LFA - again

[deserteagle50ae]

Curious, are there anyone in Hawai'ian Beaches that has little fire ants and if so where. So far where my house is located off North Puni Mauka Loop, I have not come across any on my property and on my street when I take my dogs for their daily run.

[punafish]

The stock pictures look nothing like my bites. My stings almost look like mosquito bites, just a lot bigger (like a welt), and they feel much different. But the descriptions on most of the reputable sites (healthline.com, webMD, etc.) also mention "red spots that blister on top," "fill with puss," etc. Never happens to me, just the red itchy bumps/welts.

My memory could be playing tricks on me, but I recall someone on this forum saying that DEET counteracts LFA bites if applied right away? Couldn't find any information to support the claim, so wondering if it's true. Anyone try it? Or have a credible link?

[punafish]

@deserteagle50ae: we're in Hawaiian Shores. 8 years ago we had no LFAs. Now we're inundated.

[[stupid typos! lol]]

[deserteagle50ae]

Thanks, don't sound too good.

[bananahead]

LFA's (Electric Ants) are small slow orange ants... they DO walk in lines up and down trees, along walls, up walls, across sidewalks, etc., they are slow until disturbed, they also live behind old palm fronds, under dead leaves stuck in bushes/trees, under rocks etc in small satellite groups (orange ants)....

they often farm small bugs on plants (new growth or underside of ginger/palm leaves) for honeydew, but love dog/catfood, peanuts, coconut oil etc. too

sugar ants and most other ants are either too large, black, clear, fast, zigzag, etc. they are usually not confused with LFAs

******************************************************************
save our indigenous and endemic Hawaiian Plants... learn about them, grow them, and plant them on your property, ....instead of all that invasive non-native garbage I see in most yards... aloha

[Derrick Barnicoat]

Are they all over Puna or just in certain places?

A friend of mine in Hamakua said he has only seen them in Puna.

I have a lot up in the center of H.A. have they been seen allot up there? I feel like I should have inquired about that when I was looking at houses but, eh well, I guess I will have to cross that bridge if I have to. I just am more worried about my cats getting bit and going blind.

[deserteagle50ae]

Their not only in puna, HILO also. My cousins home in HILO was infested with those lfa's. My cousin called Terminex to have his property treated, don't know what Term in ex did but his house and property is free of those lfa's for the past couple of months.

[terracore]

I think the DEET comment was a joke (apply the DEET first and you won't need the other creams later). Ammonia does work to take the 'sting' out. I posted in a thread about that. Like I said, I'm a 100+ sting veteran. Even been to the doctor requesting RX grade stuff. Best thing I found so far is an ice pack, second best is ammonia.

Also very important is to clean the sting area immediately after getting stung. I don't know why it makes such a difference, but it does. Maybe sweat has something to do with potentiating the venom ?

[birdmove]

Seems like a bad year for fire ants to me. We'd had a few a couple years ago, and Amdro seemed to have handled it. We bought a house in Ainaloa to rent to our daughter, and they are pretty thick there. I've been doing a lot of work up there, and I had some lumber stacked on the concrete car port. They seem to love it underneath said lumber. I'm at war with them, and they are expiring in large numbers. It's a multi-pronged attack. Amdro, the little ant traps you buy in many store, a clear liquid called Terro, and some spray called Home Defense around both houses. The bites are painful from such a tiny critter. I don't get big welts or anything though. I am not surprised that a new thread was started on this. I was thinking of starting one too to see how bad it is with others.

Jon in Keaau/HPP

[oink]

I use a prescription cortisone foam (clobetasol propionate). If used frequently after a bite it works pretty well. I have some allergy problems and I will continue to swell from a LFA bite and if not treated with the foam I'll eventually need a shot.

The cortisone foam treatment is a very off label use discouraged by my doctor as it's way stronger than any standard cortisone cream and supposedly thins the skin. It's obviously prescribed for other purposes but heck it works.

Oddly the regular fire ant just gives me the standard puss bump. It seems I'm always recovering from fire ant bites. The other bigger tree ant things that look kinda like tiny wingless wasps mess me up bad too. I don't recall those in Hawaii though.

Unfortunately I have to trim my driveway as the UPS guy won't drive down it now. I'll be sure to get several bites as they'll be falling out of the trees onto me. I better check the date on my epipen.

Pua`a
S. FL
Big Islander to be.