Ask your Master Gardener:
The first question for the Question and Answer column comes from Linda Sigmon:
“Since Hurricane Florence, there seems to be a proliferation of fire ants. What is causing this?”
Yes, you are seeing more fire ant mounds since Hurricane Florence dumped so much water on our region. The short answer is that the ants have been there all along, living in an underground nest, even if there was no distinctive mound that showed their presence. With the abundant rainfall, the soil became looser and the ants were able to make their nests larger by mounding up the soil on top.
Many colonies with a small number of ants are started in the spring and fall. As the colony adds more ants through reproduction, the size of the mound on top gets larger. The Red Imported Fire Ant (the fire ant species that is common in our area) is happiest when temperatures are between 70F and 95F. Therefore, they are feeding, growing larger colonies and establishing new colonies much of the year in our area.
New colonies are started by winged males and females by leaving the nest and engaging in aerial mating. This allows the females to be widely dispersed from their parent colony. Each female is going to try to start a colony after her eggs are fertilized and, as described, the small colony is likely to go unnoticed for some time.
The first question for the Question and Answer column comes from Linda Sigmon:
“Since Hurricane Florence, there seems to be a proliferation of fire ants. What is causing this?”
Yes, you are seeing more fire ant mounds since Hurricane Florence dumped so much water on our region. The short answer is that the ants have been there all along, living in an underground nest, even if there was no distinctive mound that showed their presence. With the abundant rainfall, the soil became looser and the ants were able to make their nests larger by mounding up the soil on top.
New colonies are started by winged males and females by leaving the nest and engaging in aerial mating. This allows the females to be widely dispersed from their parent colony. Each female is going to try to start a colony after her eggs are fertilized and, as described, the small colony is likely to go unnoticed for some time.
--Their spread underground and around the mound is considerably larger
than the mound and, they may be well established before the mound
betrays their presence.
--Anytime the temperatures are favorable, as previously described,
potential queens spread out over a large area so re-infestation of areas
that appeared ant-free is possible.
accomplished by using baits (the ants spread the product through the nest) or by drenching the nest with an insecticide
solution.
https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/red-imported-fire-ant-in-north-carolina, although aimed at commercial sites has good information to help you get started understanding and managing this nuisance insect.
Typically, if you are vigilant, proactive and dedicated you can make life around your house less inviting to the fire antsand more enjoyable for you. The NC State Extension publication Red Imported Fire Ant in North Carolina,
You may also find this article for the Alabama State Extension office to be helpful.
https://articles.extension.org/pages/9766/fire-ant-habitat-and-food-sources
By Juel Duke
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