The FireRANT!

Is your pet missing?

2008-08-19T07:49:38Z

In St. Petersburg, Florida, a rise in coyote populations causes concern with the local population as numerous pets are reported missing. However, coyotes are not the only suspect(s) that could be linked to the pet problems. Other than coyotes, insects such as fire ants can harm your pet on their adventures in your backyard, woods, or swamps.

Fire ants are considered one of the most dangerous creatures to live around on a daily basis. Despite their small size, they are categorized with the big guys, like alligators, as dangerous creatures to live with in southern Florida, according to Martin Main, a University of Florida professor. Sadly, bites from fire ants can result in death of your pets if severe enough.

Who would have thought? I guess the people who’ve suffered a fire ant bite or attended to the yelps of their pets who cross the ant’s path can agree, these little pests cause big problems.

Fire ant muse

2008-08-14T09:08:27Z

Most of us do not associate fire ants with the phrase “muse of fire” from Shakespeare’s “Henry V.”

Well, the University of Mississippi Medical Center is for their next mentorship program with local schools. According to the Northeast Ledger, their next fire ant study, called the “Muse of Fire”, is intended to illustrate how the fiery sting of the fire ant stimulates the spirit of research in children.

The primary focus of the study will be on the positive and negative effects of the fire ant sting on humans, and the impact of a bacteria called Wolbachia on fire ant populations. The results of the research from the scientists and student partnership will be presented at the Mississippi Academy of Science (MAS) annual meeting and published in the Journal of MAS.

"We're finding out that the Wolbachia bacteria only affects male ants," says Brandon Hodges, a student at Millsaps College. "It ends up killing them, leaving the colony with more females, which manages the size of the colony."

It seems as though their “muse of fire” is helping them uncover some interesting research!

Edible insects

2008-08-12T07:53:47Z

Did you know bugs are used to make the red dye for M&Ms™? In Springboro, Ohio schools are teaching their students more than the basics. On Monday’s they have special programs and this past Monday was about edible insects. Insect experts were on site explaining to the students it’s ok to eat some insects such as grasshoppers, mealworms, crickets, and several others. However a couple of insects didn’t make the cut including fire ants and mosquitoes that are listed as un-edible because mosquitoes have a high blood content and fire ants burn. Whoever found out fire ants burn if you eat them, thanks for taking one for the team!

Of course to intrigue the students they sugar coated the insects for the children, chocolate covered grasshoppers and crickets, insect cookies and brownies, and even mealworm dip.

Dig right in!

A word of precaution

2008-08-07T08:33:04Z

Watch out Virginia residents! Fire ants are taking over your public parks with the discovery of over eight fire ant infestations. Even though parks are treated by the Virginia Department of Agriculture, the problem still persists in some areas.

City View Park is continuing to have a major problem with fire ants with over 30 identified mounds, reports The Virginia Pilot. As a result, signs have been put up to warn citizens to take “extra precaution”.

While public parks are great places for recreational activities, they are also prime areas for fire ant attacks because the ants are highly sensitive to disturbances of their mounds.

While your summer might not be the same without your local park, take a break until they use effective treatment methods like Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer to get rid of the infestations.

Training Camp

2008-08-05T08:07:06Z

In Fayetteville, North Carolina, high school football players did not get the welcome they thought they were going to receive at the start of training camp. Even though some of the veterans on the team are aware, the younger players weren’t as familiar with the importance of looking before you sit to stretch and there was quite a surprise waiting for them in the grass. Right after touching the ground, some players jumped right back up because they had sat on a fire ant hill or an area swarming with the little red bitters.

The weather hasn’t helped the fire ant situations either. Hot, humid, and rainy conditions bring the bugs out to play too, but they are not playing football. These attacks have administrators and parents trying to figure out a way to stop these ants before they cause any more damage.

