ANTS: Good News Vs Bad News

Many | Aug 24, 2014 | Yosemitest

[Yosemitest]

ANTS: Good News Vs Bad News How many of you are familiar with Fire Ants?
How many of you wished they would go away?

THE GOOD NEWS:
Fire Ants are leaving.
THE BAD NEWS:
“Rasberry Crazy Ants” (in honor of the Texas exterminator that discovered them), a.k.a. "Tawny crazy ants" , and scientifically know as Nylanderia fulva as driving them out.

"I want my Fire Ants back!" is being said by many across Mississippi.
Because these Rasberry crazy ants are much harder to control, and they get into everything.

They get into the insulation in your home, into your electronics, into your wiring.
They will drive you CRAZY!
Here's an excerpt on controlling them.
Management: What can you do for them?

Many of the typical control tactics for other ants do not provide adequate control of the tawny crazy ant.
Because colonies predominantly nest outdoors, reliance on indoor treatments (see Rasberry Crazy Ant Fact Sheet or YouTube Video) to control these ants foraging inside structures is not effective.

Cultural control: At the foundation of any IPM strategy are cultural control methods beginning with the removal of harborage
such as fallen limbs, rocks, leaf litter, and just about anything sitting on the ground that isn't absolutely necessary.
Cultural methods can also include altering the moisture conditions in a landscape.
Crazy ants prefer humid, wet conditions so reducing the amount of irrigation, repairing leaks, and improving drainage should help.

Avoid spreading this species to new locations: Anything being moved from an infested area should be inspected for ants and treated before transferring it to a new site.
Food sources should be eliminated or managed.
Specifically honeydew producing hemipterans should be managed.
Often, products containing the active ingredient imidaloprid or other systemic neonicotinoid are a good option for hempiterans.

Chemical control: Effective products involved with the treatments are not readily available to the consumer**.
If you suspect your house or property is infested with these ants, call a professional pest control provider.
After treatment, or when making multiple applications over time, piles of dead ants must be swept or moved out of the area in order to treat the surface(s) underneath.

Tawny crazy ant workers are not attracted to most bait products (see B-6099, "Broadcast Baits for Fire Ant Control")
and the most attractive product they are attracted to (Whitmire Advance Carpenter Ant Bait formulation containing abamectin (Label and MSDS),
see E-412 "Carpenter Ants") does not offer enough control as a standalone treatment, and should be used in conjunction with contact insecticides.
Maxforce® Granular Insect Bait is also highly attractive but has yet to be tested in the field.

There are treatments available for this ant that offer temporary "buffer zones" using contact insecticides applied to surfaces,
such as those containing acephate, pyrethroid insecticides (bifenthrin, cypermethrin, cyfluthrin, deltamethrin, lambda-cyhalothin, permethrin, s-fenvalerate, and others) or fipronil.
These treatments are often breeched within 2-3 months post application.

PCOs need access to an entire infestation in order to achieve an acceptable level of management.
Otherwise, the population will rebound from surrounding, untreated sites within a month.


**Note for Professional Pest Management Personnel: According to the Texas Department of Agriculture, the following products have received expanded use approval through Section 18 Quarantine Exemption from the Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the control of these ants.
These are only available for use in counties with confirmed infestations of the tawny crazy ant.
See product labels and supplemental labels for specific use directions: This exemption will expire on November 1, 2015.
Termidor® Section 18 Label

Talstar® Section 18 Label

[Don W]

I also use BORAX mixed with table sugar. Dry. The ants seem to die within a few days.

[onyx]

I’ve bookmarked your thread, Yosemitest. Thanks very much for the posting.

Welcome to FR as a poster/member, jmmec2014!!!
Thank you so much for your excellent information.

[jmmec2014]

A few more points and I’m done:

1. Fipronil has worked extremely well and has been safe in my experience. If you follow the instructions for ant control for Termidor, you’d be spraying a 0.06% concentrated spray of Fipronil. I use Frontline to kill fleas & ticks on my dogs (it is applied directly at the base of the neck and it spreads throughout the coat via the oil glands), and it has a 9.8% concentration of Fipronil.

2. The article you quoted mentions the use of Fipronil but also says, “These treatments are often breeched within 2-3 months post application.” I’ve not experienced that in my use of Fipronil. I live in a mountainous area: real 4 seasons if you ignore droughts & floods, and spraying 2x yearly since 2010 is all I’ve needed.

3. Quicken software tells me that I purchased Termidor in 2010 from the following company:

http://www.domyownpestcontrol.com/

Amazon doesn’t sell this product directly, and some reviews on Amazon are claiming that their seller, “WeSellDirect”, are not selling a legitimate version of Termidor? Don’t know about that. So be careful.

