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Insect Management
Red Imported Fire Ants
Community Abatement - Miller County (Texarkana)
A Community Abatement Program
Douglas B. Petty - County Extension Agent
Miller County Arkansas
Introduction
• Methods •
Organization
• Treatments
• Results and Discussion • Problems and Solutions
Introduction: During the summer of
1993, a fire ant abatement program was initiated to reduce the
population of red imported fire ants in an urban area by treatment of
entire city blocks. The program was a cooperative effort involving the
City of Texarkana Arkansas and the Miller County Cooperative Extension
Service. Due to the positive response from the participants, the program
was enlarged and repeated in 1994 ,1995, 1996, 1997 & 1998.
Methods: A survey of local doctors and
emergency rooms revealed that the imported fire ant was a public health
nuisance to people living in Texarkana. The fire ant abatement program
was an attempt to address this problem.
Organization: Each city block involved
selected a coordinator to work directly with the City and the Extension Service
in organization of treatments, payments, problem solving and dissemination of
information to residents. A block coordinator does not need to have any
expertise in insect control. The main qualification for a block coordinator is
to have an interest in their neighborhood, and be available. Coordinators also
received special training on fire ant control practices. Blocks participating
must have at least 80%, but preferably 100% resident participation. Fees of
$1.75 per 1,000 square feet, are assessed from each homeowner to cover the cost
of insecticides, equipment and labor (previously $1.50). If residents were
unsure as to lot size, a grid overlaid on city maps was used to determine square
footage. Persons wishing to pay for treatment of another's lot, could do so
after obtaining written permission. Property eligible for treatment included
residential and non-profit organizations such as churches found within
neighborhoods.
Treatments: The initial implementation
of the program could not support the cost of labor, therefore employees
of the Public Works Department of Texarkana applied the chemical
treatments. Cooperative Extension agents provided the technical
assistance. The baits were bought in bulk from a local distributor.
Treatments began after April 15, with a broadcast treatment of a bait
insecticide, Amdro, applied by a Herd spreader mounted on a rented lawn
tractor with mowing deck removed. As recommended by the Miller County
Extension Service, a broadcast treatment or individual mound treatment
was applied in mid-May. Residents were then given small flags to mark
any additional reappearing mounds. City workers used Amdro bait
insecticide unless the weather conditions were unfavorable at which time
Orthene (a contact insecticide) was used to treat marked mounds.
Treatments were made on a three week cycle through the end of August. A
follow-up application of a growth-regulator bait, Logic, was broadcast
at the end of the treatment period to reduce the possibility of
reinfestation.
Results and Discussion: In
1993, twenty-nine city blocks were enrolled in the program totaling 90
treated acres. The average lot was 16,346 square feet with a cost of
$24.52. Payments totaling $5,860 were received. This was sufficient to
cover expense of the chemicals, $2,643, with the remaining $3,217 used
to purchase the lawn tractor. Treatments consisted of: 1 1/2 lbs/A of
Amdro on April 22, 3 Tbsp/mound of Amdro on May 5, 2 tsp/ mound of
Orthene on May 17, June 1, June 28 and October 4, and 1 1/2 lbs/A of
Logic on September 17. Three neighborhoods contained 50' by 50' test
plots to evaluate the success of the program, Castleridge, Sanderson
Lane and East Street. The treated plots showed a 96 to 100% reduction in
active fire ant mounds. A survey was mailed in the spring of 1994 to all
who participated in 1993. Eighty-four of the 239 surveys mailed were
returned. Six percent of the survey respondents felt that they did not
receive their money's worth, but 100% were interested in participating
in 1994.
In 1994, forty-nine city blocks were enrolled totaling 201 treated acres.
Payments received equaled $13,145, with the cost of chemicals totaling
$5,382. Treatments consisted of 1 1/2 lbs/A of Amdro in late April,
three individual mound treatments of Amdro or Orthene from May through
August and a final broadcast application of 1 1/2 lbs/A of Amdro or
Logic in September. Individual mound treatment schedules did not follow
the three week cycle of the previous year due to other demands on the
city workers or weather conditions. In 1993 and 1994, the cost of labor
was negligible since the city workers were already paid by the city. The
program involved 896 man hours, half of which was provided by Community
Service workers.
Profits from the program made it possible to hire a city employee
($6.10/hr) for the summer to make treatment applications and perform
other duties relative to maintaining the program. This should provide a
level of consistency in the application of the program. City and
Community Service workers will continue to provide some of the labor but
at a much lower level.
Some residents that have participated since the beginning have expressed
reluctance to continue to fund treatment of their lot since they have no
or very minimal problems with the fire ant at this time. This problem
was overlooked in the beginning, but will be addressed in the future
through education of new participants. It is important for the residents
to understand that one or two years of fire ant control is not permanent
and financial support is necessary to maintain fire ant suppression by
either reduced treatment rates on their own property or treatment of
buffer zones.
In 1998, the program continued with over 400 homes in the program,
although there was an increase in fees
| Neighborhood Fire Ant Abatement
Program Summary |
| |
1993 |
1994 |
1995 |
1996 |
| Number of blocks |
29 |
49 |
51 |
48 |
| Number of Lots |
239 |
539 |
606 |
564 |
| Total acres treated |
90 |
201 |
186 |
174 |
| Average lot size (sq.ft.) |
16,345 |
16,258 |
12,977 |
11,370 |
| Cost per 1,000 sq.ft |
$1.50 |
$1.50 |
$1.50 |
$1.50 |
Problems and Solutions:
Many homeowners are not participating for 2 consecutive years due to the
lack of fire ant pressure resulting from the previous year's treatments.
We offered a maintenance program in 1998 for those who participated in
1997. The maintenance program consisted of 3 treatments of 3/4 lb.
of a bait formulations per acre, at a reduced cost. Due to last spring
rains the first applications were not made until late May, but the final
application started in late August. This program would reduce labor by
reducing the number of treatment from 6 to 3 per year, it reduce the
amount of bait applied per year from 4.1 lbs /A (2 broadcast and 3 mound
treatments) to 2.25 lb/A, reduce the cost to homeowners, and encourage
continuing participation in the program. Texarkana experienced a large
number of mound treatments in 1996 due to the unseasonably large amount
of rains during the summer. The rains not only were favorable to ant
production, but caused treatments to be late and less effective.
Another potential question that will arise as the area of residential
treatment enlarges, is the effect untreated commercial
areas will have on adjoining abatement neighborhoods. These areas will
be a source of continual reinfestation unless some method of treatment
is used. Solutions to this problem have yet to be explored.
A national organization of county agents recently awarded the program top
honors at their conference in San Antonio, TX in 1998 -- in the area of reduced
pesticide usage.
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