Fire Ant invasion
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Bigcypresshunter
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Fire Ants are a natural enemy of the imported Sugarcane Borer which also attacks Florida's sweet corn. http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/field/sugarcane_borer.htmfossis said:Noodle said:
'Wow', that is a new one on me.
Fossis.................
The importance of natural enemies is known principally in sugarcane, its major host. Ants, particularly imported red fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, are reported to be important predators of sugarcane borer in sugarcane fields, and capable of reducing damage from borers by over 90% (Bessin and Reagan 1993). Although much of the attention has been focused on red imported fire ant, other ant species such as Pheidole dentata Mayr and P. floridana Emery (all Hymenoptera: Formicidae) also are important (Adams et al. 1981).
rmptr
Silver Member
Aha!
There's some big money cane growers with lobbyists that will resist erradication of those red devils just to line their own pocket... at least it seems that way to me!
And it also looks as though there's been some action over it, too.
Great post! Excellent when someone provides specific info and even cites!
R M P T R
There's some big money cane growers with lobbyists that will resist erradication of those red devils just to line their own pocket... at least it seems that way to me!
And it also looks as though there's been some action over it, too.
Great post! Excellent when someone provides specific info and even cites!
R M P T R
OP
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fossis
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They say the last 'survivor on earth', will be the 'Cockroach', & with all the imported creatures, it may not last.
We have 'Japanese beetles', Fire ants', 'Asian carp', 'west nile mosquitoes', 'Zebra mussels'.
Not to forget our 'home grown' 'Rocky mountain (fever) tick, 'rabies', & 'chronic wasting disease', in deer & elk herds.
We have a local 'rabbit fever' from ticks, also.
Plus the 'South' is being overrun with 'Kudzu'.
Not to forget 'Nutria', which are now spreading north from LA, & all the 'exotic' animals escaped , & turned loose in FL.
It seems we are a nation of 'immigrants' in more ways than one.
Fossis..............
We have 'Japanese beetles', Fire ants', 'Asian carp', 'west nile mosquitoes', 'Zebra mussels'.
Not to forget our 'home grown' 'Rocky mountain (fever) tick, 'rabies', & 'chronic wasting disease', in deer & elk herds.
We have a local 'rabbit fever' from ticks, also.
Plus the 'South' is being overrun with 'Kudzu'.
Not to forget 'Nutria', which are now spreading north from LA, & all the 'exotic' animals escaped , & turned loose in FL.
It seems we are a nation of 'immigrants' in more ways than one.
Fossis..............
rmptr
Silver Member
Good points Fossis.
At first I laughed at yer closing line, but it's not really funny, is it...
Here in CA there is star thistle taking over rangeland.
some kind of crab and a star fish eating things on the coast.
A few others slip my mind...
With international travel set to hi-speed now-a-days, it'll happen quick.
I really liked that Bruce Willis/Brad Pitt movie, "Army of the 12 Monkeys."
Some really ugly things will be upon us before we know what happened.
R M P T R
At first I laughed at yer closing line, but it's not really funny, is it...
Here in CA there is star thistle taking over rangeland.
some kind of crab and a star fish eating things on the coast.
A few others slip my mind...
With international travel set to hi-speed now-a-days, it'll happen quick.
I really liked that Bruce Willis/Brad Pitt movie, "Army of the 12 Monkeys."
Some really ugly things will be upon us before we know what happened.
R M P T R
We have the red ant that like to bite here in Co,and one way that we get rid of them is bury a glass mayo jar next to the den.One ant falls in and I don't know if it's chemical or the ant yelling for help but the others of the den will try to help out their buddy.Go back in a week, den is dead..Cheaper than fuel and insecticides. Hope it helps..
Bigcypresshunter
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fossis said:
You forgot the latest threat to Florida's beautiful airplants. The imported Mexican Evil Weevil. It has killed every airplant in the Fort Lauderdale's Hidden Forest and has expanded its range up to St. Lucie County and west to the Big Cypress where it will have terribly devastating effects to airplants and its ecosystem if not stopped. They are experimenting with an imported wasp or something from Central America. http://fcbs.org/articles/weevil-creel.htmrmptr said:
Extrapolate this one small example to statewide ecosystems currently or imminently under attack by this weevil. The potential genetic loss is large indeed. Little wonder that participants in the World Conservation Congress of 1996 rated exotic invasives as second only to habitat destruction as a leading threat to global biodiversity. The preservation of ecosystems is pointless if exotic species will be allowed to destroy the biodiversity that made these places so special to begin with.
fossis said:
It just goes to show that man can't learn from some of his mistakes. The ecosystem is such a delicate balance that transplanting a species from their natural enviroment where they have natural predators to an environment where they become the dominant species means that unchecked proliferation is bound to occur.
