Fire Ant Control

Fire ants are the most common insect pests of home lawns. They occur in practically every lawn in the state, and even when a homeowner manages to eliminate all fire ant mounds in the lawn, they quickly return. This is because new fire ant colonies thrive especially well in areas where they do not compete with other fire ants. Although fire ants are persistent pests, there are steps that homeowners can take to maintain lawns that are relatively fire ant free.

In terms of both cost and effort, the most effective thing you can do to control fire ants is make a broadcast application of fire ant bait at least once per season. Treatments are most effective if you apply them in the spring, but you can improve control by making additional treatments in midsummer and fall. Broadcast applications are much more effective than applying bait treatments to individual mounds. This is because broadcast bait treatments also control newly formed colonies you can’t see. Broadcast fire ant treatments are most effective when applied before large mounds are present. When using baits, keep in mind they are meant to be slow acting, to allow time for them to be taken back to the colony and fed to the queen and immature brood. It may take a month or longer to see the full benefit of a bait treatment.