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Whenever I hear someone telling me of their Puna construction plans, I tell them they must consider the LFA(little fire ant). My existing house is on a slab, so my plan is to build a concrete moat around it. My next house will be built on posts with little moats around them. Any other thoughts?
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Not sure how effective that will be...I occasionally get bites from fire ants floating on the surface of my pool
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Yes, I have heard they raft. Methinks a teeny bit of soap would eliminate the surface tension and prevent that.
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I hear they like a porous structure with lots of little worm holes to crawl through. I certainly wouldn't build them anything too big.
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I would be more worried about termites. Whenever we find a LFA in our house we spread a dollar's worth of Amdro around and the problem is gone for weeks.
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Yes.
I've seen the 'moat' technique in India. It is to repel termites.
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Would the moat then breed mosquito's?
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The Lfa's hitch hike into your house on your clothes !!
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mosquitos are worse than LFA's ('electric ants' is the correct name) IMO
they are easy to kill in the house, its the yard thats tough to impossible ...
they more often fall on you from trees or are found in small satellite colonies when you move rocks and or moss at bases of trees etc.
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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
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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
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LFAs come come into our living space two ways: crawling up posts to the living area (our house is raised a story) and floating down from the albizia forest on the neighboring properties every time the wind blows. A moat might help with the first, but not the second. If I ever live in a different house here I don't want any trees downwind that are taller than my house, LFAs are a tree dwelling ant, unlike the mainland fire ant that lives in mounds.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb