FireRANT

If you're in the Atlanta/Marietta area this Saturday, April 29, join Over 'n Out at Fire Ant Free! Atlanta, a fun and educational event for the whole family.  It's taking place at Merchant's Walk Shopping Center, 4101 Roswell Rd. in Marietta from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.  Fire ant experts from area universities will be there to answer your questions and demonstrate proper application of fire ant killer.  Kids can see fire ants up close and personal at the Fire Ant FunStation and learn more about the critters during Fire ANTics, our fire ant costume contest!  Fire ANTics lasts from 10:45 - noon.  Kids can win great prizes!  Hourly raffles for bags of Over 'n Out will occur and fire ant experts will give informative lectures for Mom and Dad. 

We hope you can join us!  For more information, visit www.fireantfree.com or call 866-683-7688.

FireRANTer John Ritchey asked us to recommend an adjustment setting on his broadcast spreader (see comments sidebar for more detail).  While we don't have the exact settings for his model, FireRANT has an easy way to figure out the appropriate setting for your spreader.

Since Over 'n Out directs you to use two pounds of product per 1000 sq. feet, you should first measure or step off a 1000 sq. foot area.  Be sure to mark your boundaries.

Then proceed to fill your spreader with two pounds of product to distribute over the marked off area.  Set the spreader at the next-to-lowest setting and begin distributing over half of the area.  At this point, check to see how much product is left in the hopper.  If less than half remains, increase the setting by one increment.  Otherwise, continue spreading the granular treatment and kill those fire ants!

Jessica Rowland, Consumer Product Representative, contributed to this entry.

Fire Ants Hit the Road for World Tour

Fire ants were introduced to North America in the early 1930s, setting foot here via a shipment of goods from South America.  This silent infiltration proved beneficial for the pests, which lack a natural enemy in North America.  Since then, fire ants have travelled far and wide, becoming established in close to half of the United States.  They have also made their way to other countries, such as Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, mainland China, and South Korea, which also lack the ants' enemy, the phorid fly.  How have these tiny critters amassed so many frequent flier miles?  The answer is simple: freeloading.

Fire ants are experts at infiltrating shipments bound for faraway destinations, be it Biloxi or Brisbane.  They have been found in bales of hay, cardboard boxes, potted plants, mulch, and even machinery and equipment.  There are many places to hide and fire ants sometimes find themselves in exotic locales, much to the chagrin of locals.

Flooding also provides a method of transportation for fire ants.  As discussed in a previous entry, fire ants form a protective, rotating ball around the queen, where the worker ants trap air in their body hair, allowing them to breathe.  Whole colonies can be uprooted.  Thus, they establish themselves in a new location.

While fire ants are a new problem for countries other than the Americas, suppression specialists worldwide are contributing to research that will allow at-risk populations to protect themselves from the aggressive nuisance.

We blogged about Hurricane Katrina's effect on the Gulf Coast's fire ant population the other day.  Dr. Dale Pollet of the LSU AgCenter in Baton Rogue told FireRANT that LSU is beginning programs to keep the fire ant population from re-establishing.

"We have some areas in the flood parishes that have no ants at all and we are trying to put out a preventative program to help keep them down if not out completely.  People have always been anxious about fire ants particularly those with pets, small children or grandchildren." 

While people are always anxious about fire ants, efforts are being made to kick Gulf Coast fire ants while they're down, hopefully eliminating the problem.  Though it's business as usual for much of the South, the Gulf Coast and its fire ants face a unique situation where, for the first time in a while, fire ants may be on the ropes. 

Click here to see what LSU's fire ant experts have to say about fire ants in the New Orleans area.

Hurricane may have historic consequences for backyard pests

In August 2005, the world watched in horror as one of America’s crown jewels and the surrounding region were battered by a massive tempest.  The disaster of Hurricane Katrina, however, has created at least one bright spot amid a very dark situation.  The Gulf Coast’s population of fire ants appears to have been dealt a crippling blow by the salt water flooding that devastated New Orleans and its surrounding parishes.

During flooding, water uproots entrenched fire ant populations.  Fire ants are able to survive by creating a rotating ball, forming a protective sphere around the colony queen.  Air is trapped by the ants’ body hair allowing them to survive, even underwater.  But scientists have discovered that fire ants on the go lack the ability to keep their shape in salt water.

“They destabilized in the salt water.  We’re finding whole colonies have been removed,” says Dr. Dale Pollet, professor of entomology and an extension specialist at the Louisiana State University AgCenter in Baton Rouge.  While this development has never been seen before and may encourage those engaged in the fight against fire ants, Pollet warns that this change is by no means permanent.

“We’re monitoring their populations in the area.  It’s really too early to tell if they will repopulate in New Orleans.  The may establish themselves in the perimeter” of the beleaguered city.  Pollet noted that fire ants may take up residence in the many piles of sediment or abandoned homes around the region, but there is no way yet of telling if there is an ideal setting for the fire ants’ return.

The flooding that caused a mass exodus of both humans and fire ants led to hundreds of fire ant-related injuries.  Pollet says doctors treated hundreds of people, including members of the media covering the hurricane.  While most fire ant bites can be treated at home, the tenuous situation meant that many people were without the most basic of provisions.  Scientists also determined that fire ants under stress can inject up to twice as much toxin than is normal. 

With floodwater swirling at the doors of the New Orleans Superdome, palates of aggressive fire ants drifted in the water, making it extremely difficult to rescue evacuees trying to leave the doomed stadium.  Rescue workers and evacuees alike suffered from multiple fire ant bites on their legs, arms, and even torsos.  As the floodwater receded into the ocean, and as salt water was introduced into the city, the fire ants eventually destabilized and drowned.

While entomologists will continue to monitor Katrina’s effect on the Gulf Coast’s fire ant population, few people are lamenting the loss of the aggressive pests.  Only time will tell if the hurricane’s devastation will have a long-term effect on fire ants.