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KarenInMA Donating Member (821 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 11:59 AM
Original message
What's a fire ant?
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crispini Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:01 PM
Response to Original message
1. Ant that bites, HARD.
Viz:

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Modem Butterfly Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:01 PM
Response to Original message
2. It's a red ant that is hard to kill and likes to bite people and animals
Its bite stings like crazy. It also eats electronic wiring. It's a nasty little bugger...
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Richardo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:01 PM
Response to Original message
3. There's no such thing as *a* fire ant.
Edited on Thu Aug-11-05 12:04 PM by Richardo
They only come in overwhelming force.
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kick-ass-bob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:02 PM
Response to Reply #3
8. like this:
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Richardo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:06 PM
Response to Reply #8
12. Yeah. Like that.
:scared:
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ClintonTyree Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:11 PM
Response to Reply #8
27. I've seen them like that, they build rafts out of themselves.....
when I lived in Florida we'd get tremendous gully washers in the summertime, if it flooded their nests they form an ant raft and go where the current took them until they hit dry land. The little buggers can survive 14 hours underwater. I used to dust the hills with some stuff, I forgot what it's called now. It gave me great pleasure to watch the little bastards die, but I knew they'd just pop up somewhere else. If you don't get the queen(s), you're screwed. Resilient little shits, they are.
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Shell Beau Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:50 PM
Response to Reply #8
50. Yikes!
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leftofthedial Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:01 PM
Response to Original message
4. It's like a piss ant
except about 40 times as big, red, with much larger mandibles that deliver a very painful burning chemical into its bite
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achtung_circus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:01 PM
Response to Original message
5. Primer here:
Edited on Thu Aug-11-05 12:03 PM by achtung_circus
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Not_Giving_Up Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:02 PM
Response to Original message
6. A vicious ant
The bites form pus filled heads that don't want anything to touch them. Fire ants are everywhere in Texas. I know, I live here.
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Corgigal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:02 PM
Response to Original message
7. they are little assholes that live in my yard
I treat the mount over and over, a few of them give me the finger move 10 feet and open a hotel.

Worst then fleas, in my opinion.
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crispini Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:06 PM
Response to Reply #7
13. Orange oil.
Check out The Dirt Doctor (dirtdoctor.com, I think) for lots of organic treatments for fire ants.

I live in Texas and I have not had fire ants in my yard for four years. 100% organic garden.
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Corgigal Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:07 PM
Response to Reply #13
16. thanks
I will.
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merh Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:23 PM
Response to Reply #13
37. Thanks for the link
:hi:

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ret5hd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:08 PM
Original message
go to a farm store or feed store...
and buy some "beneficial nematodes". Apply as directed and your problem will be gone in a few weeks. probably cost you about $20 for a years supply.

they are microscopic worms that infect ground-dwelling insects like ants, grubs, most of the ittle nasties that infest your garden, etc. but, they leave most of the beneficial insects alone, like ladybugs, praying mantis, etc.
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loudsue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:16 PM
Response to Original message
34. Do nematodes work on FIRE ants, too?
Or do they just work on the little pissy ones?

:kick::kick::kick:
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ret5hd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:17 PM
Response to Reply #34
35. yes they do...and very well (nt)
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China_cat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:47 PM
Response to Reply #34
46. The ones that work on fleas
also work on fire ants. That was a welcome side effect when we used them.

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loudsue Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 02:31 PM
Response to Reply #46
52. Fleas, too? That's GREAT news! How 'bout CHIGGERS?
Chiggers are the devil. :evilgrin: I don't know why God even invented those little boogers. What was He thinking????

:kick:
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China_cat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 03:20 PM
Response to Reply #52
55. SHE wanted something to get under the skin of men
in order to remind them that women are NOT the most irritating things on the planet.

