The folks at the wildlife film company Ammonite are gearing up to do a documentary about ants and are looking for a few good stories about fire ants. Here's the announcement:
We are looking at is the growing success of the non-native (Exotic) Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta). We'd like to hear from people who live, (or once lived) in an area with a significant fire ant population.
Have you been affected by these ants?
Do you have any strong feelings about them?
If you have anything to say on the subject please send an email to info@ammonite.co.uk with Fire Ants in the subject box
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Dear Ammonite,
Fire ants are the most awfulest, terriblest, most horrifying thing evah! They are soooo scary and they really are a threat to all other living things, and some non-living things, too, like rocks - why do you think all of the soil in Florida is sand?! As I'm sure you are only interested in the real, honest-to-goodness truth about fire ants, let me tell you about the time fire ants stung my pet skunk AND my pet crow to death before my very eyes! And the crow was flying 10 feet above the ground when they grabbed him! Oh, and then there was this other time, when I wuz killing them with the only known cure, grits and gasoline...
Josh- yeah, I was worried about that, too. I've been trying to impress on them the diversity of opinions out there about fire ants, and have given them contact info for a number of researchers who can perhaps provide some perspective. Walter is apparently unavailable during their schedule. I'm sure if you sent them an email they'd be happy to hear your take on the ants.
Alex
Ask your wife.
Fire ants paid my bills in full for eight years, thanks to the aversion to them possessed by Florida agricultural interests. So, I love them and owe them my life. Well, I don't really love them, but the rest is true.
I was continually reminded in my fire ant research travels in South America of the contrast in attitudes about these ants between there and here. South Americans seemed uniformly non-chalant about these critters, and generally much less misentomic (insect-hating) than most of my USA compatriots.
If you think fire ant stings are bad , try getting bitten by Rhytidoponera metallica (green -headed ant) .
I concur with Jack Jumper --- ask Jo about Brisbane and RIFA
greetings Jo from cold old Brissie
I'd rather have Argentine ants over RIFAs.
@ 20 seconds
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7IsnS7csSQ&hl=en&fs=1&]
I have a good army ant story...
Fire ants are very interesting to study,I have been studying them for almost 9 yrs.My husband and I have invented and patented a fire ant trap that we used for our business to control fire ants in residental and business yards. The trap is safe for the environment because it protects the pesticide from the elements of the weather and protects our wildlife from being exposed to the pesticide.Most people do not realize that fire ants fly to mate. They are very dangerous to people that are allergic to bees and wasps. A lot of pesticides used for fire ants are toxic to birds,bees and fish. The sterile females take their orders from the queen who can live up to 7 yrs and produce up to 1600 eggs a day , that why we as consumers need to control our fire ants before they control us. Fire ants have been in the USA for 90 yrs and they are not going away any time soon. But watch out,there is a raspberry ant that has come to Texas from the Carribbean and they are spreading fast.