Take care & good luck....

[onyx]

Thank you so much, again.

I don’t have the problem ... yet, but I’ve noticed an extraordinary increase in ants this year so I’m concerned.

[Yosemitest]

Thank you for everything you've added to this thread.
Welcome to Free Republic.

[Yosemitest]

Welcome to the war against CRAZY ANTS.

[steve86]

In southeastern WA we do have scorpions, aggressive house spiders, brown recluse spiders (non-breeding, probably) and a fair number of rattlesnakes, but few slugs. Lots of small ants but no sensationally bad species.

[onyx]

I really and truly feel for you. Sounds horrid.

[Yosemitest]

Take a look at this video.
I think it's worth your time.

Rasberry Crazy Ants (Texas Country Reporter) ( 6:37 ) Uploaded on Mar 9, 2010

The Rasberry Crazy Ant is a tiny terror treading all over Texas.
Meet the exterminator leading the charge to stop this insect plague from spreading.
Tom Rasberry, Budget Pest Control, 281deadbug.com

(# 1158, 11/7/2009)

They're relocating by traffic in automobiles, trains, and any other freight they can crawl into, such as ships and airplanes.

[Aria]

You must be the other side of the Cascades. I do think we have brown recluse here but I’ve never seen one, far as I know.

[Mjaye]

Bump for later reading.

[Robwin]

At least America doesn’t have massive hordes of voracious, inch-long army ants marching paths of destruction through our neighborhoods.

Not yet. We didn't have fire ants, or this new species, or pythons in the everglades, or some SE Asian fish destroying our fisheries either until recently. But now we do.

Forgive me for being a "Cassandra" but this current influx of invasive creatures is little more than our form of the plagues of Egypt, and it results from our having turned our back on God.

[Yosemitest]

Also watch:

Fire ants vs. Rasberry Crazy Ants ( 2:10 )
Uploaded on Feb 19, 2012

Fire ants versus a new invasive ant species in Texas.
First, video footage of a captive fire ant colony defending against the crazy ants.
The crazy ants are extremely fast, so the fire ants take a while to react and have trouble cornering them.
Second, video of a captive crazy ant colony defending against fire ants.
They quickly surround and spray the intruders with venom.



Science Bulletins: Chemical Defense Aids "Crazy Ant" Invasion ( 2:14 )
Published on Mar 21, 2014
Invasive fire ants are firmly established in the southeastern United States, defending their territory with venomous stings.
But a new invasive species, the tawny crazy ant, appears impervious to fire ants' toxic attacks.
A recent study pinpoints the crazy ants' defensive strategy, which is furthering their domination over not just fire ants, but other insects.

Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History.

RELATED LINKS

Science: Chemical Warfare Among Invaders: A Detoxification Interaction Facilitates an Ant Invasion
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/ear...

Biological Invasions: Imported crazy ant displaces imported fire ant, reduces and homogenizes grassland ant and arthropod assemblages http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10530-013-...

PLOS ONE: The Importance of Using Multiple Approaches for Identifying Emerging Invasive Species—The Case of the Rasberry Crazy Ant in the United States
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3...

[Yosemitest]

I agree about the Biblical Reasons.

[Yosemitest]

Be sure to watch the videos in Comment #53.

[steve86]

We also have small lizards if you go looking for them but I like the little guys.

[dfwgator]

[Yosemitest]

The Brown Recluse is a dangerous Spider.
Learn how to identify it and what to do.

Important Facts Everyone should know about Brown Recluse spiders. ( 3:23 )
Published on Aug 9, 2013
This video talks about brown recluse spiders.
Facts everyone should know about the brown recluse spider and brown recluse safety tips.
How to identify a brown recluse spider. How to prevent spider bites.




Cleaning and repacking brown recluse spider bite. ( 9:48 )
Published on Jan 12, 2013

DaShaun got his brown recluse spider bite irrigated, and repacked.

Watch where he is having the gauze removed post surgery!
It's mad wicked....it looks like a huge worm
[packed gauze] or snake coming out of his hand!!
Check it out....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU-1y...

[Nailbiter]

bflr - see recluse spider down thread

[Yosemitest]

How to Identify and Handle a Brown Recluse - Smarter Every Day 89 ( 2:17 )
Published on Apr 29, 2013

You can't kill these with pesticides.
Fire.
The answer is "handle it with fire."
I apologize if me killing a deadly spider in my daughter's living space offends you.
Would you feed differently if it was a mosquito carrying malaria?
Check your house and keep your loved ones safe.

Think it through.
Burning a very small spider with an exoskeleton increases the pressure inside, and makes it explode... killing it instantly.
It's the quickest way to dispatch it that I could think of. 
I had the same thoughts.... which is why I burned it with fire.