HOW TO GET RID OF FIRE ANTS IN THE YARD
WHAT ARE RED IMPORTED FIRE ANTS?
The Red Imported Fire Ant, commonly known as the “fire ant”, is an aggressive, invasive and dangerous species of ant. They have forced many native species of ants to flee from their habitat.
They have caused the loss of millions of dollars in crops by eating the seeds and the newly emerged plants, the loss of livestock, the loss of native species of birds and animals, damage to agricultural equipment and medical costs from ant bite treatments.
The ant is native to Argentina in South America.
These ants can live in different environments ranging from deserts to rain forests.
In the southern states of America, the fire ant has no natural enemies. This has allowed the ants to expand their territory rapidly in the warm climates of the southern states.
For a more comprehensive description of the red imported fire ant, click on this link from wikipedia.org:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_imported_fire_ant
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT
The FDA estimates that in the United States, $5 billion is spent annually for medical treatment , damage caused by the ants and the cost to control the Red Imported Fire Ant.
Damage to agricultural equipment, the loss of livestock and crop losses is estimated to be $750 million annually.
SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_imported_fire_ants_in_the_UnitedStates
In the state of Texas, the economic impact of the Red Imported Fire Ant is estimated to be $1.2 billion annually.
SOURCE: https://fireant.tamu.edu/
WHAT DO FIRE ANTS LOOK LIKE?
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
WHAT DO FIRE ANTS EAT?
These ants are omnivores.
Omnivores are animals that can eat, digest and live on plant and animal matter. They eat plants, animals and insects.
The worker ants scour the location in the vicinity of their mounds to find food. When they find food, they return to their colony, marking their path with a chemical emitted by their stinger.
Numerous worker ants in the colony follow the chemical trail to the food source. They collect as much food as they can carry and return to the colony, also marking the trail with a chemical substance from their stingers.
More worker ants follow the trail to the food source and they return to the colony with more food.
The ants try to collect as much food as they can before other ants, insects or animals find the food source and take it away from them.
HOW DID FIRE ANTS GET TO THE U.S.
It is believed that the ants entered the United States sometime between 1933 and 1945 through the port of Mobile, Alabama, perhaps in the dirt used as ballast in cargo ships from South America.
The ants probably came from the area near Formosa, Argentina.
HOW DID FIRE ANTS SPREAD?
Fire ants spread when dirt, hay bales, nursery plants, grass sod, lumber, timber, livestock, etc. are shipped to a new location.
In a flood, the ants float downstream on a log or debris or they create a raft by linking their legs and floating downstream until they reach dry ground.
They will also reach a new location during the mating flight of the queen ant.
WHERE DO FIRE ANTS LIVE IN THE UNITED STATES
In the United States, the ants live in at least fourteen southern states and in Puerto Rico.
These states are:
1) Alabama
2) Arkansas
3) California
4) Florida
5) Georgia
6) Louisiana
7) Mississippi
8) New Mexico
9) North Carolina
10) Oklahoma
11) Puerto Rico
12) South Carolina
13) Tennessee
14) Texas
15) Virginia
The northernmost state where the ants have been found is Virginia.
The farthest west they have been found is California.
WHY ARE FIRE ANTS BAD?
The ants build their colonies in mounds located in open, sunny areas. They also have been known to build their mounds inside of rotting logs and stumps.
Their mounds can reach a height of sixteen to twenty inches, if the mound is not disturbed. They do not like shaded areas for their mounds.
The queen can lay thousands of eggs. This allows the ants to rapidly take over a location.
These ants are very aggressive in defending their nest. Hundreds of ants attack intruders in a blitzkrieg, swarming manner that overwhelms the intruder.
They bite their victim with their mandibles, then they thrust their stinger into the victim several times. They can sting multiple times because their stinger is not barbed.
Even though they are small, their toxic sting and the large number of ants that rush to defend their nest, allows them to overpower and kill intruders, who may be much greater in size.
Fire ants are the Nazi storm troopers of the ant world.
Fire ants are hazardous to people, animals and property for these reasons:
⦁ Numerous ants attack intruders in a swarming, aggressive manner.
⦁ Many ants will bite a person as the colony unleashes a blitzkrieg attack from a multitude of ants. They continue to attack and bite until the intruders leave their area. A person may have to endure multiple, tormenting stings.
