Jul. 5, 2007 - Fire Ants in Texas

Having moved to Texas from the North I have come to realize that we have some unusual pest in Texas and one of these are fire ants.  We moved here a little over 10 years ago and it did not take long for me to be introduced to the critters.  I was holding an open house and saw some soft dirt to put my open house sign in.  As I was putting the sign in the yard all of a sudden I noticed stings through my panty hose.  I was out in the street doing a little dance trying to get them off of me.  Needless to say I started watching where I walked and watching out for soft mounds of dirt. Thank goodness my days of pantyhose are over but unfortunatly it appears the fire ants are here to stay. Recently I was showing a home and as I stepped out my car stepped in to a mound of fire ants.  This got me to wondering about these creatures that I have learned to live with and where they came from. I did a Google search and found a great site that Texas a & M put together on Texas imported fire ants.

I had always heard of fire ants in Texas, even before we moved here but did not realize that they are an import.  They were accidentally imported from South America in to Mobile Alabama in the 1930's.  They have since infested 9 different states.  They are all southeastern states including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma.  According to the article that I read they have the potential of spreading west in to Arizona or even the Pacific coast north to Washington.

The fire ants reached Texas in the 1950's.  They came by mating flights, mass movement of colonies and flood waters.  They love to float to new locations by flood water.  They also get dispersed by shipments of soil or nursery items from an infested area.  At the present time they infest the eastern 2/3 of Texas and those that live in west Texas had better watch out because they are continuing to spread westward. 

In the 1960's and the 1970's there were large scale programs trying to eradicate them but long story short none of them worked.  The ants infest such a large area that a single treatment is just not economically feasible. 

According to Texas A & M the best way to get rid of fire ants in Texas is to do the Texas Two Step. 
  

1. Step one - Baits - Fire ant baits consist of pesticides corn grits coated with soybean oil. The worker    ants take this back to the queen; she then either dies or becomes infertile.
        They suggest using fresh bait.
        Apply when the ground & grass are dry and no rain is expected for the next 48 hours.
        Best to apply in the late afternoon or evening as this is when ants are actively looking for food. 
        Apply baits with hand held spreaders.
        Re-apply baits once or twice a year.
2. Step two - Individual Mound Treatments
        Chemical - With dust products, no water is needed and they act fast.
        Organic - Pouring 2 to 3 gallons of very hot boiling water on the mound will kill ants about 60% of the time. 

I found the site to be very infomative and I hope it helps you to control the fire ants in your neck of the woods.