A great way for schools and coaching staffs to prevent their practices from interruptions or ant related injuries is to spread their fields with a broadcast treatment such as Over ‘n Out Fire Ant Killer^®. Over ‘n Out allows your players to take part in normal football activities by ridding the field of these pests. After all, can you imagine a player at the bottom of a jam pile lying on top of a fire ant hill, OUCH?

Got mounds?

2008-07-31T08:27:47Z

While most prefer the chocolate covered coconut candy over a “mound” that doesn't involve fire ants – here are some answers to questions you may have from the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture.

1) What do the mounds look like?

With over 200,000 ants inside, the mound is a 4-24 inch tall dome-shaped bump usually found in open, sunny areas.

2) What is the “white stuff” that appears when the top of the mound is uncovered?

While we would never suggest a one-on-one with a fire ant mound, the “white stuff” is formerly known as a fire ant brood or immature fire ants in egg, larvae, and pupae form.

3) How deep do fire ant mounds go?

The fire ants have an extensive tunneling system within the mound to circulate air flow. Tunnels have been found up to 10 feet deep, depending on soil type and temperature.

4) Why do mounds expand after it rains?

During the extreme heat and drought, fire ants go deeper into the ground to reach cooler temperatures. After a rain, mounds regain round appearance as fire ants return for water.

5) Will running over a fire ant mound with my lawnmower get rid of them?

Disturbing the mound will not result in treatment of fire ants, and could result in injury.

Now that you can spot a mound from a mile away, the most important thing you should know is you can get rid of them with Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer. The treatment effectively penetrates the colony to remove the mounds and the fire ants that occupy them!

Plant natives, not aliens

2008-07-29T08:25:45Z

Rutgers University professor, Joan Ehrenfield, might be onto something. She thinks gardeners and plant lovers need to start planting native plants and not “aliens”, or non-native species, which tend to be more common in the lawns and gardens of our neighborhoods.

Fire ants, like many invasive insects, hitchhike along with plants, trees, soil, or even water. A seemingly harmless act like bringing a foreign plant into your backyard or garden can be the starting point for infesting your whole neighborhood with fire ants. If you don’t believe me, just take the case of cane toads which became a popular pest in Australia when they piggy-backed their way onto the continent with sugar cane in the 1930s’s. Cane toads now outnumber Australians by 10-to-1; can you imagine the ratio of fire ants to Americans??!!

Fire ants are only one example of the different species exploring our neighborhoods looking for the perfect opportunity to colonize and become another invasion success story. Millions of dollars are spent to prevent or reverse the invasions of critters each year.

Use Over ‘n Out^® broadcast treatment if your neighborhood has fallen victim due to alien plants harboring fire ants. Not only does Over ‘n Out control the fire ants you see, but it controls the ones you can’t see hiding in their mounds. So think twice when it comes to picking out your landscape for next spring, sometimes thorns aren’t the only nasty surprise plants are hiding.

Give ‘em hill!

2008-07-25T07:29:47Z

The University of South Carolina-Sumter has just announced an interesting mascot for their athletics program – The Fire Ant.

According to the USC-Sumter Web site, competitive sports have not been on campus since the 1970’s. However, this 2007-2008 academic season sports a new athletic program competing in Division X of the NCJAA. With the Fire Ant mascot, the teams are expected to colonize, attack without mercy and “give ‘em hill”, just like their namesakes in the insect community.

Hey, as long as it’s not in my back yard!

What scares you more, a mother alligator or fire ants?

2008-07-22T09:08:16Z

In southern Florida, alligator egg hunting by poachers wiped alligators out of Florida placing them on the endangered species. Started in the late 1980’s, Florida’s Alligator Management Program implemented a protection plan where members would gather alligator eggs, incubate them, and raise them until the baby gators reached certain length specifications. The end result in mind was to ensure there were increased numbers of the endangered alligators being introduced back into their native habitats.

