Preventing Fire Ant Incursions
As insect pests go, fire ants are definitely one of the worst there are. These nasty little creatures carry with them all of the annoying aspects of other ants (they horde food, appear in great numbers, and so on) and pack a nasty bite to boot.
Fire ants are also an introduced species, and that means that they found the virgin plants and some kinds of animals in the United States ripe for the picking; as a result their numbers increase rapidly and they spread further and further out with their range. As with other insects, chemical warfare is ineffective against fire ants and can be harmful to humans as well.
The key to handling fire ant infestations is in preventing them. After all, an infestation that never occurs is never a problem, and preventative measures are much more efficient and much less costly in terms of time and money than control measures after the ants get established. Prevention is one of the key steps in an integrated pest management strategy, which stresses the least toxic approach to pest control. Let’s take a look at some of the steps that you can take in order to prevent fire ants from making their home in your yard.
* Encourage natural predators. There are a few creatures, both big and small, that need have no fear of fire ants, and which may in fact delight in a spicy fire ant meal. Surprisingly, some of these creatures are insects, which is pretty amazing given the natural hostility of the fire ant and its predatory nature. Dragonflies, beetles, spiders, mites, and earwigs all have no fear of the fire ant and will make a meal out of them. In addition, other species of ants will kill a fire ant queen before she can establish a colony of her own.
* Encourage competition. Besides being predatory of loan fire ants, other species of ant will compete for the same food sources as fire ants. This means that food can be limited and fire ants prevented from gaining a foothold.
* Plant shade trees and shrubs. Fire ants like to build their nests out in the open sunlight, and a lot of shade is the least desirable place to build their mounds. Having tress and other types of ground cover will reduce the chances of a fire ant colony becoming established in your yard.
* Keep your lawn healthy. Many people do not seem to realize that a healthy yard is not an overworked yard. Fire ants love disturbed soil, and that come about with a lot of digging, chemical fertilization, and mowing. The more settled your soil and lawn, the less preference fire ants will have for it.
* Grow it thick! Fire ants don’t like digging through extensive root systems to start a colony, so keep grass and plants thick so their roots intertwine underneath the ground.