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It sounds like you do not know the Little fireant (Wasmannia auropunctata). The ant you are referring to is an entirely different Genus (Solanopsis). Sure, Crazy ants may be bad for Solanopsis but there is no guarantee they might eat or even be able to kill Little Fireant. I suppose it's possible that the Little fireant may be a useful control for the crazy ant. I could send you a few gallons if you want to try that out; where do you live?
On another and similarly related note I just saw a video on the Coywolf- a hybrid between a coyote and a wolf that is becoming very successful in the north and eastern mainland. Anybody want to try importing them to take care of the Axis deer?
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I've long been saying we should introduce jaguars as biocontrol. They'll eat deer, pigs, goats, and sheep, and compared to other big cats like tigers and leopards, rarely attack people. What could possibly go wrong?
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What about phorid flies which turn fire ants into zombies and their heads fall off? Any know if they have been tried on LFA?
http://web.biosci.utexas.edu/fireant/FAQ%20Answers.html
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I hope crazy ants never get introduced here ... We have enough problems.
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There are no phorids that attach LFA; I think they're probably too small, not to mention cryptic. There are some parasitic wasps that attack them, but they're not very well known and I don't know if anyone is actively studying them as a control. They also get into the ants by laying eggs in plants where the ants then pick up the small larvae, so they can sometimes cause damage to plants. The different species tend to favor different plants to lay eggs on though, so if the one that attacks LFA doesn't use something economically important it might be a usable biocontrol.
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quote:
I hope crazy ants never get introduced here ... We have enough problems.
Two things are inevitable:
1. Crazy ants will find their way to the islands;
2. Officials will "have no idea" how they got here.
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They are already here. Dept of Ag calls them crazy legged ant. Black and move very fast. Kapoho and HPP that I know for sure. My property in HPP has them after I brought home some cinder. They had moved their nest from the cinder to the trunk of my car and my wifes car. It was the most horrible infestation of any insect I have ever come across. They were in the thousands. Crawling all over us as we drove once they set in. I tore the carpet out of one of the cars, trunk carpet also to find the nest and kill them.
I caught a trail of them one morning leaving my wifes car with eggs and headed out to the bushes. Tried to kill as many as I could but............ I have been battling the ones at our property in Kapoho for over a year now. They just keep coming back. I have spoken with some nurseries in the area to see if they have them and they confirmed with a YES! I think they were brought to my property on a shipment of bark, but can't be for sure. I just know until now, the LFA was my concern. My concern has shifted to this crazy leg ant.
They are in California which I confirmed with the Dept of Ag so shipments of plants are not stopped when they are found unlike the LFA which concerns me even further . They are ok with plants being brought in and shipped with theses black devils on them. No good! Couple more years and it will be out of control, mark this post. They spread like a wild fire and 100 times as quick as LFA's.
They are a sugar feeding ant as far as I can tell, so amdro will not work from what I saw. A product called TERRO, a liquid I found at Target works the best so far. CRAZY ANTS SUCK!
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apparently this crazy ant doesn't bite? Maybe I'm thinking of a different ant? The ones that spray acid? Hmmmmm... Maybe those are called yellow crazy ants. Too many ants to keep up with. Hmmm, is this still paradise?
Maybe it's time to move up to Volcano. Do these crazy and lfa like cold?
That's a bummer ... I'm guess they are already on Oahu and Maui since Ag isn't interested in doing anything about them.
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quote:
A product called TERRO, a liquid I found at Target works the best so far.
Mix boric acid, sugar and water.
What are the reddish ants infesting the kau desert? They don't seem to bite but are drawn toward movement.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.
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quote:
Originally posted by islandlvng
They are already here. Dept of Ag calls them crazy legged ant. Black and move very fast. Kapoho and HPP that I know for sure.
No, we don't have them (Nylanderia fulva) here, at least not yet. We do have three or four species in the same genus, one of which may be the one you dealt with. They're very hard to tell apart, you can only do it with a microscope. But they are not (quite) as bad. So hope they don't get here!
