RICHMOND
Fire ants are here to stay, Hampton Roads.
And local governments will bear the burden of controlling the pest known for a stinging bite that, in rare cases, can cause serious illness or death.
Chemical treatments used to kill colonies of the creepy-crawlies no longer will be performed by state government.
That shift came as part of a larger announcement Wednesday about a temporary quarantine being placed on 11 localities where the insect population has rapidly expanded in spite of eradication efforts.
The quarantine prohibits the movement of plants, timber materials and used farm equipment outside the area until they have been inspected and determined to be free of fire ants.
"Policing the quarantine will be difficult, but we'll do the best we can," Larry Nichols, program manager for the state Office of Plant and Pest Services, said in Virginia Beach on Wednesday.
Several nursery operators said they don't expect the quarantine to hurt their businesses. Two said they had already begun working on compliance agreements that would allow them to continue shipping goods outside the quarantined area.
The state Board of Agriculture and Consumer Services is expected to make the quarantine permanent later this summer.
Perhaps the more direct effect will be on parks and recreation departments and school divisions, left to deal with the insects whose management had been a state responsibility.
"We had a feeling this was coming, so we started developing a treatment policy," said Frank Fentress, Virginia Beach's landscape management operations coordinator.
The details are still being worked out.
Treating parks and fields presents a new challenge for Norfolk and Virginia Beach, which rarely, if ever, applied the chemicals, officials said.
A Chesapeake official said the city has done some applications in the past but left others to the state. A Suffolk spokeswoman did not return a call seeking comment.
In Portsmouth, a spokeswoman said the city will address fire-ant populations on city land, but on private property, residents are on their own. That could present problems, because many private pest control companies lack technicians who are trained and certified to deal with fire ants.
"The challenge of moving from the government taking care of fire ants to the private sector taking care of fire ants is that many of our members don't have the experience doing it because they've never had to do it before," said Andrea Coron, executive director of the Virginia Pest Management Association.
Another concern is that some pesticides aren't available in Virginia because manufacturers haven't registered them yet, Coron added.
Fire ants were accidentally introduced to the United States in the 1930s in Alabama and were discovered in Virginia in 1989 in Hampton, according to the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Twelve other states, including North Carolina, are infested.
Despite state efforts to eliminate the pests, their numbers appear to be growing.
Virginia pest control officials had treated an average of about 30 fire ant sites annually until last year, when the state treated 642 sites during a six-month period.
"What that says to us is these populations are now established in the area and we simply can't try to go out and eradicate every site," said Elaine Lidholm, a spokeswoman for the agriculture department.
State workers will continue treating fire ant infestations outside the region in hopes of preventing the insects from spreading farther.
The best treatment is a bait containing slow-acting insecticide, rather than a poison that kills on contact, Lidholm said. That's because worker ants will quickly move their queen if the colony is disturbed.
Researchers in Texas are experimenting with a parasitic fly that infects the ants and turns them into "zombies" before finally killing them.
But the colonies are persistent.
"They're so marvelously good about being transported and surviving that whole business once they get established," warned Dini Miller, a Virginia Tech associate professor whose expertise is in urban pest management.
The ants can pack a nasty punch.
First, a fire ant latches on to its victim. Then it administers a sting that contains a small dose of venom.
Typically, the bites will develop into a blister and then a pustule, explained Dr. Maripaz Morales, an allergist and immunologist at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters in Norfolk.
While the toxin can be harmful to children, small pets and even sensitive adults, Morales said a harsh reaction to a fire ant sting is the exception, not the rule.
In extreme cases, fire ant bites can cause anaphylactic shock that can restrict breathing and even cause death.
Three years ago, stings from the insects caused the death of a 30-year-old Virginia Beach man.
Morales said that anyone who suffers a fire ant sting should consult a physician.
Pilot writers Ricardo Lopez, Meghan Hoyer and Michael White contributed to this report.
Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com
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Keep govt out
Except for "government property", it is up to landlords and homeowners to deal with their own properties. Another example of the nanny govt.
Gov. Kaine and his Administration have given up on the fire ants
Gov. Kaine and his Administration have given up on the fire ants. Sad to see that he can not even solve that problem. Probably off to another DNC meeting or trip at Virginia's taxpayer's expense.
Santa, consistently disuninformed
Kaine said that a review of previous Virginia governors showed none reimbursed the commonweatlh for security costs incurred during political trips outside the state. That would include former Gov. Jim Gilmore, who served as RNC chairman while in office.
Still, Kaine said he has kept records of the security expenditures and has instructed the DNC to reimburse the commonwealth for the costs, which he said are “less than $10,000” during his first six months on the DNC job.
“That’s not what previous governors have done, but I think it’s the right thing to do and I’m glad to do it,“ Kaine said.
Nice of him...
but still doesn't change the fact that he is a worthless governor.
Yeah, they should have waved
Yeah, they should have waved their magic wand and made all the bad ants go away or by dint of their personal toughness scare them out of the state . . . yeah . . . Cause, you know, a republican would have kept the aliens out . . .they would have just built a big fence . . . yeah
Fire Ant mess
We have fire ants here in the Piedmont of NC. We treat with a granular insect killer product made by Bayer - put it in the spreader and go to town. We have never had a mound in our yard, but still get bit by the ants every once in a while - they are in the grass everywhere here whether you see mounds or not. The bites are awful - some worse than others, but if you are allergic be careful!
Good luck with them Hampton Roads...and no, I don't believe gov't should take care of the ants except on gov't property.
