• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Texas A&M Forest Service
  • Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostics Laboratory
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Texas A&M AgriLife Research
  • Texas A&M College of Agrculture and Life Sciences
Hunt County Master Gardeners
Hunt County Master GardenersTexas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Articles
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Program Overview
    • FAQ
    • Contact
    • Master Gardener Emeritus
    • Heritage Garden
      • Animal Name Bed
      • Heritage Garden Plant Database
    • Hunt County Master Gardeners Shutterfly Photos
    • Junior Master Gardener Program
    • Outdoor Learning Center
  • Events
  • Links
    • Hunt County Extension Office
    • Texas AgriLife Extension Bookstore
    • Aggie Horticulture
    • Aggie Turf
    • Texas Master Gardener
    • Texas Master Gardener Association
    • Texas Master Gardener License Plates
  • Resources
    • Plants for East Texas
    • Vegetable Resources
    • Fruit & Nut Resources
    • Texas Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab
    • Soil, Water and Forage Testing Lab
    • Texas Superstar Plants
    • Earth-Kind Landscaping
    • Xeriscape
    • Insects in the City
    • USDA Plant Hardiness Map
  • CEUs
    • Log My Hours
    • Texas Master Gardener Association Events
    • Master Gardener Advanced Training
    • Earthkind Online Classes
    • Landscape Design Study Courses
    • American Horticultural Society Events
    • Texas Botanical Gardens and Arboreta

Fire Ants

May 23, 2018 by jhsanger

Fire Ants by Byron Chitwood, Master Gardener.

It’s that time of the year when you begin to notice that you have fire ants in your yard or pasture. Actually, they have been there all through the winter. They just set up housekeeping deeper underground to avoid the cold. Now that the temperature has warmed up, they have moved closer to the surface of the ground, especially after a rain. As the water level rises after a rain, fire ants will build a fluffy mound above the surface of the water level to protect the queen and babies. If you happen to disturb one of these mounds, they will come out in mass and attack and sting everything that moves. Where they sting, will get red, hurt, itch and eventually develop into a pus pocket. People who are highly sensitive to fire ants might require medical treatment. Take precautions when working in the yard or garden. Precautions include wearing knee high rubber boots with pants legs tucked in. Wear gloves and long sleeves. Work in the yard or garden during daylight hours so that you can see and avoid mounds.

Fire ants can be controlled using the “Texas Two Step” approach. Note, I said controlled, not eliminated. This method consists of the following procedures:

Broadcast Bait: Broadcast bait throughout your lawn and vacant lots with a hand held or push type spreader. Set the spreader on its lowest setting. There are many brands of bait available at your favorite garden and yard supply store. Follow the directions on the package. Most advise broadcasting 1 to 1.5 pounds per acre. This is not very much but that is all that is required for control. The fire ants will forage for food during the night and carry it back to the den where it is fed to the other ants and the queen. When the queen dies, that will be the end of the colony since she is the only ant in the family that lays eggs. All of the ants will eventually die, either from eating the bait or at the end of their life cycle.  Apply bait only when the weather is warm enough for the ants to forage. To determine if they are foraging, apply a small amount of bait on top of the mound and if it is gone within 30 minutes or overnight, they are actively foraging. Do not disturb the mound after application. This can cause the ants to move their colony.

Mound Treatment: If you have a problem mound, one that you can’t avoid, treat it by applying either a granular, liquid or dust type insecticide directly to the mound. Follow the directions on the insecticide container. Usually, the directions recommend sprinkling a small amount on the mound and watering it in with several gallons of water. Use a hand held watering can if you have one or a gentle spray head on the end of your garden hose. Water very slowly so that the insecticide has time to sink in and reach the deepest part of the ant colony.

It would good practice for your neighbors to treat for fire ants at the same time. It doesn’t take long to spread the bait and usually, it is more economical to buy large quantities of ant bait which can be shared with your neighbors. Most ant baits contain oil which will eventually get rancid after the package is unsealed. Sharing the cost and treating a larger area will forestall the next invasion of fire ants on your property. For further information on fire ants, go to the website http://fireants.tamu.edu.

Filed Under: Entomology, Turf Tagged With: Fire Ants,

Find Us on Facebook logo

Articles by Topic:

  • Composting
  • Earth-Kind
  • Entomology
  • Events
  • Flowers
  • Fruits and Nuts
  • Gardening 101
  • Herbs
  • History
  • Keyhole Gardens
  • Ornamentals
  • Plant Diseases
  • Recipes
  • Roses
  • Seeds
  • Square Foot Gardening
  • Trees
  • Turf
  • Vegetables
  • Water Conservation
  • Wildlife
  • Winter

Article Key Words

African Violets Asparagus Bag Worms, Bees Birds, Bluebonnets, Brown Patch, Butterflies, Composting Dragonflies eGardening with the Master Gardeners, Fall Tomatoes, Fire Ants, Fruit Trees Garlic, Gifts, Grapes, Grasshoppers, Greenhouses, Keyhole Gardens Late Fall Vegetables, Late Spring Gardening, Leeks Notable Texas Gardens, Onions, Poison Ivy, Poisonous Plants, Potatoes Propagation Pruning Trees, Rainwater Harvesting, Raised Beds Rose Hips Spider Mites, Spring Vegetable Gardening Squash Bugs, Summer Trees & Shrubs, Turf Grass, Valentines, Vegetables Watering Water Wise Gardening, Wildflowers, Winter
Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
Texas A&M University System Member
  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information