There are a couple different ways to deal with them chemically. A product like Amdro or Spectracide applied directly to the mound will kill the mound-they recognize it as food and take it down into the mound. There is also a product made by Bayer that you broadcast over the entire yard and it is supposed to produce a year long barrier to them. I have not tried that one. The best time to treat them is right after a heavy rain when they have brought the mound up and it is more visible. Wasp spray is effective if you spray it on a trail they are following, but instant killers are not the answer to mounds because you will never get them all and the survivors will just start over.

The problem with them spreading has to do with how they breed and multiply. The queen and breeders grow wings and couple in the air then start a new colony where they fall. If you look at patterns of fire ant mounds you can see a line of direction where the wind has carried them. Even flooding does not affect them. During flooding the colony will form a raft with their bodies and simply float until they find dry land. Flooding will spread them to new places that way.

Fire ants are an invasive species, believed to have been introduced at the shipping port in Mobile. There are no fire ant natural predators in the U.S. Armadillos will dig up their nests but that's not enough. According to a fire ant expert from the University of Florida that I heard speak last year, the most promising control is the decapitating wasp. It preys specifically on the fire ant and stings and places it's larvae on the neck of the ant. When the larvae hatches it decapitates the ant. As you can imagine that takes a lot of wasps and there is a lot of discussion as to the wisdom of introducing such a predator into our environment.

We certainly need to do something-not only are they a harmful pest to people, they cause many millions in crop damage every year. I am told that the pesticide companies could produce a product that is affordable enough for farmers to broadcast over their fields but they are not going to do that as long as they can get the homeowner to pay $20 for a small bag at Home Depot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGJ2jMZ-gaI

OK, fine. Amdro.

I've found Andro and Specrocide granuls to be too large to control the fire ants on my area. I started using Orthene and it works great

 
Amdro was originally made to kill fire ants, but I have found it to be effective on just about every type of ant we have here in AZ. The exception is the tiny little ones you can barely see.
 
Amdro is a major sponsor of the annual Fire Ant Festival in Marshall TX.
 

Ortho powder works really well.
All the other seems to just relocate them.
Premithin (sp) keeps bugs from around or under bldings.
I'm from Mississippi, I've been fighting fire ants all my 56 yrs of life !

Inexpensive and Effective

At $10 for 20 lbs, you'll find nothing more effective.

Granulated vegetable-looking material laced with poison that they carry to the colony, consume and perish. Virtually all insects will eat it and meet their demise.

I put a couple 32 oz plastic cupfuls out in a three foot swathe around the house to greet them as they try to enter. Also, anywhere in the yard I see a mound or entrance. They're picking it up and running with it before I walk off.

I didn't begin using it so much for ants an crickets or atypical bugs. They typically don't bother me or take up residence in the house. However, I choose to eradicate them to absence a food source for centipedes, back widows, brown recluses, scorpions; pretty much the poisonous or larger predatory types you do not want anywhere around you.

I've been using it for a couple decades. Never an insect problem. Kill their food, they move on.

Ants of all types fall to the Eliminator.

quote:

Use Boric Acid powder, aka Roach Powder. Safe around kids and pets, inexpensive, very effective, and impossible for the ants to build an immunity to it.

Enoz Roach Away Boric Acid 1 lb (powder). Got it from Walmart online, picked it up at a store in town and saved on shipping. I mix the powder with strawberry jelly and used those small containers they put in take out meals for sauce, horseradish whathaveyou. Used indoors and they haven't been back in more than a year - should work outside.

I'm in Texas, battle fire ants every year, and was in the retail hardware business from 1985 until 2004. Based on customer feedback and personal experience, IMO Ortho Orthene is the most effective thing you'll find via retail. Amdro is second best. I always have a container of one or both, and when one doesn't kill a mound, I'll use the other.

Note that I think some of the responses in this thread are for treatments that might work well for some ants, but not necessarily fire ants. It's important for the OP to determine if he's dealing with fire ants, or something different.

How can I determine if these are indeed Fire Ants? I know they bite like hell and left little white blisters where they bit me. Their hills are about 18 inches or so across and probably 6 inches high. The ants themselves are tiny, probably 3-4 mm, red and very aggressive when I stir the hill up.

post a pic. I bet they are from what you say.