Unfortunately, there are a couple major problems. Female alligators are notoriously aggressive and very protective of their eggs. It’s no surprise they are so bad tempered and feared when watching over their nests, considering their eggs are sought after by raccoons and other alligators. In an effort to prevent the eggs from becoming someone’s breakfast, the female alligators bury their eggs deep in the soil. But, what insect loves to live in damp soil areas in the south? Yes, you guessed it, fire ants!

Even more aggressive than a female alligator protecting her nest, when program members find a nest, they are more worried about fire ant bites. When they dig the eggs up, their arms and hands are covered in fire bites. “I'm eat up with fire ant bites, I’ve about reached my tolerance," said a member of Florida’s Alligator Management Program.

A 9-foot alligator or tiny insect, what are you more afraid of?

Set the sell

2008-07-17T08:27:58Z

You have gone through all the steps: Decided you’re ready for a change, hired a realtor, and settled on a price. Now it’s time to stage your home and property to look its best. With the current state of the home buying market, don’t let a huge issue like fire ants turn away potential buyers.

Take the steps necessary with Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer. This effective treatment not only gets rid of current fire ant armies, but prevents them from returning to your lawn for the entire season.

At least fire ants can be one thing checked off your list.

Fire ants are traveling north

2008-07-15T10:27:52Z

Well, fire ants are now causing problems north, way north! Fire ants are considered a major pest in southern United States, but the little stingers have made their way to Halifax, Canada. People are finding fire ants in their usual hiding and nesting spots; under logs, wood, rocks, or traveling throughout yards, yet not very usual in Canada! The city is advising against transportation of soil and plant life, methods which fire ants can easily travel on. Another way to stop fire ants from spreading from yard to yard is by broadcasting Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer over your lawn. Over ‘n Out helps contain the fire ants before they spread, a great solution for neighborhoods
in Halifax!

Arson of the ants

2008-07-10T08:36:11Z

Do you have fire ants in your lawn that have a bit of a pyromaniac personality? Hard to know until they move from the ol’ bite trick to damaging your property with a new kind of fire up their sleeve.

Heidi Smith, director of public relations for Tideland EMC, a distribution electric cooperative, explains how fire ants manage to “get away” with this new operative.

“Fire ants are particularly troublesome”, she said. “They build hills in the pad-mount transformers — the green boxes people put in their yards. What happens is they build mounds, and it causes the equipment to overheat.”

While you can’t control the erratic personality of fire ants and their various strategic attacks, you can treat your lawn with Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer and avoid them all together. Firemen are for emergencies, not for feisty fire ants.

Fire ant education

2008-07-08T07:35:48Z

A summer reading session for children took place at a local library in Baldwin County, Alabama. One way to educate people about fire ants and other insects is to inform kids at a young age. Alabama, along with the rest of the southern United States is experiencing problems with fire ants traveling in with cargo through the port of Mobile Bay. So in order to educate early on, the library showed videos, and the children listened to guest speakers on different types of insects, and more importantly ones to say away from such as fire ants.

Some of the children also inquired to know if the old saying “sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” was really true. The saying is true, bed bugs hide in the folds of mattresses, linens, and inside folded clothes in dressers, according to Bob Nagy of Orkin.

Can you imagine waking up in a bed full of fire ants? Yikes!

Rasberry be gone!

2008-07-08T12:42:36Z

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 in Over ‘n Out^® broadcast treatment you have your ant invasion covered. Might as well rid your yard of two kinds of ants with one Over ‘n Out stone!

Fire ants have a “mom” buffet

2008-07-01T07:56:37Z

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.

Fire ant fire hazard

2008-06-26T09:33:15Z

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.

Florida native butterflies are on borrowed time

2008-06-24T07:39:08Z

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.

When they have a safe zone area for butterflies, they should use Over ‘n Out^® Fire Ant Killer to keep those little buggers out!

Come fly the friendly skies…

2008-06-19T09:26:44Z

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!

Texas water safari – Extreme challenges!

2008-06-17T08:37:12Z

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!

Fire ant queso, mealworm pizza, cricket brownies…WHAT?!?!

2008-06-12T08:20:35Z

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.