Spinosad kills fire ants but does not harm red harvester ants. Texas Parks and Wildlife recently published an article recommending the use of ant baits with “Spinosad” to control fire ants. One of the keys to establishing healthy colonies is the implementation of effective controls against invasive fire ants. Fire ants do not harm them directly, but it is believed they compete for food sources, effectively starving the harvester ants. They are also being diminished by the invasive fire ant. They are not considered to be pests for agriculture or homes, but the indiscriminate use of insecticides is believed to be a contributing factor. Those that succeed will live for 15-20 years. It is believed that only one queen in a thousand will establish a successful colony. The different jobs are nest maintenance worker, midden worker for trash removal, forager and patroller.Ī colony will produce queens and males after about five years. The worker female lives for about a year and can carry out different functions as she ages. The beards are psamaphores which are used by worker females to carry grass seeds. It is a bearded ant, but unlike humans it is the females that have beards. Harvester ant colonies can have as many as 10,000 ants, which are all females. Harvester ants are also beneficial because they improve soils as their deep intricate tunnels aerate the soil, and they help with the dispersal of seeds, their primary food source. Horned lizards are in trouble because there are fewer red harvester ants. First of all, these ants are the principal food of the threatened Texas Horned Lizard. Native red harvester ants are “good ants” for several reasons. It is comforting to note that in their demonstration, the harvester ants took a lot of provoking before they started to sting. In fact, Rob Alleva and Adam Thorn, of the “Kings of Pain” TV show, put their hands in a tank of red harvester ants, and reported these ants as having one of the most potent stings in the animal world. These ants are beneficial even though they have one of the most painful stings in the animal world. My grandson likes to call these ants “the good ants.” These ants also sting, but their nests are easy to see and they are not as aggressive as fire ants. Trails extend in various directions from the main mound, leading to different foraging zones that are within 130 feet of the entrance. They are easily identified by their large, flat circular nest mounds, which are cleared of vegetation around their entrance hole. These are fairly large for ants, reddish brown and have squarish heads. The other species of ant that is common on my property is the Red Harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus. My grandson likes to call these ants “the bad ants!” When the nest is disturbed, thousands of ants react aggressively, crawling up the legs of their victim and stinging all at once. I explained that fire ant beds have a mound of soft soil and do not have a central opening. Consequently, I have spent some time showing him how to identify and avoid invasive fire ants, Solenopsis invicta. I like to take my 6-year-old grandson for walks on my acreage in Callahan County, but I am always afraid he will stop in the middle of a fire ant bed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |