Enormous ant invasion on property

[wvmkr]

I apologize to forum moderators if this is not the correct place for this thread.

Hello fellow homesteaders,

We live on about 5 acres, almost half is wooded and the other half fields. We have about one acre garden in that field area. We do not use any types of poisons, toxins, etc on the property. We also have dogs who are naturally reared so no toxins around them.

Recently, last week - we discovered what at first glance appeared to be about a patch about the size of a car where there were thousands of tiny granular dirt areas in the grassy field. Upon closer inspection they appeared to have been made by ants of some type. The ground felt spongy in the area where the dirt piles were. When I say piles, I do not mean large raised mounds such as those normally seen where ants dig - but teeny tiny mounds of grains of dirt about as high as an inch but everywhere, no set pattern or mounds.

Over the past week the mounds, dirt granule areas have now spread to almost 2 acres! We have never seen anything like this, nor can we find any information on the internet.

We cast almost 50lbs of DE on a small part of this area and it appears to have slowed down the activity somewhat, maybe - but alas today we have rain, so not sure how affective this is going to be.

Has anyone else ever come upon this massive infestation? We are located in Georgia. We have another 100lbs of DE but not sure if this is going to work - I know if we can make it to a hard frost that should stop them, but that could be months from now! They are now invading the garden areas.

This is creepy to say the least and any help is greatly appreciated!


Lynnie

[Alice In TX/MO]

You need to find out what kind of ants. Take some scotch tape, stick a couple of ants to a piece of paper, take them to the local feed store or extension office.

That way, someone can tell you what to use for THAT type of ant.

Edited to add: If they are fire ants, the frost only sends them below ground.

It is imperative that you find out what you are dealing with.

[GrannyG]

We have used orange oil mixed with molasses for fire ant control around here, nothing has worked at the school, they ended up using Andro. Nothing kills those *** things.

[wvmkr]

I'll try and get some to the extension office this week. My neighbor thinks they may be something called an Argentine Ant?

[wvmkr]

Just off the phone with the County Extensions office (than you for that tip to call) - I spoke to a very nice man but of course is recommending poisons which we will not use. At any rate, they said I can bring in a sample and they will identify them for me. I'll post back when I find out. I would try to post images of them on here but it is so extensive not sure I can capture it.

[sidepasser]

While I am all for no use of poisons, if you are dealing with fire ants - I believe that the only way to get rid of them is to use poison. Everything else just makes 'em mad or gets them in the mood to propogate.

Fire ants will NOT die off due to a freeze, they just move to the basement apartment and wait it out and in the meantime, they will make a few new tunnels so another hill will pop up within 10 or so feet of the original.

But what you have doesn't sound like fire ants to me. Fire ants make HILLS, some can be as tall as two feet if left undisturbed.

Until you find out what you have precisely, hard to diagnose.

[Wolf mom]

I think the whole underground on my land is a maze of ant tunnels. I have little black ones that make lots & lots of little piles and large red ones that make huge ant piles.

I use DE also, and have used those aunt granules but found that if I burn (propane torch) the weeds, I've killed their food.

After burning almost all of 5 acres, we'll see come spring.

[Alice In TX/MO]

The weeds are only part of their food. They eat dead grasshoppers, bird poo, earth worms, etc etc etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_ant

Due to their nesting behavior and presence of numerous queens in each colony, it is generally impractical to spray Argentine ants with pesticides or to use boiling water as with mound building ants. Indeed, spraying with pesticides will stimulate increased egg-laying by the queens, compounding the problem. Pest control usually requires exploiting their omnivorous dietary habits. They prefer sweet foods such as the honeydew produced by aphids and mealybugs (see also)[1]. The most effective control is through use of slow-acting poison bait, which will be carried back to the nest by the workers, eventually killing all the individuals, including the queens. It may take four to five days to eradicate a colony in this manner. An effective homemade recipe[10] consists of a solution of granulated white table sugar and boric acid, placed in a shallow dish in the area being invaded:

1/4 teaspoon boric acid powder
3 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar

The boric acid will dissolve only if the water is hot, or one can mix the ingredients cold, then place the container in a microwave oven to bring the water to boiling temperature. When mixed in small quantities, the solution can be stored in a dropper bottle and dispensed as needed to replenish the bait dish. Although the solution isn't particularly hazardous when used in small quantities as described here, the bait dish should be placed out of reach of pets and children.

This formula works by desiccation and laceration. The solution begins to draw water from the ant's body, causing slow dehydration. Also, as the ants or their larvae transpire water, the solution becomes more concentrated, causing the boric acid to crystallize and lacerate the digestive tract.

[wvmkr]

OK here is a weird update - out I went to dig up and collect samples of ants to take in to be identified in the morning and I was unable to find ANY ants even tho the property is now covered in the granules/holes that indicate ants. I mean, I did find some ants, but not when digging around the areas I see the activity. I'll take in what I found but I am not convinced that they are from the invasion.

Lynn

[texican]

Your location would help.

If you're in the Southern US it could be one problem... if you're in South America or Africa, a completely different problem. Army ants can be a bugger, I've been told.

[wvmkr]

Originally Posted by wvmkr

We are located in Georgia.

Yes - we are in the NE part of Georgia.



Lynn

[salmonslayer]

Its hard to tell without a picture of the ground but it kind of sounds like the mole crickets I used to get in NC. Do any of them look like they have burrows parallel to the ground?

[Alice In TX/MO]

If it's little individual piles of small pellets, it's earthworm poo. Earthworms are good for your soil.

I hope you haven't killed the earthworms with the DE.

[travis91]

go to a seed store and buy some mole cricket bait or killer. should come in 40 or 50 lb bags. spread it over the yard it will kill the ants

[Alice In TX/MO]

These pages have pics of earthworm castings (poo piles).

http://ranchingschoolofhardknocks.co...ologicalPP.htm

http://www.sibleynaturecenter.org/ha...ainbugs/01.jpg

http://landscapeipm.tamu.edu/good_bad/earthworms.html

[salmonslayer]

These pages have pics of earthworm castings (poo piles).

That was interesting Alice, maybe she is sitting on a gold mine?

[mnn2501]

AMDRO will kill fire ants if used according to the package directions, its the only chemical I will use anywhere as I try to have my garden and yard completly organic -- I can't abide fire ants though so that is the 1 exception I make.

This infestation does not sound like fire ants though

[jassytoo]

What you have may not be ants at all. We have holes like that in part of our place and they are made by a species of bee. Digger bees, sweat bees and mining bees all make holes like that. The females each make a hole to lay in. The ones we have are harmless and have never bothered us and they are pollinaters so we leave them alone. You can google to find out more about what you have.

[ronbre]

boiling water, but it will kill plants too

[texican]

Sorry... I really really looked for where ya'll lived... well I haven't been snake bit in a week or two, so there!

If it is fire ants, you'll need to learn to live with them, or live with poison. You can only kill individual ants, not the species. Kill a colony, and a hundred queens will fly in after the next swarm, and you'll have fire ants everywhere. Leave a colony here and there, (where there not causing immediate harm), and after the next swarm, the resident ants will kill the foreign queens, defending their territory.

Good luck...