Control of Red Fire Ant
I. Sources of Red Fire Ants
Red fire ant originated in South America. It is bigger than ordinary ants and has a brown-red body. It is named for its burning pain after being bitten. At the moment of being bitten, a large amount of acidic venom containing toxic protein enters the skin, which not only causes severe pain immediately, but also blisters, and even causes anaphylaxis and shock death.
Red fire ant queen was found from relevant departments in Wuxi. Red fire ant was also found in some villages near Wuxi. Experts say it is not excluded that container ships will bring ant nests to Wuxi. Professor Cai Wanzhi of China Agricultural University said that although red fire ants are only present in the south. But it can also survive in the northern climate. Where it exists, it should be eliminated by spraying and trapping.
2. Prevention of Red Fire Ant
In order to prevent the invasion of red fire ants, we should first control the vectors that easily carry red fire ants from the epidemic areas to other areas. Such as soil, turf, hay, potted plants, plants with soil and containers for transporting soil. These items may transport red fire ants from their areas of occurrence to uninfected areas. Active monitoring of imports to prevent the spread of red fire ants can help prevent them from establishing populations in new areas. Newly mating females prefer wet or reflective surfaces, such as ponds. 同时，它们对小汽车、卡车、火车和拖车也感兴趣，这也可能成为携带的途径。 Waterfront and open and sunny areas. It's the most popular nesting area for red fire ants. New colonies are not very obvious in the first few months. Fine soil particles that emerge from the ground usually indicate that there are new colonies. Green belts, parks and golf courses in cities are also popular places for red fire ants. Red fire ants migrate to their homes during hot and dry seasons. When floods occur, the colony of red fire ants usually moves into the space between walls or rafters on roofs. Red fire ant can not live without water, so people often find red fire ant mounds near streams, ditches, streams, rivers, ponds and lakes. Understanding the environment in which red fire ants like to live is helpful for early detection, vigilance and timely control.
3. Control of Red Fire Ant
It is very difficult to control the red fire ant. The highly toxic insecticides used to eradicate the red fire ant can damage the local fauna and make the red fire ant flee to places where there is no animal habitat. If the treatment is not 100% successful, the red fire ant colonies simply migrate to nearby areas. Bait poisoning and wet application of pesticides to the target nest are very effective, but it needs to be treated in the whole distribution area of the red fire ant, otherwise the re-invasion of the red fire ant will occur. Where food resources are abundant (garbage cans, waste food cans, tableware or chicken houses), the effect of baits is slightly worse. Once the bait container is opened, the bait should be used within 6 to 12 months, because they will soon become ineffective. Baiting after rain or on dewy grasslands reduces the attractiveness of red fire ants. If contact insecticides have been used recently, the foraging behavior of red fire ants will be affected, thus reducing the effectiveness of baits. Temperature above 210C is beneficial for the red fire ant to forage, so the bait will be more effective. When the temperature is high (>320C), the red fire ant tends to forage at night, and the effect of night bait is better. To determine whether the bait is suitable for application, bait or other food (hot dogs or chips) can be placed near the ant nest. If the red fire ant begins to carry food within 15 to 30 minutes, it is suitable to put bait. If the surrounding area is not treated, the red fire ant will invade again.
To control the red fire ant, a nest can be irrigated with 4-8 L hot water (about 60%). It takes 5 to 10 days to deal with it every day. In addition, the nest can be excavated with a shovel and soaked in soapy water. This method requires a shovel and rubber gloves, and talcum powder is coated on the surface. The surface of the treated spade and gloves was very smooth, and the red fire ant could not climb along the spade.