Possibly Asian Needle Ants. They are tiny. You won't know you got stung till 30-60 minutes later.

Catch a few and put in a jar or plastic container. If they can't climb out then that's what they are.

Their stings turn into a blister with a center dot, and itch like crazy. Eventually be about a dime-sized red spot that will take a month or so to disappear. You will be much better of if you don't scratch it.

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~bsguenar...hinensis%20page.html

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Huffman:
How can I determine if these are indeed Fire Ants? I know they bite like hell and left little white blisters where they bit me. Their hills are about 18 inches or so across and probably 6 inches high. The ants themselves are tiny, probably 3-4 mm, red and very aggressive when I stir the hill up.

The painful white blisters are the tell-tale sign, I believe.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Huffman:
How can I determine if these are indeed Fire Ants? I know they bite like hell and left little white blisters where they bit me. Their hills are about 18 inches or so across and probably 6 inches high. The ants themselves are tiny, probably 3-4 mm, red and very aggressive when I stir the hill up.

Some photos are here, showing the distinguishing physical characteristics: http://articles.extension.org/...dentifying-fire-ants

There is a Southern States in Hickory...go buy some BIFEN, mix it up per the label and pour a gallon on the mound and spray 4 feet around the ground around the mound....

They will be dead.

Done.

quote:

Originally posted by stiab:
AMDRO is made specifically to kill fire ants, it is a bait that works well. I can assure you there are fire ants in your area. You can buy it at hardware stores, Lowes, etc. Should take care of it, but they will continue to move in from surrounding untreated areas.

If they are indeed fire ants (show is a picture of the mound) AMDRO is the answer. Buy it in a white plastic container from Sam's. Not only is it a bait that kills it has a chemical that sterilizes the queen. You'll need to treat mounds in your yard and your neighbor's, diligently.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Huffman:
How can I determine if these are indeed Fire Ants? I know they bite like hell and left little white blisters where they bit me. Their hills are about 18 inches or so across and probably 6 inches high. The ants themselves are tiny, probably 3-4 mm, red and very aggressive when I stir the hill up.

Sound like them. They almost NEVER build mounds in the open. Look for mounds up against something e.g., fence, post, bush, tree, concrete slab.

quote:

Originally posted by Todd Huffman:
How can I determine if these are indeed Fire Ants? I know they bite like hell and left little white blisters where they bit me. Their hills are about 18 inches or so across and probably 6 inches high. The ants themselves are tiny, probably 3-4 mm, red and very aggressive when I stir the hill up.

I owned a fish camp in the Everglades for 30 years and, having battled them all that time I know a little about fire ants. You described them perfectly. Don't screw around with home remedies or cheap box store insecticide. Buy the good stuff and follow instructions. I repeat my earlier advice to buy from this compnay in Georgia. I used Maxforce and termidor for fireants abd Suspend sc and Cyonara for general insect control. Call and talk to DIY pest control, very customer friendly. They know what they are doing and won't lead you astray.

https://store.doyourownpestcon...ducts/kill-fire-ants

Here is how to collect them. Note that ADULT SUPERVISION is required LOL


How do I collect fire ants to send in for identification?
Imported fire ants (Hymenoptera) can be collected at almost anytime of the year on warm days from their mounds.

Be aware of where you are standing and move away from mounds if ants crawl on your shoes. This must be done carefully so you do not get stung.

Dust baby powder on dishwashing gloves and wear them because the ants cannot crawl up dusted surfaces (hold hands upright) and have adult supervision.
Place rubbing alcohol in a vial and stick it into the top of an undisturbed mound. Worker ants will climb up and drop into the vial and drown.
Quickly remove the vial and cap it with gloved hands and rub off ants by rolling vial in grass.
Try collecting 30 or so ants and submit them for identification to your local County Extension Agent or qualified insect taxonomist.

I just ordered a quart of Bifen X/T and once it gets here I'll apply it and see what happens. I figure for $30, it's cheap enough that it's worth trying.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I'll let you know what happens.