Fire Ants Kill Winter Texan in the RGV

Amdro works well. It takes time to do its job. The ants carry it into the nest and feed it to the queen. If you are expecting instant annihilation like spraying Raid on a roach, that isn't gonna happen. Some people are having good results with diatomaceous earth. Supposedly, it slices their skin and causes them to die of dehydration. I say the best defense is just watching your feet. Fire ants don't just hang out in obvious mounds. If you see an ant on your shoe, move. (And by the way, jumping in the water does not cause them to let go. I have even tried to hose them off my kids when they've gotten into them. They just hold on.)

I lived in Florida for 20 years and found that the only thing that really works well is Amdro. Kills them dead in 1-2 days. You can sprinkle some near an ant hill and within a minute watch them carry the little granules inside. I would walk my yard about once a week with my jug of Amdro, looking for new ant hills. And just sprinkle a little near the new ones I found. I tried to be pretty vigilant because I had a dog and did not want to end up standing on a fire ant hill in the dark, holding a dog leash.

Honestly, fire ants are not a big deal unless you're allergic. You just learn to watch where you stand in the yard. I would not lose any sleep over them.

Tim

Another vote for Amdro. We had ant problems in CA but not the fire ants we dealt with in Louisiana. I would use Amdro on active mounds but also broadcast periodically and it seemed to keep them away.

Does the Ortho home defense work on them, I use it on the Argentinian ant that we have in San Diego, haven't seen any fire ants yet, they have them in Palm Springs where we go some times.

I spray the tires front and back, the jacks, and anything that touches ground sewer hose, water hose, power cable and the chairs and table if I rest them against the RV, so far so good.

navegator

....oh, one more thing:

"Fire ant colonies have been found inside automobiles, trucks and recreation vehicles (Collins et al. 1993). Traffic accidents have been caused by fire ants stinging the drivers of automobiles."

Collins, H.L., T.C. Lockley and D.J. Adams. 1993. Red imported fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) infestation of motorized vehicles. Fla. Entomol. 76(3): 515­516.

Also, fire ant colonies are OFTEN found inside the walls of houses, businesses and farm structures and rotten logs, where it is often completely unknown by the occupants of their existence therein...they are also found under concrete foundations and under house slabs and roads. When the huge nests eventually "subside" under the concrete footings and/or slab, the structure is permanently wrecked (requiring demolition, or complete basement replacement, costing ~$10 grand or much more).

silversand wrote:
BTW: fire ants are not only found in the Southern US. They are found all along the Maine coast, and are now invading Southern British Columbia, Canada.

The specie is European fire ant (Myrmica rubra). They sting in the same way as the fire ants found down south: leaving a huge inflamation (up to 4 inch diameter welt) and excruciating pain for up to several hours.

The Maine colonies have been found at least once about 20 miles inland, and the inland colonies can survive 2 northeast winters (these things can handle brutal cold, for at least several winters). Remember, coastal Maine is much more temperate than its interior over winter (same as coastal British Columbia, but a bit colder).
...

THAT I didn't want to read!

So are you saying that nothing kills them? We are using white powder in a shaker. I can't remember the brand. What do the professionals use?

....I hate to break it to ya, but nearly half the United States from coast-to-coast, has already been invaded by fire ants (including up to Maine coast, and into Coastal British Columbia):




The *potential* for fire ant expansion to more than 50% of the USA is a virtual certainty. Also, notice that Colorado and Utah fire ant data are conspicuously "missing". This is not because they don't exist there! The eco and
spatial climatic conditions are perfect for fire ant existence in both of these states.

Naio wrote:
Dang. I wanted to check out texas and the southeast. Now I don't.

11 Winters in south Texas and never been an issue for us, if you have a few ants ignore them or kill them.

Dang. I wanted to check out texas and the southeast. Now I don't.