Sod
They came here with the sod. When we had a house built in Glenwood in 1989, after Honeybee was started, we started seeing the nests. The problems Chesapeake had last year with the soccer fields was right across from Cahoon Plantation as it was new. Probably the same in Currituck. Ant killers work, but sometimes they take a long time and other times the ants move before it has a chance to work. They DO hurt when they bite and they leave little whiteheads. Check your sod before you buy any!
If I remember correctly...
There was once a problem in Churchland with a massive overpopulation of mosquitos due to the water. They were vicious and blood thirsty because there were so many, I remember them pinging off the car windows tryin to get me five years ago, but now I rarely get bitten. Schools even stopped letting children outside at one point. The Craney Island had a project to breed and release dragonflies, aka mosquito hawks, which is a natural predator for mosquitos. On any given evening you can see dozens of dragonflies swooping down to catch their prey. And if your from the area you know that just the fact you CAN sit outside is a vast improvement. I think this natural approach to things has proven to be a viable answer. Does anyone know if there might be such an approach for these fire ants?
not quite right
There was once a problem with an abundance of mosquitoes in Churchland. The majority of the problem was Craney Island. The solution was not a release of dragon flies, crane flies (aka mosquito hawks), OR installation of numerous purple martin houses, all of which will prey on mosquitoes. The solution was the persistence of the Local Mosquito Control. It was a uphill battle for years with the Army Corp of Engineers to show them that Craney Island was essentially a monoculture for mosquitoes under the right conditions. Well timed and well executed spraying efforts (adulticiding), AND source reduction (larviciding/land management)are a few keys to mosquito control. All the basics of Integrated Pest Management. The VAST improvement is thanks to the Portsmouth Mosquito Control. The thanks they've gotten is a drastic budget cut.
As for fire ants... they're kin to bees (hymenoptera), so if you carry an epipen, then do so. What would you rather have, the Cavalier Manor Pool open, or no fire ants in Ptown... The city can handle ant control with the right $$$.
peta
I can't help but wonder what PETA has to say about killing these ants.
victim here
As a child visiting family in Florida, on two different occasions, I was attached by fire ants. First, my brother tricked me into standing on a mound, and on another visit, I sat on an old stump to fee chickens. Both times, the ants were all over me before they began stinging in unison. It was very painful for a little child. My aunt, a seasoned, deep-woods farm wife, put toothpaste on each little bite, bringing fast relief. Maybe from mint or something in the paste. I'm looking forward to learning what safe pesticides/baits are available.
people, people, people....
you all are way too serious. I (and I'm pretty sure the others) was JOKING when I mentioned pouring gas on them. To those who mentioned turning over the fire ant problem to mosquito control --- HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! They can't even take care of the mosquitos.
One of my brothers sat on one of these mounds (in Cuba) when he was 5. He spent 3 days in the hospital. They are horrid little creatures.
Not getting rid of the fire ant
To some people the thought of not trying to destroy all the fire ant colonys is scary. Those people would be the ones like me who are deadly allergic to bees. A fire ant sting would most likely kill me too since it has venom. That means I may not be able to go to anymore parks. I say keep trying to kill them.Please don't give up!
The attack needs to be unified
An idea might be to turn control of fire ants over to the local mosquito control boards and expand them if necessary. Train them how to track and eliminate fire ant populations. Either that or else hire a private company that has experience and a good track record with eliminating fire ants. Either way, it needs to be a unified effort and not a haphazard, spotty one.
Another method to eliminate the mounds might be to inject them with gasoline and burn them out, with a scarified perimeter set up 30 to 50 feet away from the mound prepared with insecticide or more gasoline. This method has proven to be successful at eliminating other types of ants and insect pests elsewhere.
Wrong wrong wrong!!!!
Gasoline will not solve the problem and will only cause other severe potential problems. Turning control over to the mosquito board will not help either and will hinder that boards effort to control mosquito's even more. Let the cities take care of city grounds and the residents and businesses their own grounds and hold a public meeting twice a year on how to do this considering that the population tends to cycle a good portion of its self every month.
You have a good idea, but the whole area
crippled the mosquito control. And why did VA move the capital? And didn't they do that more than once? All sarcasm aside, if the mosquito controls in the area did their job, adding fire ants to their list wouldn't be a problem. Back in the day, the western branch mosquito control would also take care of groundbees and hornets -- under budget.
Slighty terrifying.
Yeah, these buggers definitely aren't pleasant to have around. Being quarantined for them especially blows with the country still in a recession, etc. Hampton Roads needs to be able to ship out as much as it can to help keep our economy afloat and improve are status among other major metropolitan areas in the U.S.
Attacking the mounds is pointless
If you spray the mounds, you will kill the ants there, but a half dozen more will pop up around the old mound with in a week. Point spraying just drives the survivors to spread.
Bait type poisons like Amdro work well, you can treat individual mounds by sprinkling the bait near the mound, or you can broadcast it with a spreader.
If you can get your neighbors to treat at the same time, it will last longer.
You had better pay attention...
once you get them in your area, you will never be rid of them. I first noticed them here in Currituck on the Chesapeake border about 2 years ago. Now, I find a new mound in the yard about once a week. No, lighting gasoline on them, besides being stupidly dangerous, does not kill the nest. You have to kill the queen and she is from 4 to 6 feet under ground. All the home stores sell fire ant killer. Use that, it kills the queen. If you have never seen the sight of these ants flowing out of a 1 foot tall nest to find and sting you, beware, it is almost like a scene out of a horror film.
A gallon of gasoline poured
A gallon of gasoline poured into the ant hill no more fire ants...or light em up and it will give a new meaning to fire ant!