Fire Ant Sterilization
What is the key to getting rid of a red fire ant infestation? Sterilization of the queen(s). How does one accomplish this? The most effective method is the reliable, long-lasting treatment from Fire Ant Control, LLC.
Headquartered in Bokeelia, Florida, Fire Ant Control, LLC and our sister companies serve the entire imported red fire ant quarantine area of the southeastern U.S., and are capable of treating up to 1,000 acres per day.
We’re so confident that our treatment works, we guarantee it will rid your residential, commercial or agricultural property of 85-95% of your fire ants for four months at a time, or we’ll refund your money.
Life Cycle of a Red Imported Fire Ant Colony
Red imported fire ants mate during flight – about 300 to 800 feet in the air. The male dies shortly after mating, and the mated female drops to the ground, sheds her wings, and searches for a suitable place to start a colony.
The new queen tunnels into the ground and seals herself inside it to lay her first dozen or so “worker ant” eggs. This worker brood develops in 20 to 25 days, opens the nest (mound), and begins to forage for food and to care for their queen as she becomes an egg-laying machine – laying up to 1,500 eggs per day for two to seven years!
In addition to workers and a queen, mature fire ant colonies contain thousands of males and females capable of flight and reproduction. These fire ants eventually leave the nest to mate and form new colonies.
Many established colonies also harbor multiple queens. Properties with single queen colonies may have 40 to 150 mounds and about 7 million red fire ants per acre. If infested with multiple queen colonies, there may be 200 or more mounds and up to 40 million red fire ants per acre.
Red fire ants often move their nests both horizontally and vertically to adjust to temperature and humidity and to protect the queen from danger. If the colony is disturbed, the workers will quickly carry the queen through underground tunnels so she can start a new colony.
Leave Fire Ant Control to the Professionals!
To prevent a fire ant colony from surviving, all queens must be sterilized to prevent them from reproducing.
Spraying insecticide on a nest of fire ants would not be enough to exterminate them. It may even cause the colony to disperse and start a colony somewhere else on your property, making control more difficult.
Fire Ant Control, LLC is recognized as a specialist in controlling red fire ants on any size or type of land. The potent, food-like granular bait we use contains an insect growth regulator that sterilizes the queen and is approved for use around people, pets, livestock, and on pastures, hay fields and farmland.
Extermination is not instantaneous but, once the worker ants have eaten the bait and carried it down into the colony, sterilizing the queen, the entire colony will disappear, and no new ants will be born. Within weeks, your property will be nearly free of fire ants.
Because new colonies can invade when ants fly off to mate and start a new colony, or when an existing colony expands into new territory, we highly recommend treatments every four months to keep these troublemakers under control.
If you’re ready to explore professional fire ant sterilization to prevent damage to your property or harm of your family, friends and pets, give Fire Ant Control, LLC a call today at (239) 312-8200 to schedule a free consultation.