For a red imported fire ant-free spring, start formulating your game plan now. It is tempting to think that fall’s cool weather will lessen fire ant problems; however, fire ants are still active and research shows this is a great time to control the fiery pests.
Managing imported fire ants is fairly easy and does not require much money or insecticide. Take some time to learn about the available solutions, have a little faith in modern technology and start winning. Some suggestions are:
• Work with your neighbors to coordinate and implement a plan of attack during Fire Ant Awareness Week, Sept. 12-18, 1999.
• Use the least toxic, most target-specific and economical method(s) available to address your particular ant problem. You can find this information on the World Wide Web at http://fireant.tamu.edu or visit your local county Extension agent’s office.
• Broadcasting an effective fire ant bait can be done for less than $10 for a 1/2-acre yard (22,000 sq. ft.), providing 80 percent to 90 percent control for up to a year.
• Support the investment into research through the Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Plan. This project is designed to develop even better ways to attack the fire ant problem in Texas through biological control and other new technology.
Above all, do the right thing for yourself, your property and the environment by educating yourself about control options. Use insecticides, home remedies or “organic” controls only when and where necessary. Set a good example to your children by carefully selecting and using pesticides properly. Closely follow the directions provided on the product labels.
Eradication is not going to happen — at least not anytime soon. Early attempts to eradicate the ant using ant bait dropped out of airplanes during the 1960s and 1970s failed.
Additionally, no big government programs are planned to aerially treat and remove this pest from large infested areas like the Southeast, although the possibility to try to eradicate “spot infestations” in western urban areas far away from the rest of the infested part of the country are being considered.
Current methods of control, which predominantly use some type of chemical insecticide, provide only temporary suppression (weeks to many months, depending on the treatment selected) and must be periodically re-applied to maintain control. In fact, if you apply control methods and stop, the ants will be back — occasionally in numbers higher than they were before.
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