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steve2470 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:08 PM
Response to Reply #7
20. LOL good one nt
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pitohui Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:02 PM
Response to Original message
9. small black biting ants common in southwest and gulf coast
they build huge mounds in the dirt

try to avoid stepping in them

since they're everywhere & you will step on them at some point if you're outdoors enough, it is useful to know that immediate application of white vinegar applied to the bites will react w. the formic acid in the ant bite and save you from developing a raised, red, itchy bite mark

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jean Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:07 PM
Response to Reply #9
14. Yaaay! Something to fight them with - White Vinegar!
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Shell Beau Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:48 PM
Response to Reply #9
48. They actually have a red tint to them.
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DrDan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:04 PM
Response to Original message
10. while living in Ethiopia several years back, I had these things
invade my car.

Once I was moving, they crawled up my leg and started their feast.

It was memorable.
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mourningdove92 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:04 PM
Response to Original message
11. they are practically indestructible critters that are a royal
pain in the &*$#.

I believe they are Gods punishment to Texas for GWB. As a Texan, I wish he would move somewhere else and take his fire ants with him.
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kick-ass-bob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:15 PM
Response to Reply #11
32. This is where they have spread in the US:
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graywarrior Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:07 PM
Response to Original message
15. They're the Hell's Angels of the ant world
They're mean little bastids.
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alphafemale Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:07 PM
Original message
Just to clarify. The bite is just the beginning. They also sting.
Nasty fuckers.
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Walt Starr Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:07 PM
Response to Original message
17. Non-native species of ant with a destructive sting
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Armstead Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:08 PM
Response to Original message
18. Sometimes cold weathr is a blessing in Massachusetts
I hate winter. But at least it keeps the number of pests down somewhat.
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tx_dem41 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:08 PM
Response to Original message
19. Oh, you silly, silly Yankee..... n/t
:)

Just kidding. I didn't know what a black fly was until I visited Maine.
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GreenPartyVoter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:09 PM
Response to Reply #19
22. I'd rather have the black flies! *l*
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trekbiker Donating Member (724 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:08 PM
Response to Original message
21. fire ants use a stinger like a bee. very painful
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CottonBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:09 PM
Response to Original message
23. An awful creature that torments humans and animal alike.
They can kill baby birds and reptiles. Last week, they bit my filly all over her nose which she then rubbed raw. :cry: Once, they got on my candy bar (which I had set down on a bale of hay in the barn) then bit me on the lips when I ate the rest of the candy! Ouch! I ate a good number of them in the process of removing them from my face (they don't taste bad, actually). :(

They are a scourge upon the beautiful state that is Georgia.
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Ripley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:12 PM
Response to Reply #23
29. Unfortunately they kill people too.
I remember reading an article a couple of years ago about a resident in a nursing home just over the border in Mississippi, who died because they had come in through the open window. Her body had like a million bites.

I thought I'd die from like two. Oh yeah, it's not just a bite either....they latch on with their teeth, then rotate in a circle with their but stinger stabbing you until you get it off.

They released some wasps here (alabama) a year or so ago to try to kill them - the wasp is their predator from their home in South America. I haven't seen as many this year, but they're still around.
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CottonBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:23 PM
Response to Reply #29
38. I read about those poor old people. How awful.
I would love to get some of those wasps here. We use fly predator wasps at the horse farm to control the fly population. Get this: we had to protect the wasp pupae from the fire ants! The damned ants crawled into the little bucket with the pupae and ate them within 30 minutes of setting them out near the manure pile! We had to put the pupae on a plastic chair which had its legs in buckets of water to keep the ants at bay. :(
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Ripley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #38
41. I'll have to check into the wasp thing...
Because I really think the daily tropical downpours we're having this summer is more likely the reason I don't see so many mounds.
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RubyDuby in GA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #29
43. Growing up, there was a girl who lived across the street from my family
She and my brother were the same age and played together all the time. I think it was when they were either 6 or 7 that she stepped in a fire ant mound and was bitten repeatedly. She suffered partial paralysis on one side of her body and had slurred speech. The doctors in the emergency room said she had been bitten several hundred times.

