I know, you’d rather be barbequing, but ‘crazy’ rasberry ants decided to take over your lawn! Not to worry, your grilling plans aren’t ruined for the summer, there is a solution. On Tuesday the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved Fipronil, as an effective killer of rasberry ants.

Apparently Fipronil is an insecticide that disrupts the inhibitory central nervous system and distributes the ingredient to the rest of the colony before the carrier dies.

With Fipronil for rasberry ants and Over ‘n Out^® mound treatment for those pesky fire ants you have your ant invasion covered. Might as well rid your yard of two kinds of ants with one Over ‘n Out stone!
 
                                                        

In The Los Angeles Times today there was a blog about a mom who helped her daughter remodel her home in southern New Orleans. Well, let’s just say mom was prepared for the 95 degree heat, but she didn’t expect to receive 50 bites from fire ants, mosquitoes, and basically any member of the insect family waiting to feast on her. The mom came to assist with the foundation of her daughter’s house, because workers refused to help during the extreme heat. Mom paid for it though, leaving her legs and arms swollen and by now her bites have probably doubled or even tripled!

One way to prevent fire ants from making a meal out of your body is to spread Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer around your house and yard to prevent attacks from biting fire ants. It’s important to take action right away before matters get worse; no one wants to be eaten alive by fire ants.
                                                                  

While getting bitten by fire ants is bad, getting your house burned down by fire ants is worse. In Little Mountain South Carolina, fire ants crept into the pressure switch of a water pump which resulted in a dangerous house fire, reported by WIS News 10.

While fire ants are naturally attracted to electrical equipment, interference resulting in a fire is rare. Fortunately the Southerland family escaped unscathed, but their house and everything in it was destroyed.

"We've already had people in our community and our friends and family help us a lot, and we're going to need it because this was everything we had,” explains Erika Southerland.

You never can be too careful. Use Over ‘n Out® Fire Ant Killer as a preventative measure on your lawn so fire ants can’t find their way into your home.


 

South Florida’s beloved native butterflies are quickly becoming extinct species. And one of the prime suspects on the blame list — fire ants. Fire ants are extremely attracted to larva, and according to scientist Marc Minno, there is no way to stop the ants from attacking the butterflies and their eggs.

The scariest part of the interview with Minno is when he said, “if it is fire ants, butterflies and the southern part of Florida are in big trouble.”

If or when the butterflies go extinct, there is a very strong chance Florida will lose a part of their treasured heritage for good. There have been at least three species that appear to be extinct, and another is not far behind them.  Federal and state officials are working closely with Natural Areas Inventory to find out what types of butterflies are still active and ways to prevent them from going extinct.

to keep those little buggers out!
                              

While it’s a common expectation for airplane travel to be delayed — most people don’t think a hold-up could be caused by fire ants. Not only do you have fire ants devastating your lawn, they are trying to ruin your vacation!

According to MSNBC.com, “When a flight crew boarded a plane from Mexico City, the pilots turned on the air and thousands of fire ants were blown through the air vents. They apparently crawled from the cargo hold into the ventilation system.”

Exterminators were summoned and five hours later, the plane was on its way. With all these little fire ants creeping around, it’s best to keep some Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer on hand.  While it's not a good idea to use it on airplanes, it's strongly recommended for your yard!

For the 46^th consecutive time, racers from around Texas are currently taking on obstacles in the Texas Water Safari, which is considered one of the toughest canoe adventures in the country. Contestants travel 260 miles in a 100 hour time limit. Challengers have to take on snakes, extreme Texas heat, and of course our little red friends, fire ants.

People in the contest have to stay up all night because the heat and fire ants would be too much to contend with if the challengers tried to camp. The best part about this water safari is that it all started with a bet at a local watering hole of who could get to the Gulf first traveling from San Marcos, Texas.

Good luck to all the racers, watch out for those fire ants!

Do you remember the post a couple weeks ago about how certain insects can be a great substitute for protein? Well, a group of teachers in Dallas, Texas made an oath to learn how to cook insects and try insect meals at the Kaufman County Farm Bureau Building during a “Cooking with Insects" class.

 
Would any of you like to try a mealworm pizza or cricket brownies? Anything we put in our mouths, from a Rice Krispie treat to chocolate, contains some type of insect, according to Texas A&M entomologist Kim Schofield and the Texas Farm Bureau's Agriculture, A peanut butter and jelly sandwich has more than 350 insect fragments. Gross!

 
During the session, second grade teachers came up with ways to bring their experience into lessons for science, social studies, and even math classes. The teachers want to allow the kids to see how different our culture is from others, and to know exactly what is in their food, even the sweets kids eat every day.

 
After the teachers tried the fire ant queso and cricket brownies, they said the taste was distorted, but they recommend taking the legs of the little critters off next time.

                                                        
Excuse me while I go make a fresh fire ant cheese dip.

While both a fire ant and wasp have fierce little stingers that will make you run for cover who would dominate on a face to face battle?

Let’s take a look at the advantages of each:

The wasp:

• Ability to fly
• Release pheromones to alert colony members of attack
• Ability to sting repeatedly without loosing stinger and dying like the honey bee

The fire ant:

• Always attack in groups, with the release of pheromones to alert colony members of attack
• Can sting multiple times, injecting a dangerous venom

The winner is the fire ant! While the wasp may have the ability to fly, the fire ant wins in a battle with an advantage of the “group attack.” Check out the YouTube video of the match here. 

After having an unfortunate encounter with fire ants, it is only understandable to seek retribution by taking matters into your own hands with a match and gasoline — resulting in an ant farm bonfire.

However,  this method of extermination is not advisable by the University of Georgia Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Department. Aside from the obvious hazard to yourself from an explosion, it is illegal and environmentally hazardous because it may contaminate surface water — not to mention the chance of grass fires in warm, dry climates.

Kit Raymond of Brooksville Fla. recently burned down her house trying to rid her lawn of fire ants by accidentally dropping the gasoline container,as reported by the Petersburg Times.

For now, it’s probably best to stick with trusty ol’ Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer.

Insects are packed with so much protein and are so nutritious, that bugs should be on everyone’s
daily menu.

Umm…are you serious? The television show Fear Factor is pushing it far enough. Do you see the contestant’s faces when they have to eat insects?

Scientists say if you ate a plate of 100 grams worth of fire ants, there would be 13.9 grams of protein and 3.5 grams of fat, according to scientists at UN Food and Agriculture Organization. So are people supposed to substitute fire ants for chicken or steak? Bugs are served in meals in over 113 countries, and according to David Gordon, a Seattle-based naturalist. "Insects are the most valuable, underused and delicious animals in the world,” says Gordon.