VII. Fire Ants

B. L. Sparks and K. G. Ross

Imported fire ants are primarily a people pest. Fire ants interfere with hay harvesting, maintenance of pastures, and some crops but present the greatest problem around dwellings where direct contact with humans is most frequent. Concern arises from multiple stings often experienced by young children.

Hybrid fire ants have pushed the northern boundary into Tennessee. Red imported fire ants can be found in Georgia as far north as Murray County on the Tennessee Border. Imported fire ants have been reported in 156 of 159 counties in Georgia as of 1994. Polygynous populations have not been discovered in eight Georgia counties; Barrow, Clarke, Clay, Early, Greene, Morgan, Oconee and Walton. Polygynous fire ant colonies reach higher densities than monogynous colonies and may be harder to control.

Estimates of Losses and Control Costs

¹ Average treatment costs per Georgia household for lawns and other surrounding areas was $20.90 (Diffie & Sheppard. 1991. In Imported Fire ant Management: Results of applied Research/Results Demonstrations 1987-1990. The University of Georgia.) 2.4 million households in the infested area x 65% yards x $20.90 = $32,604,000 spent by homeowners for control.
² Treatment costs for quarantine requirements in nursery and sod. Approximately $125 per acre are spent on 11,000 acres, $1,375,000.
³ Average medical costs related to fire ant stings were $4.95 per household according to Diffie & Sheppard (1991). Assuming 2.4 million households are in the infested area x $4.95 = $11,880,000.
⁴ Equipment damaged; mower, balers, etc., assume one incident for each 1,000 acres of infested crop or pasture land. Approximately 2.6 million acres divided by 1000 acres x $50 per incident = $130,000.