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Fire Ants Landing Page

Submitted by Art Shirley on December 10, 2015

One of the cheapest, easiest, safest, and most effective ways to control fire ants in home lawns is to use a combination of granular fire ant baits and direct mound treatments.  This is often called the two step method of fire ant control.

  1. Apply granular baits two to four times per year by using a handheld seeder to spread the bait over the entire yard.  Don’t put these granules on top of the mounds; don’t even wait until you see mounds.  Just put the bait out.  Use the holidays: Easter, Independence Day, and Labor Day as reminders that it is time to apply fire ant bait.  Baits are slow-acting, but when used preventively, they will control most colonies before they grow into large, visible mounds.
  2. Keep a can of one of the dry fire ant mound treatments on hand to spot treat large mounds that the bait treatments miss.  Treatments containing acephate work fastest and best, but acephate does smell bad.  Treatments containing deltamethrin or cyfluthrin don’t smell bad, but they are also somewhat less effective and slower-acting.

This web site is divided into sub-sections that focus on different aspects of fire ants and fire ant control.  It begins with an introduction and brief overview that discusses when these non-native pests first arrived in the country and their current distribution.  Then there are sections on “How to Control Fire Ants” and “Tips on Using Fire Ant Baits Successfully.  If you just want to know the best ways to control fire ants, these are the best places to start. Other helpful topics include “Fire Ant Biology”, “Fire Ant Facts”, and “Fire Ant Sting.  

Where do you want to control fire ants?  Is it in your home lawn, in your home vegetable garden, in a pasture for dairy cows, an athletic field, a park, a cemetery or some other setting?  Although the general approach to fire ant control is similar in all cases, treatments and methods for fire ant control vary subtly, but importantly depending on the specific situation.  Be sure to see the sub-sections that focus on the specific situation(s) in which you need to control fire ants.  Finally, just for fun, check out the Fire Ant Blues music video. 

 

Fire Ant Basics

 

Fire Ant Specifics 

Where do you need to control fire ants?

 

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Fire Ants
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