Imported Fire Ants: Eradication Trials with Mirex Bait12

Abstract

Largp-scale trials were conducted to evaluate mirex bait for cradication of imported fire ants. Two sites in Georgia-South Carolina and Florida infested with the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis inriela Buren, and a 3rd site in Mississippi, infested with the black imported fire ant, S. richteri Forel, were used as test areas. Three applications of bait at 1¼-2½ lb/acre eliminated all pretreatment colonies except in 2 instances. One surviving colony was found in a large assembly building in the city of Savannah, Georgia, and several colonies were found in the Florida test area near television transmission antennae that had interfered with electronic guidance signals for application aircraft. Aside from the colony in the assembly plant, no colonies, incipient or mature, were found in the central portion of the Savannah test area during the 2 years of posttreatment surveys. Incipient colonies were found 3-6 months the 3rd application of bait on the periphery of the Savannah and Florida areas and throughout the Mississippi area. It was impossible to determine with certainty whether these incipient colonies had arisen from flights from colonies within or from outside the trial areas. However, the patterns of reinfestation definitely suggested that they resulted from mating flights originating in colonies outside the areas. These data offer the 1st proof that queens can disperse up to 12 miles during nuptial flights. The results demonstrated a very high degree of effectiveness of mirex bait but did not con elusively prove that it can be used to eradicate the red and black imported fire ants. Nevertheless, these were the first fullscale attempts to totally eliminate ants from given areas. Since no insurmountable technical problems were detected, total elimination from large isolated areas may be technically feasible.