Taking the Fire Out of Fire ants

It seems like in late summer and fall fire ant mounds tend to be popping up everywhere. After proper identification, controlling fire ants does have to be complicated or dangerous, it just takes a little time and patience.

Adult red imported fire ants are reddish to dark brown and range from 1/8 inch long to 1/3 inch long. Fire ant mounds vary in size, usually in direct proportion to the size of the colony. So the larger the mound the more fire ants inside. In addition, when the mound of an active fire ant colony is broken open, whitish rice grain-like larvae and pupae usually can be found. These immature ants will eventually develop into workers or winged adults. Mounds constructed in clay soils are usually symmetrical and dome-shaped; mounds built in sandy soils tend to be irregularly shaped.

Fire ants prefer oily and greasy foods. They also feed on many other insects and, from that standpoint, could be considered beneficial. To find food, workers forage around their mound. These ants usually travel in underground tunnels that radiate from the mound. If the mound is disturbed, ants swarm out and sting the intruder.

Fire ants can be controlled by applying an insecticide to individual mounds or it may be broadcast over a wide area infested with fire ant colonies. Mound-specific treatments are more environmentally acceptable because they use less insecticide as compared to broadcast treatments. Label directions should always be followed when applying any fire ant insecticide.

Date Created: 12/10/2004.