LFA Flight distance for new colonies.

[Wao nahele kane]

Does anyone here know the maximum distances LFA will fly to establish a new colony?

[PaulW]

They fly?

[TomK]

Paul,

"They fly?"

Queens of most ant species, if not all, can fly, just like termites. At least until they land.

[PaulW]

Maybe should've said:

They fly?!

but now it's

They fly!

Thanks, I didn't know that.

[Obie]

According to the Hawaii Ant Lab they don't fly !

"Someone told me that the new queens have wings and they can fly to new sites after mating. How far can they fly?

This is a really interesting question. Most ant species produce new queens and males from time to time, usually when things are going well for the colony. When weather conditions are just right, the queens and the males take to the skies in a "nuptial flight". The queens mate and then look for a good place to land and start a new colony. The males, having done their job, have nowhere to go and eventually die. Once she has landed, the queen will break off her wings and start to lay eggs and a new colony becomes established.

Little Fire Ants do not follow these rules. Scientists think they actually mate in the nest and then stay in the nest along with other queens in an extended family. For people trying to control them, this is both good and bad news. It means that even if a treatment kills some of the queens, often there will be enough queens left over to keep the colony going. On the other hand, it also means that the ants can not spread very far all by themselves. They actually need us to move them to a new location. So just because there are some LFA colonies in an area, does not mean the entire area is doomed. If we can prevent them from moving to new places, the spread will not be that quick."

[shockwave rider]

They may not "fly" but they do spread by becoming wind born from tall trees. This is another reason to get rid of albizia, tiny tree ants that can "float" on the wind from 150 foot tall trees can spread pretty far and pretty fast. Plus, only a handful can start a new colony by turning one of them into a queen. That is how a few hitch hikers on an orchid plant from the Farmer's Market can turn into an infestation.

[terracore]

On the Hawaii state web site for the Tango fact sheet it says:

"After a few months of treating with IRG’s
you may start to see colonies with an
awful lot of winged queens but very little
workers. DON’T PANICK! This is a normal
side effect of IRGs. It’s a sign the bait is
working! Pat yourself on the back and
keep up the good work. "

http://www.littlefireants.com/LFA%20Fact...%205.6.pdf

I don't know if this is a factual statement or just a bad cut-and-paste from another document. However, there are precedents of growth regulators, hormones, and other chemicals causing a variety of animals to exhibit physical characteristics that normally only exist in other species by activating dormant genes.

[TomK]

Thank you, Obie, very interesting! Just did a quick bit of reading, but I'm no entomologist, so not a particularly strong area for me. This conference paper looks interesting:

http://www.researchgate.net/publication/...methoprene

According to the abstract, the queens develop functional wings, but they don't fly, the males do the flying instead!

[terracore]

IF the methoprene (Tango) is causing normally non-winged LFA to develop wings, it seems dangerous to me to continue using Tango if there is any possibility it contributes to the spread of the insect. I understand that the abstract stated that the queens did not fly, however was that just one group? Was there some other reason they weren't flying? Is the result dependent on dose application? Is there a risk if the males fly? Are we sure they were males and not fertile hermaphrodites? LFA have a complex and not fully understood reproductive system that includes sexual and asexual reproduction. Giving them the potential power of flight even if its only temporary doesn't seem like a good idea.

I tried Tango for almost 6 months without any discernible decrease in the number of LFA, so I'm not a fan of it to begin with. All I got was a bunch of wasted time and money, and many needless stings along the way. I came to the conclusion that it was recommended based on the fact that it's SAFE and because there was no product LABELED for use for LFA until Provaunt got it's temporary label for ornamentals in Hawaii only. (Of course, a label does not prevent the end user from using wherever they want).

[dan d]

Another case of speculation gone wild. The LFA doesnt fly and if so not very far. The tango doesnt morph the ant into a winged terror either. Provaunt if mixed correctly and applied correctly will decimate the LFA population.

The process is
1) test your entire yard /house area with p nut butter and sticks to locate the colonies.
2) Treat the areas found to have the LFA
3) Retest every 3-4 weeks and reapply the mixed bait. especially it the test shows your neighbor has them.
4) reapply as needed.

Also I found Extinguish to be a instant kill pesticide ,corn based attractant. Very effective.

The Lfa is going to be everywhere so treatment will be ongoing indefinitely. Mainly protect your house and pets.

It only take 28 workers and one queen to start a new nest. All of that can set on a very small leaf blown by the wind.

The ant lab has the best info and there in good handouts on the CTHAR site

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/ip-lfa.pdf

I hope that clears the air and gives good info for informed response to the threat
aloha

Dan D
HPP