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Now having read up on them... SO much info online incl. the links here. Some things I learned: you have to use the bait specifically meant for fire ants, and use it when it's going to be dry for a few hours. You want bait that will be taken back to the nest. Ag dept. recommends you do the peanut-butter-on-a-stick test throughout your property, then bait in areas where you found the LFAs. You should only use NEW bait, and use up the whole container. If it sits, it gets rancid fast and the ants apparently will ignore it. And guess what it is-- little teeny pieces of corn meal saturated with the poison - it's cream of wheat (sorta) made for ants! -- anyway, use it all up, throughout your property, and alert your neighbors so they can treat, too. Big warnings about not just killing the ants you see bc the queen, once she realizes she's lost a bunch of workers, will just lay extra eggs. (same advice re: ants in your home - if you just kill them with spray, you're only killing the old workers, and new ones will be along from the nest at some point.) We have a guy come and cut coconuts and he always does the pb-on-a-stick test before he cuts them bc he doesn't want to chance LFAs. I'm going to take that advice and test before I go pruning from now on. Literature says it takes 2 weeks for the bait to kill off the nest. Also says if there's one nest, there's usually multiple nests so it's prudent to treat your whole property.
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Spinosad is an organic pesticide that's suppose to kill fire ants. Anyone try propane torch? I guess that wouldn't take care of the queen though. It would be one flaming queen if it did.
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United Agriculture Products (UAP) on the way into the Hilo Dump sells small bait stations to put granular baits such as Amdro in. If it's going to be rainy, would be good to put them on a slight pedistal so that the bait doesn't get moist.
And yes, a propane torch is my favorite method of feeling some instant satisfaction. I actually got a queen with it once, when taking apart a wood planter box with fire ants. It's definitely a quick way to kill them when you've found obvious trails and dense infestations  Only appropriate!
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UAP is also known as Crop Production Services, and CPS is on their main sign at 900 Leilani St.
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One problem with the little fire ants (size of a pencil tip, slow moving) is that they don't have one colony. They create multiple colonies - not one main queen. They can have an entire colony the size of a quarter nestled anywhere.
They like trees. My last encounter was trimming dead palm fronds. Soon, my entire back was burning. They drop down into your clothes and start biting. I'm allergic, and it took a solid week for the burning to go away.
You can spread amdro on your entire property, under your house (highly toxic, btw) and you will not erradicate them. You can't put amdro in the trees.
Best way to tell if you have them is to put out little popscicle sticks with peanut butter on them - lay around the property. Collect them, put them in ziplocks and take down to the invasive species office in Hilo on Kilauea. They will confirm and give you all the info they have.
They are so tiny, it's a trick just to spot them. I recommend to really go over the inside of your home, especially along the baseboards and on countertop in kitchen, often with a magnifying glass. If they move fast it's not them. If they meander, collect them as described above.
And, good luck.
Aloha, Anna
http://sudnlyaware.wordpress.com
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Just to clarify - the active ingredient in Amdro is fairly toxic (LD50 1131mg/kg), but the amount of active ingredient is very low - 0.88% active ingredient in the product, which is mainly corn cob grit & attractant oil (which can go rancid, hence the low shelf life) and the total product recommendation is low (1.5# total product per acre in broadcast application)
If used CORRECTLY it is one of the only control methods available (the other is Logic). Without control, LFA can reach a huge population density 1,000-5,000 workers per square meter YIKES!....Oh, one of their favorite food at our house are swarm termites... along with the favorite Peanut butter
These are from control method test papers (the New Zealand biosecurity paper has a lot of info) Links:
http://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/recomx3c.html
http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/resear...Report.pdf
http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/files/pes...ssment.pdf
"The LD50 is 1131 mg per kg of body weight for the active ingredient in Amdro [8:122]. The LD50 of the active ingredient in Logic is 9220 me per kg of body weight [8:49]. The active ingredient in Amdro is approximately eight times more toxic than that of Logic. However, a lethal dosage ratio of 1131 (Amdro) to 8813 (Logic) more accurately compares the difference in toxicity between the two products because Amdro contains 0.88% active ingredient and Logic contains 1% active ingredient. As purchased, the commercial product Amdro is approximately seven times more toxic than Logic."
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I read something a few months ago about putting instant grits or cornmeal around places infested with ants to kill them. Apparently they take the food back to their nests, ingest it, then die from swelling up when the grits absorb moisture from their bodies. I sprinkled it (and it's gotta be instant) and I have no ants at all in the house now and it's rare to come across them in my yard now too.
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Once studied for a job eradicating fire ants with the Dept of AG in California. VERY, VERY important not to try to get rid of them by dumping poison, gas or anything into their nest,, it only drives them down further into the soil and they develope new cononies. The most sucessful attempts at controling them are food based substances that they take deep into the nest and disrupt the reproductive cycle or creates a toxic invironment the ants themselves spread everywhere they go. I don't have an address handy but Texas is ground zero for these critters so I am certain the State Gov would have lots of info on control,,,and I say control because eradication is most likely not going to happen anywhere they already are. Good Luck. [Time flys like an arrow and fruit flys like bananas]
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We and the neighbors used Logic and Amdro on our lots 20 years ago and we rarely will see any for years now. It does work, but everyone in the vicinity needs to do it.
Also if they are in our garden area and don't want to apply the chemicals we just boiled up about 5 gallons of water, brought it out in containers still boiling and dumped it on mounds. It does bring up the pupae and adults and you will see how many you kill, plus it is an organic way to deal with them. Just be careful to not burn yourself.
Lucy
Having another Great day in Paradise, Wherever that Maybe!
Lucy
Having another Great day in Paradise, Wherever that Maybe!
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