Organic products: A few products are certified as organic.Pouring chlorine, ammonia, gasoline or diesel fuel on mounds can contaminate the soil and groundwater, is dangerous, and is strongly discouraged. Some home remedies, such as applying instant grits, molasses, aspartame or club soda to ant mounds, do not work. This method is labor intensive and the hot water must be handled carefully. Drenching a mound with two to three gallons of almost boiling water eliminates ant colonies about 60 percent of the time, but it will also kill plants the water contacts. Home remedies: Many home remedies have been devised to control fire ants.Biological control agents available on the retail market, such as parasitic nematodes, do not sustain themselves or spread on their own once they are released. However, ongoing release programs in all infested states are making decapitating flies more prevalent in the environment. These natural enemies have been successful in areas where they have been released but they are not available to the general public. Biological control: Government and university researchers have imported and tested natural enemies of fire ants, such as parasitic decapitating flies from South America.IPM incorporates biological control methods and selective use of insecticides. Another option is to implement an integrated pest management program (IPM). In areas where these ants do not present problems, doing nothing is one option. Your objective should be to find the method or methods that are most cost-effective, environmentally sound, and fit your tolerance level for fire ants. There may not be one best method for fire ant control, especially in large areas. It is usually more effective and less expensive for homeowners to treat the entire yard with a product designed for broadcast application.įire ants cannot be eliminated entirely because it is not possible to treat all infested areas. Also, deep-dwelling colonies that escaped mound treatment can quickly form mounds after a soaking rain. Even an area where every mound has been treated can soon be re-infested by fire ant colonies migrating from untreated areas or floating there on flood water. To be effective, the mound treatment must kill the queen(s). You can easily use too much insecticide, which may lead to environmental contamination if rain washes the insecticide into lakes and streams. Mound treatments are expensive, up to $2 or more per mound, and require lots of time and labor if you have much land to treat. Most people (about 80 percent according to one survey) try to control fire ants by treating individual mounds. If you are uncertain about the species, call your local extension office. Fire ants are similar in appearance to many other ants, so make sure you have correctly identified the species before attempting to solve your ant problem. Worker fire ants are dark reddish-brown with shiny black abdomens, and are about 1/16- to about 1/4-inch long.
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Fire ants emerge quickly and begin biting and stinging when the mound is disturbed.
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A fire ant mound does not have a central opening. Collectively, ants till more earth than earthworms and some prey on other insect pests to help to reduce their numbers.įire ants will build their mounds almost anywhere-in the open or next to a building, tree, sidewalk or electrical box. There are hundreds of ant species in the southern United States, including some native fire ant species, and most of them are considered beneficial insects. Knowing your options will allow you to make better choices to protect your family, pets, and property. The Two-Step Method and other approaches described here can lower that cost while reducing environmental damage and improving fire ant control. Fire ants also infest buildings and can damage electrical equipment by chewing on wire insulation.įire ants cost Americans $6 billion a year, including the cost of insecticides. Their large mounds (as many as 300 per acre) are unsightly and often damage mowers and other equipment. When it comes to insect pests, fire ants would probably top everyone’s list! Red and black imported fire ants ( Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis richteri) are invasive species and their painful bites can injure or kill livestock, wildlife, domestic animals, and humans.