⦁ The ants will attack and kill small animals that cannot escape the area, animals that are injured and cannot leave the area, newborn animals and baby birds that were born in nests on the ground.
⦁ In many locations, the ants have produced a sharp decrease in the birth rate of quail, Killdeer, the Western Meadowlark and other birds that nest on the ground or in low places where the ants can reach the nest.
⦁ In Texas, the ants have almost wiped out the Texas Horned lizard by killing and eating newly hatched lizards and by decreasing the food source of the Horned Lizard, the Red Harvester Ant.
⦁ In Texas, the Cottontail rabbit population has been decimated by fire ants.
⦁ New born chicks, calves, goats, sheep and other livestock are often killed when they are unable to leave an area infested by fire ants.
⦁ The ants damage or destroy crops by eating seeds and young plants.
⦁ Large mounds of ants can mangle farm implements.
⦁ Large mounds can bend riding mower blades and damage the mower motor.
⦁ The ants nest in electrical equipment. They will often cause short circuits in the electrical system which can result in a malfunction of the equipment.
WHY DO FIRE ANTS APPEAR TO STING AT THE SAME TIME?
Fire ants are sensitive to movement and will sting a person when the person moves.
When an ant stings a person, they will start to scratch and move. More ants will then sting that person.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET STUNG BY FIRE ANTS
The ant injects a venom that is toxic to human cells.
The sting creates a severe burning sensation. A white pustule will appear in a day or two.
It is best to wash the place where you were bitten with soap and water to lessen the pain and swelling of the bite. Try washing the bite area with Dawn dish detergent, that might help to clean the bite area and lessen the pain.
Don’t scratch the sting as scratching can produce a white pustule which can become infected.
If you experience shortness of breath, nausea, severe perspiration, slurred speech or a thickening of the tongue, obtain medical treatment immediately.
If you know you are allergic to the bite of fire ants, you should seek emergency medical treatment immediately.
Babies, small children, elderly people, and people whose immune system has been compromised are especially vulnerable to the sting of a fire ant.
Babies, small children, elderly people and people whose immune system has been compromised should never be placed or allowed into an area that is known to have fire ants.
ARE FIRE ANTS STINGS LETHAL?
According to Texas A&M University, only 1% of the population will have a lethal reaction to a fire ant sting.
Older people, infants, young children and people with suppressed immune systems are at the greatest risk to have a lethal reaction to an ant sting.
People in good health can have a bad reaction if they get stung by numerous ants.
Fire ants usually cannot overcome a person in good health who is able to move.
If you step into a mound, move away from the area as fast as you can and brush away any ants that are on you.
SOURCE: https://fireant.tamu.edu/manage/faq/
WHAT ATTRACTS FIRE ANTS TO YOUR YARD?
During the warmer season, the ants will come into your yard as they search for a food source.
They look for dead insects, dead animals, plants, sweet plant secretions, seeds, garbage, food scraps, pet food, chicken feed, livestock feed, etc.
WHEN ARE FIRE ANTS MOST ACTIVE?
The ants are most active in the spring, summer and early fall months when the temperatures range from 72°F to 96°F.
In the summer months, when the temperature rises over 96°F, the ants tend to stay underground in their nest in order to escape the severe heat.
In the cold winter months, they stay underground to avoid the cold.
In the southernmost states, they can remain active for most of the year unless it gets very cold.
WHAT IS THE NATURAL PREDATOR OF FIRE ANTS?
In the southern states, there are no natural predators that can keep the fire ant population in check. This has allowed the ant to spread rapidly throughout the South.
Armadillos, horned lizards, some birds, spiders and ant lions are known to eat fire ants but they do not have a serious effect on the size of the ant population.
In some parts of the southern states, “crazy ants” will reduce the fire ant population. For more information on the “crazy ants” in the southern states, click on this link:
https://news.utexas.edu/2013/05/16/invasive-crazy-ants-are-displacing-fire-ants-researchers-find/
For information on potential biological control agents for the red imported fire ant, click on this link: https://fireant.tamu.edu/files/2014/03/ENTO_008.pdf
HOW DEEP ARE FIRE ANT MOUNDS?
Passage ways can be 10 feet deep or more, but most passageways are not that deep.
In clay soil, the ants create deeper passage ways than the passageways they create in sandy soil.
HOW BIG IS A FIRE ANT COLONY?
A mature ant colony can have as many as 500,000 female worker ants but most colonies have between 100,000 and 500,000 female worker ants.
