Posted on 05/13/2006 10:32:04 AM PDT by Rastus
Finally, a silver lining in all of that salt water that flooded parts of Louisiana during hurricanes Katrina and Rita: A lot of pesky fire ants died.
The invasive little bugs, which bite with a real sting and often push “good” ants out of an area, apparently don’t mix well with salt water, according to findings by LSU Agriculture Center entomologist and Professor Linda Hooper-Bui and her researchers.
Fire ants arrived in Mobile, Ala., from their native South America in the early 1900s and have spread across the southern United States. They are found in all 64 Louisiana parishes. Researchers have found more than 1,500 fire ant mounds per acre in places.
In late August, Hurricane Katrina pushed salt water over levees and collapsed floodwalls, inundating portions of the New Orleans area for days. Hurricane Rita, a month later, swamped southwest Louisiana and again flooded some portions of the southeastern part of the state.
Fire ants are normally very adaptive to the environment. When it floods in their native ranges in South America, they will create a floating “ball” in hopes some will survive, Hooper-Bui said. Essentially, some sacrifice their lives so their fellow ants can float on top of their carcasses.
In checking populations after the storms, researchers from the Red Ant Laboratory at LSU found a dearth of fire ant mounds in flooded areas. “We just didn’t expect to see no fire ants,” Hooper-Bui said. “We thought it might be saltwater.”
Some experimentation found the “ball” survival reaction to flooding doesn’t seem to work when the water is salty.
Hooper-Bui and her fellow researchers also see opportunity in last fall’s crisis.
There is now a window of opportunity to, so to speak, kick those fire ants while they are down. The Fire Ant Laboratory is planning to treat some public lands in the New Orleans area and they are also seeking neighborhood groups to organize community-wide treatment attacks. Similar efforts have been successful in Baton Rouge in areas such as Spanish Town.
Undergraduate researchers Andy Fulks said he has found that in concentrations of 3 percent or greater salt in the water (typical of seawater), the fire ant ball reaction doesn’t seem to work. The ants will ball, but not for long. They slowly sink and drown. Lower concentrations of salt act slower, Fulks said.
“That’s pretty dramatic,” Hooper-Bui said as she watched a ball of fire ants floating in a bucket of salty water quickly disintegrate, sink and drown. In a freshwater bucket next to it, the ball was still working.
While taking part in the research project, Hooper-Bui developed an allergy to ants and wears a mask when working with them. Ants communicate with chemicals their bodies emit, called pheromones. The odor put out by the ants can cause her to break out in a rash or have breathing difficulties.
“I think what we are smelling is (pheromones saying) ‘alarm’ — there is something wrong,” Hooper-Bui said.
She and Fulks are still trying to figure out why the ant balls don’t work in saltwater. It could be a chemical reaction, such as the salt drawing moisture from their bodies, or it could be a change in the water surface tension that stops the ants from floating. If it is surface tension, then it would be exactly the opposite of what one would think, Hooper-Bui said.
Post-doctoral researcher Beverly Wiltz said she has not found ants in New Orleans neighborhoods like Lakeview, where water sat for days, apparently drowning the ants. St. Bernard Parish, really hard-hit by Katrina’s waters, appears to be pretty close to being fire ant-free, she said.
For the past several years, she has researched ants in New Orleans’ City Park. Before Katrina, she found about 20 ant species there. Now, she is finding only about 10 types. Fire ant populations are very low in the park compared to pre-Katrina, she said.
As the lab group prepares an upcoming assault on fire ants, research associate Lee Womack is working to recruit groups for the community-wide treatment efforts.
In a community-wide effort, Hooper-Bui said residents can treat the ants twice a year — in the spring and again in the fall — rather than six to eight times a year. That means one-third less pesticide can be used and the cost of treatment can be shaved to just 10 percent of what individuals might spend collectively.
The market has produced several baited pesticides that work with the aggressive nature of fire ants. The baits are formulated in a combination of products that fire ants find attractive. They will often collect and come in contact with the bait before native or other “good” ants can get to it, she said.
The group has one fire-ant concern: As people move back into New Orleans, they could reinfest their area with plants, sod or soil that contain some fire ants. They should check to make sure the products are labeled fire ant-free or treat them, Hooper-Bui said.
For more information, e-mail the lab at fireants@agcenter.lsu.edu.
