Summer’s here and many of us are ready to celebrate our nation’s independence! It’s time to put away your closed-toe shoes, slip into a pair of sandals or flip flops and get ready for some outdoor fun. But be careful where you step! Red imported fire ants could be nesting in the ground, waiting to attack when disturbed.
These invasive pests deliver quick, painful stings loaded with venom that can be life threatening to some people and deadly to small animals.
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have been battling red imported fire ants for decades. This pest has become well established in the United States since its arrival in the 1930s. Today, the red imported fire ant infests about 300 million U.S. acres and is among the world’s top 100 invasive species.
In addition to being a menace, these ants cost an estimated $6 billion annually in control and damage repair, according to Steven Valles, an entomologist with ARS.
Valles and scientists with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service recently developed a red imported fire ant test kit for use at truck inspection stations to help keep ants from spreading throughout southeastern states. All trucks carrying hay, nursery stock and soil-moving equipment are inspected for ants when leaving a quarantined area and heading to a location not under quarantine.
“Identifying ants found at inspection stations takes hours or even days,” Valles says. “The new test fixes that problem.” It’s portable, easy to use, identifies red imported fire ants in 10 minutes and requires no special training.
The new test is one of many tools ARS scientists have developed to help stop red imported fire ants from spreading.