These female worker ants are sterile. They live for four to six weeks.
A colony can have dozens of queen ants, each capable of laying up to 1,500 eggs a day.
A queen ant can live up to seven years, sometimes longer.
DO FIRE ANTS GO INSIDE A HOUSE?
Yes, they will go inside a house.
Most of the time, the ants will stay outside. They prefer being away from people.
However, when they are foraging for food, they will come inside a home through the smallest hole in order to find food.
FIRE ANTS FLOOD
In a flood, the ants will link their legs and feet together into a tight ball to create a floating raft.
The worker ants form a ball around the queen, the larvae, pupae and as many eggs as possible.
As they float, the ants rotate their position in the raft in order for the ants that are under water to come to the top of the raft so they can breathe. How long the ants can stay underwater is not known.
If they come in contact with limbs, logs or debris, they will climb onto it and float downstream to a new location where they will rebuild their colony.
They have been known to float for miles before they are able to come ashore on dry land.
Stay away from a floating ant colony.
FIRE ANT TREATMENT
YOU MUST KILL THE QUEEN
The only effective way to destroy a fire ant mound is to exterminate the queen ant. You must kill the queen in order to destroy the mound.
If you don’t kill the queen, you won’t get rid of the ant mound.
According to Texas A&M University, the most effective method to get rid of fire ants in your yard is to use a two-step method that includes:
⦁ spreading a bait pesticide on the ground that worker ants will take to the queen ant.
⦁ saturating the mound with a liquid pesticide or covering the mound with a granular bait.
USE A BAIT PESTICIDE
In the first step, a bait pesticide is used to kill the queen.
It is best to treat your yard three times with a bait pesticide: This gives you the best chance to succeed when treating your yard for fire ants.
⦁ in the early spring months when the weather has warmed and the ants have started hunting for food.
⦁ in the middle of the summer months.
⦁ again sometime between late August and mid-October.
If you can only treat your yard one time, it would be best to treat your yard in the early spring months.
The bait should be spread throughout your yard, don’t skip any area.
Worker ants will find the bait and take it to their mound to feed the queen ant. The queen ant will eat the bait and die or become infertile.
This method is slow. It can take several weeks to a couple of months to exterminate the fire ant colony.
Bait pesticides do not achieve a 100% kill rate. At best, 80% to 90% of the ant colonies are eliminated.
According to Mississippi State University, it is best to:
⦁ use a small, hand powered bait spreader.
⦁ don’t use a fertilizer spreader as it tends to scatter too much pesticide.
⦁ use a slow acting bait to give the workers time to feed the bait to the queen and the other ants.
⦁ adult ants can’t eat solid food. Solid food is fed to the larvae who digest and liquefy the food. The liquid food is then taken from the larvae and given to the queen and the other ants.
⦁ spread the bait five to twenty feet away from any colonies that survive the initial treatment as multiple entrances to a mound can be located five feet to twenty feet from the mound.
SOURCE: http://extension.msstate.edu/publications/control-fire-ants-your-yard
Many bait pesticides are made of corn grit that has been saturated with an oil like soybean oil. The oil is saturated with a slow acting toxic chemical. The poison kills the ants when they eat the grits.
⦁ Use clean bait from an unopened package.
⦁ Spread the bait when the ground is dry and no rain is expected for two to three days.
⦁ Do not spread the bait in the morning when the grass is wet with dew.
⦁ Afternoon can be the best time to spread the bait as the worker ants are foraging for food at that time.
⦁ Do not spread the bait with a broadcaster that has been used to spread seeds or fertilizer. The seed or fertilizer residue might contaminate or lessen the effect of the fire ant bait.
⦁ Apply the bait during the spring, summer or fall months, when the weather is warm.
Click on this link to buy a fire ant bait:
Syngenta — A20380A — Advion Fire Ant Bait — Insecticide — 2lb
- Advion fire ant bait effective and fast acting. Combined with an alluring formulation, Advion ensures control of imported fire ants in 24–72 hours for fast colony control.
- Broadcast or mound treatment
- Recreation areas as we
TREAT THE MOUND
In the second step, a drench formula is used to treat the mounds.
Drench the mound with a liquid pesticide. A liquid pesticide can usually eradicate a mound within a few hours.
