate, pyrethrins, pyrethrins plus diatomaceous earth, and spinosad (5%). Some granular products contain carbaryl, carbaryl plus metaldehyde, or pyrethroid insecticides, including cyfluthrin or es-fenvalerate. These are available for treating other “soil insects” and may provide some control of fire ant foragers. Follow directions and pre-harvest intervals indicated on the product label when using a pesticide on and around food plants.

• To keep ants from entering a garden, manage them properly in the surrounding landscape. Products registered for controlling ants in turf areas can be applied outside the perimeter of the garden as a barrier, or used to treat individual mounds near the garden.