How to Prevent Fire Ant Bites

Fire ants can swarm up vertical surfaces.

Fire ants earn their name from their unique method of defending their colony. If a fire ant colony is disturbed, the ants will swarm from the colony and cover the intruding creature. The ants will bite and sting the creature with a stinger capable of leaving large welts. A fire ant bite feels like a prickle. The ant's bite raises the skin and stings it with a separate stinger located in its tail. The best way to prevent fire ant bites is to avoid the mounds.

Things You'll Need

• Boots
• Long socks
• Long pants
• Insect repellent
• Fire ant bait
• Broadcast ant bait

Instructions

1. Stand at one end of your landscape and scan the area for a telltale fire ant mound. A fire ant mound may look like a pile of dirt up to several feet tall. Avoid these areas to prevent attacks by fire ants.

2. Wear protective clothing, including heavy boots and long pants, any time you must walk near fire ant mounds. Always tuck your pant legs into your boots. If you are not wearing heavy boots, wear shoes with tall socks and tuck your pant legs into your socks.

3. Spray insect repellent formulated for fire ants over your clothing when you work in your yard to avoid bites by foraging ants.

4. Brush swarming ants away from your clothing and skin when attacked. Fire ants can rush up a vertical object and begin biting and stinging within 20 seconds.

5. Treat individual fire ant mounds with an ant bait formulated for fire ants. Most fire ant baits are sprinkled over a mound. The worker ants take the bait back to the queen as food. When the queen eats the bait, it kills her. Killing the queen is the key to killing the colony. In large areas riddled with fire ant mounds, you may wish to use a broadcast bait. Broadcast baits are granular baits that you spread over a wide area.

Tips & Warnings

• You may have to use a combination of bait methods to eradicate fire ant colonies. Most treatment methods are designed to avoid killing other species of ants in the process.

References

• Extension: Fire Ant Stings
• Texas A&M University Extension: Red Imported Fire Ant
• University of Arkansas Extension: Managing Imported Fire Ants in Urban Areas

Resources

• Flooding and Fire Texas A&M University Extension: Ants: Protecting Yourself and Your Family!