For more information on the Texas A&M University two step method to treat fire ants, click on this link:
Click on this link to buy a drench that is safe for your family and pets:
Orange Guard 101 Home Pest Control Gallon
- Rtu gal orange guard
- Water-based formula
- Kills on contact
- May be used around food, humans, and pets
- All ingredients generally recognized as safe by the FDA
HOME REMEDIES FOR FIRE ANTS
CITRUS OIL AND DAWN DISH DETERGENT
1) Orange oil will dissolve an ant’s exoskeleton and they will suffocate.
2) Mix about 1 ounce of 100% orange oil into a gallon of water.
3) Drench the mound with the mixture.
4) You can increase the potency of the citrus oil by mixing the oil with some Dawn dish detergent in a gallon of water. The Dawn soap also breaks down the exoskeleton of the fire ants.
Texas A&M entomologists combined 1–1/2 ounces of Medina Orange oil with three ounces of Dawn dish detergent in a gallon of water.
This proved to be a potent solution to get rid of the ants.
SOURCE: https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/get-rid-of-fire-ants-zb0z1307zsor
Click on this link to buy a citrus oil that is safe for your family and your pets:
Orange Guard 101 Home Pest Control Gallon
- Rtu gal orange guard
- Water-based formula
- Kills on contact
- May be used around food, humans, and pets
- All ingredients generally recognized as safe by the FDA
DIATOMACEOUS EARTH
1) Buy some diatomaceous earth from your local Tractor Supply store. The guy in the video below used the Red Lake brand. He says this method works for him.
2) Spread it on the ant mound, around the mound and on ant trails.
3) The sharp particles of the Diatomaceous earth will cut the exoskeleton of the ants, causing them to die.
4) The worker ants know the Diatomaceous earth will hurt them so they will not walk over the Diatomaceous earth. They will not be able to find food. They will starve and the queen will starve.
5) The Diatomaceous earth is not poisonous.
6) You may have to reapply some DE to some mounds several times.
7) Click on this link to watch a youtube.com video on this process:
HOW TO USE BORAX TO KILL ANTS OUTSIDE
1) Mix one half cup of sugar with two tablespoons of Borax in a container. Add two cups of warm water. Pour the bait into several containers like jar lids you no longer need.
2) Go to an ant mound. Place the jar lids with the bait around the mound.
3) The ants will eat the bait and take some of the bait to feed the queen. The queen will die and the rest of the colony will die.
4) Make sure your pets will not have access to the bait.
Click on this link to watch a youtube.com video where they use Borax to kill fire ants.:
REDNECK METHOD
Drench the mound with some diesel fuel.
THESE HOME REMEDIES WILL NOT KILL FIRE ANTS
⦁ Coffee grounds
⦁ cinnamon
⦁ cayenne pepper
⦁ aspartame
⦁ Plaster of Paris
⦁ molasses
⦁ vinegar
⦁ club soda
⦁ baking soda
⦁ grits
SOURCE: https://www.motherearthnews.com/homesteading-and-livestock/get-rid-of-fire-ants-zb0z1307zsor
WILL COFFEE GROUNDS GET RID OF ANTS?
Coffee grounds spread over a mound will not kill the ants.
The ants might be repelled by the odor of the grounds, but the grounds will not kill the ants.
FIRE ANT PREDATORS
PHORID FLIES AND FIRE ANTS
Phorid Flies are enemies of fire ants and can be used to control the ants.
⦁ The presence of Phorid flies can stop or slow down the food foraging efforts of many ants.
⦁ A Phorid fly will inject their eggs into the thorax of the ants.
⦁ A few days later, a fly larva is born.
⦁ The larva crawls through the ant’s body until it reaches the head.
⦁ In about two weeks, the larvae produces a chemical that causes the ant’s body to fall apart.
⦁ The larva breaks through the ant’s head.
⦁ The fly flies away and starts to look for a fire ant to lay its eggs.
For more information on Phorid Flies and fire ants, click on this link from the USDA Agricultural Research Service:
https://www.ars.usda.gov/southeast-area/gainesville-fl/center-for-medical-agricultural-and-veterinary-entomology/imported-fire-ant-and-household-insects-research/docs/phorid-flies-as-biocontrol-agents/#:~:text=Phorid%20flies%20in%20the%20genus,decapitating%20their%20host%20upon%20pupation.
We wish you the best of luck in your endeavors to rid your property of fire ants.
DISCLOSURE:
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This article contains affiliate links to products that will help you control fire ants in your yard.
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All the best to you and your family.
