Can Fire Ants Kill Plants?

Red imported fire ants can be a nuisance in the vegetable garden and can damage and kill plants and trees. Fire Ant Control, LLC, provides the most effective and affordable fire ant solution for homes and businesses in Florida and beyond.

Can Fire Ants Kill Plants?Outside of calling licensed pest management professionals like Fire Ant Control, there is no “best way” to kill these destructive ants. The key to controlling them is to identify them quickly and take action to minimize the damage they cause to humans, animals and property.

Fire Ants and Plants

Red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) will feed on almost any organic material to satisfy their nutritional needs, including other insects, animals and plants. They are harmful to plants and trees in many ways:

  • They venture into your flower bed and vegetable garden seeking warmth, moisture and food sources.
  • They feed on oily seeds such as walnuts, peanuts and sunflowers to meet the colony’s need for fat and protein.
  • They also feed on the honeydew produced by sucking insects like aphids, whiteflies, and mealybugs, protecting them from their natural enemies (parasites and predators) and helping them grow and flourish.
  • They can cause girdling of young, tender trees, depriving them of nutrients and allowing the root systems to be exposed to the air, drying them out.
  • They collect plant seeds and scatter them around their mounds, causing them to be dispersed across the landscape.
  • They kill agricultural crops by tunneling into the base of young plant stalks.
  • They compete with and kill native beneficial organisms, such as bees and native ants.

Fire ants infest virtually all crops in southern states and continue to spread westward into California and northward along the east coast. They are voracious predators, extremely aggressive, often present in high densities, and can negatively affect crop production by attacking and consuming beneficial organisms.

Permanent Fire Ant Control

Fire ants build nests outdoors in mounds of soil and live beneath them in elaborate networks of underground tunnels where the queens reproduce rapidly (laying 1,500 to 5,000 eggs per day). Even when you don’t see them, they are expanding right under your feet, and thousands of them can live in a single fire ant colony.

Fire Ant Control’s proven fire ant treatment focuses on sterilizing the queen. Our potent, food-like granular bait contains an insect growth regulator that kills the ant colonies from the inside out and is approved for use around livestock and on pastures, hay fields, farmland, and public and private lands.

Unlike other topical treatments that can permanently damage your soil and grass, the granular bait we use goes straight to the source. With two treatments a year, your property can be 85% to 95% free of fire ants for four months at a time.

Don’t let red imported fire ants kill your plants and trees. Call Fire Ant Control, LLC at (239) 312-8200 for a free estimate. We are capable of treating up to 1,000 acres per day and guarantee to help protect your property or we’ll refund your payment!