On the Internet AgCenter Fire Ant Information http://www.lsuagcenter.com/fireants
I don't think that they died - they simply moved to my yard.
All we need now is a cat 5 storm and we will be fire ant free! No buildings, no trees, no houses, but hey, no ants!
The fire ants re-located to Dallas, just like the other refugees.
Check with me next year. On the basis of hearsay, I tried Over-N-Out, and Ortho Max spread on the lawn; then I use orthene or some cheap white power on sale from Wal-Mart (it works too) to treat mounds. I'll know in a year or so.
Texas A&M calls this the Texas-Two-Step. A slow poison like O&O and a contact poison.
It would seem to me that it would be more accurate to say that George W. Bush killed all the fire ants. I mean, what with him being responsible for Katrina in the first place, and all.
Do they still play those ads? I used to love them.
You need to try using some dry instant grits. Pour the box out in a circle around the mound and it gets carried back to the queen where she eats it and explodes from the expansion. Once the queen is gone, the rest follow.
Hmmm, I may try that. It doesn't sound as satisfying as setting them on fire, but it's probably cheaper and safer.
Personally, I would love to see someone package c-4 in small capsules that would explode when the fire ant bit down on them. Would be very satisfying.
Hey! Fire ants have rights too!
I hate the suckers er biters...
To quote Maniac Cop, fire ants have the right to remain silent . . . forever!
My son is allergic too. I had to have an epinephrine pen handy when he was only 3 or 4 years old. Then, one day, I accidentally got bitten by them, there were like 50 bites on my right foot. I remembered reading somewhere that roll-on deodorant with baking soda helps with the pain, so I went in the house and covered my right foot with deodorant, which I happened to have. Not only it helped, the next day I did not have the first blister on my foot! Amazed, next time my son got bitten I tried the deodorant, while keeping a close eye on him. It worked! No more epinephrine shots or extra-large doses of antihistamines! It's been 7 or 8 years and I keep a bottle of deodorant (Arm & Hammer)in my first aid kit, and carry one in my pocketbook. I cannot tell you how many kids I have treated with it! Usually the parents look funny, but when I explain how well it works, they usually shrug and say something like "it cannot hurt". I've even been asked later on in the grocery store what did I use, when one of those parents saw me and remembered "the lady with the magic fire ant medicine". I'm glad to tell everybody about it because it really, really works.
For once I am glad I live this far north.
Mosquitos the size of birds are not fun, but I don't think I could handle fire ants and gators . . .
Wondering if salt water also works on those "cow-killers." ;-)
As long as we keep feeding them grits, I'm sure they'll never leave the South. :)
That is amazing. I will try it.
I'll try setting them on fire or blowing them up with grits first, but that sounds like an interesting idea for the eventual bites I'll get.
I have been guzzling Benadryl to fight the reaction, but if deoderant works better, I'm all for it.
Our house was raised about eighteen inches on concrete blocks, but on the morning after a hurricane in the late 50's, we awoke to the sound of water gurgling under the floor joists. The driveway culvert on the lot downstream from ours had clogged with debris, and the water from the highway ditch was flowing knee-deep across our yard from the clogged ditch in front to the free-flowing big ditch in back.
About 9 AM, I noticed a couple of dozen big brownish-red 'balls' of ants floating atop the water, and clinging to the tops of tall weeds. (Yes, the yard need mowing -- big time...)
So, I grabbed the yard broom, waded out (upstream of the ants) and proceeded to knock the ants loose from the weeds so that the water would carry them away. (This had to be repeated several times when the ants grabbed onto other weed stalks.)
We had almost no ants for several years -- but I often wondered how the folks downstream fared! ;-)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
However, after a while, I heard my parents on the front porch -- laughing almost hysterically. When I asked what was so funny, they pointed toward the highway. As I turned around, I saw that eight or so cars had stopped -- and the occupants were having a great time watching this idiot teenager vigorously "sweeping the lawn" in knee-deep water!! LOL!!!
I can only guess what they would have thought if I had been out there with a salt-shaker, instead... '-)
This was "BFA" (Before Fire Ants) -- because we had hundreds of meadowlarks in the area. Now, I haven't seen a meadowlark (or quail) in years. The fire ants supposedly kill the young of ground-nesting birds... :-(
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