08-05-2014, 03:17 PM
Hi all. My name is Ivy, I live in lower Hawaiian beaches. We used zach right before Christmas, had three months of tango sprayed in a community effort within out neighborhood and we were fire ant free for 6 months until they began recolonizing from outside of our targeted spray area.
Fire ants are easy to tell apart from the other small red ants. First of all they walk really slowly. If an ant is running (no matter how tiny or red) it is not LFA.
Also, if you tap whatever they are walking on they will freeze. All other ants run. This is because LFA have really weak grip on their feet.
LFA live anywhere and everywhere from below ground to the tops of trees. And once they go upwards if they have a viable food source they don't come back down. Which is another reason that Tango works so well. You can spray Tango, it isn't granules.
If you are using Amdro, stop. It is a poison that is infused in cornmeal that the worker ants suck out and bring back to the nest. From there it is given to the feeder ant to distribute to the rest of the colony. Problem is that by that step the poison starts to work and the feeder ant bails the nest because she is sick and so the poison never makes it to the queen. Also the worker begin to die and they bail the nest too leaving the queen to wonder what happened to her family and to go into hyperdrive and lay eggs. Which is why it seems like Amdro successfully kills the LFA but then a couple weeks layer they are back with a vengeance.
Tango on the other hand is a growth hormone regulator. It takes three to five months to eradicate an infestation because instead of killing the ants it just stops them from growing and by the time the new generation should be taking over you have colony collapse.
For us, by month 4 we had a pretty total full street success story. The ants are returning now from outside the perimeter and from a few nests that we missed but it really works.
Fire ants are capable of changing everything about our lifestyles if not contained. While I don't believe in using excess chemicals and poison, I can imagine how horrible this could get.
Because fire ants have weak feet they fly out of trees with the slightest breeze. I've been bitten in the eye. It's not pretty. Pets that are bitten in the eye develop a white cloud on their cornea that does not go away. Fire ants eat both protein and sugar so everything is on the menu.
Anyhow, that's what I know. Tango worked for us, you can call Zach, he's busy but great. Trustworthy and funny. Or you can get your own Tango. Comes in 50 dollar bottles now which is way more accessible than before at 650 dollar jugs. You can get it at pahoa feed and fertilizer. Or at crop production services in Hilo. You'll need xantham gum (island naturals sells it), peanut butter, corn oil, warm water, and a good spray bottle. You need to spray a few drops every 15 feet.
Fire ants are easy to tell apart from the other small red ants. First of all they walk really slowly. If an ant is running (no matter how tiny or red) it is not LFA.
Also, if you tap whatever they are walking on they will freeze. All other ants run. This is because LFA have really weak grip on their feet.
LFA live anywhere and everywhere from below ground to the tops of trees. And once they go upwards if they have a viable food source they don't come back down. Which is another reason that Tango works so well. You can spray Tango, it isn't granules.
If you are using Amdro, stop. It is a poison that is infused in cornmeal that the worker ants suck out and bring back to the nest. From there it is given to the feeder ant to distribute to the rest of the colony. Problem is that by that step the poison starts to work and the feeder ant bails the nest because she is sick and so the poison never makes it to the queen. Also the worker begin to die and they bail the nest too leaving the queen to wonder what happened to her family and to go into hyperdrive and lay eggs. Which is why it seems like Amdro successfully kills the LFA but then a couple weeks layer they are back with a vengeance.
Tango on the other hand is a growth hormone regulator. It takes three to five months to eradicate an infestation because instead of killing the ants it just stops them from growing and by the time the new generation should be taking over you have colony collapse.
For us, by month 4 we had a pretty total full street success story. The ants are returning now from outside the perimeter and from a few nests that we missed but it really works.
Fire ants are capable of changing everything about our lifestyles if not contained. While I don't believe in using excess chemicals and poison, I can imagine how horrible this could get.
Because fire ants have weak feet they fly out of trees with the slightest breeze. I've been bitten in the eye. It's not pretty. Pets that are bitten in the eye develop a white cloud on their cornea that does not go away. Fire ants eat both protein and sugar so everything is on the menu.
Anyhow, that's what I know. Tango worked for us, you can call Zach, he's busy but great. Trustworthy and funny. Or you can get your own Tango. Comes in 50 dollar bottles now which is way more accessible than before at 650 dollar jugs. You can get it at pahoa feed and fertilizer. Or at crop production services in Hilo. You'll need xantham gum (island naturals sells it), peanut butter, corn oil, warm water, and a good spray bottle. You need to spray a few drops every 15 feet.