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fossis
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rmptr said:
It does not look good, all these things added to 'global warming', melting Glaciers & Ice, (walruses coming on land for the first time in recorded history), polar bears may become extinct.
Giant asteroids waiting to hit, threat of 'nuclear winter', etc...etc....
Fossis..............
Bigcypresshunter
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Interesting. Has anyone tried this?nickel67 said:
georgia girl
Tenderfoot
this is something someone may want to try, we went to a fall festival and there was a man who had set up a booth selling plaster molds of ant hills. He would open a mound up a little bit (to make a base) , pour some plaster of paris into it, then wait for it to dry and harden, then he dug it up carefully and sanded off the dirt and dead ants. it looked like sea coral. it was really neat, i don't think he did it on fire ant mounds, just regular old ants hills.
rmptr
Silver Member
I am concerned with this fire ant invasion, and have given the matter some thought.
IMO it would be good if a professional politician such as Al Gore were to champion the cause.
The issue would then get the exposure required to accomplish eradication of the pest.
R M P T R
IMO it would be good if a professional politician such as Al Gore were to champion the cause.
The issue would then get the exposure required to accomplish eradication of the pest.
R M P T R
Most insects including fire ants will not be killed by a freeze. They do not have blood, and do have an antifreeze. You can count that out. They go into hibernation, when they get cold , then get warm, they start all over again.
Next, killing the queen is great if you can get all of them. Something we found out, they have satelite hills, so you will have more queens, not just in the big hill.
The fire ant can not eat solid food, they milk the larva. the stem between the thorax and the ab. is small so solid food cannot get to the stomach.
I tried 300 gallons of pesticide on a four acre field, killed most of them. Within a couple of weeks they had repopulated. I repeated the treatment and the same thing happened.
I went into the bait treatment trying two different baits, making the application exactly as the label called for. The trouble with bait is you can not find all the satelite hills, all the queens can not be killed.
The most effective killer is illegal, gasoline, the vapour goes down, it kills everything. Even kills the larva.
Heat kills, but do not burn the gasoline, the fumes burn and only the top of the hill gets burned, the queen, larva and many of the workers are not affected.
I retired from my battle with ants and other bad critters before I built the ultimate bug killer. A steam generator, with a hose and a probe, 150 degrees will kill.
So if anyone has access to a steam cleaner, you are in business.
Do I know? Purdue said I did and I was certified for some stuff. Real truth is we never know it, bugs survive, they will have more up their sleeve if you think you have the upper hand.
Before you go hunting, get a cheap bottle of Lemon Joy, Lemonene repels or kills.
Use it on the hummin bird feeders with Q-tips, keeps off the bees and wasps.
Oh, spray that joy on your shoes and hands, might as well spray the MD. Dang that's cheap insect repeller.
Next, killing the queen is great if you can get all of them. Something we found out, they have satelite hills, so you will have more queens, not just in the big hill.
The fire ant can not eat solid food, they milk the larva. the stem between the thorax and the ab. is small so solid food cannot get to the stomach.
I tried 300 gallons of pesticide on a four acre field, killed most of them. Within a couple of weeks they had repopulated. I repeated the treatment and the same thing happened.
I went into the bait treatment trying two different baits, making the application exactly as the label called for. The trouble with bait is you can not find all the satelite hills, all the queens can not be killed.
The most effective killer is illegal, gasoline, the vapour goes down, it kills everything. Even kills the larva.
Heat kills, but do not burn the gasoline, the fumes burn and only the top of the hill gets burned, the queen, larva and many of the workers are not affected.
I retired from my battle with ants and other bad critters before I built the ultimate bug killer. A steam generator, with a hose and a probe, 150 degrees will kill.
So if anyone has access to a steam cleaner, you are in business.
Do I know? Purdue said I did and I was certified for some stuff. Real truth is we never know it, bugs survive, they will have more up their sleeve if you think you have the upper hand.
Before you go hunting, get a cheap bottle of Lemon Joy, Lemonene repels or kills.
Use it on the hummin bird feeders with Q-tips, keeps off the bees and wasps.
Oh, spray that joy on your shoes and hands, might as well spray the MD. Dang that's cheap insect repeller.
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