You don't mess around with fire ants. They can kill and they can cause serious damage to the body.
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tocqueville Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:09 PM
Response to Original message
24. it's a neocon ant
"Fire ants are scavenger-predators that prefer oily or fatty meats and seeds. The menu includes insects, vertebrate carrion and fruits. The ants also harvest seeds and obtain nectar from a variety of plants, including many species of cactus. One early naturalist wrote how "not even clothes are immune from these ant rogues these insect villains walnuts, almonds, tomatoes, watermelons, and other fruits and vegetables."

Fire ants are an aggressive species and when a good food source is found, fire ant workers will displace other ant species. They generally accomplish this through a process known as "gaster wagging" or "flagging," where a worker will produce an aerosolized drop of venom on her hind end and disperse the poison toward or onto the enemy."


http://www.desertusa.com/mag01/aug/papr/ants.html
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scarface2004 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:10 PM
Response to Original message
25. one bite
will burn for hours, then itch, then leave a mark for days. they are vicious karl rove like!!
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tex-wyo-dem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:10 PM
Response to Original message
26. I beileve they are originally from South America...
but were transplanted into the southwest several decades ago. Have been the main reason for the Texas Horney Toad's declining numbers.
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K-W Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:11 PM
Response to Reply #26
28. I blame Hugo Chavez EOM
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steve2470 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:12 PM
Response to Original message
30. Trust me, once one of those suckers bites you, you don't believe in the
sacredness of biodiversity anymore. :evilgrin:
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HughBeaumont Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:14 PM
Response to Original message
31. The subject of a kick-ass Mastodon song
and an evil insect.
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PuraVidaDreamin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:15 PM
Response to Original message
33. Good site on prevention/ treatment of fire-ant bites
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gkhouston Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:19 PM
Response to Original message
36. the mounds are often raised a bit higher than a common ant mound
Edited on Thu Aug-11-05 12:21 PM by gkhouston
and if you're in a suburban or urban area, don't be surprised if there's one near a sidewalk or curb. And boy, can those fuckers swim. Gotta be careful after a heavy rain when there's standing water pooling everywhere.

You don't want any part of them.
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CottonBear Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:26 PM
Response to Reply #36
40. They bit me on the hand last week while I was cleaning a water trough.
They were swimming around in the water just waiting for a way out. Goddamn ant. I hate 'em. :grr:
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Ignoramus Donating Member (610 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:24 PM
Response to Original message
39. About 2 pints
Badum bum.
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Shakespeare Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:29 PM
Response to Original message
42. FYI, a completely non-chemical way to get rid of them.
This usually works (but not always, but it's definitely worth a try).

If you have multiple fire ant beds in your yard, take a shovel full of dirt (and ants) from one bed, and dump it on another one (and vice versa). You'll have to work quickly, obviously, and be careful. Why does this work? Fire ant colonies are incredibly territorial, and will fight and kill each other.
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China_cat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:46 PM
Response to Original message
44. Fire ants are bad news
BUT, if you have fire ant mounds against your house, you can guarantee that you don't have termites. Fire ants eat them.

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LynneSin Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:46 PM
Response to Original message
45. Something us Northerns will never have to deal with thank god
another reason to let the south secede again
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kick-ass-bob Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 02:37 PM
Response to Reply #45
53. they aren't all that far from you.
never say never.

:scared:
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Shell Beau Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:47 PM
Response to Original message
47. Ants that have a red tint and hurt more than other ants!
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AngryAmish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 12:49 PM
Response to Original message
49. I, for one, welcome our insect overlords
HAIL ANTS!
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MN ChimpH8R Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 01:00 PM
Response to Original message
51. There are even worse ants
but thankfully there are a long way away.

http://www.answers.com/topic/driver-ant
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LT TX Donating Member (74 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Aug-11-05 02:52 PM
Response to Original message
54. What is crazy
is that my hometown has a Fireant Fesitval every year. I never understood why you would celebrate those creatures...
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