Little fire ants at Richardson Beach Park (Hilo, Kailua: condo, living)

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

Anyone been bitten by little fire ants at Richardson Beach? Or bitten in HPP?

I have, at the park, before I knew to look for them. As BigIslandBum says, stay in the water, stay in the sand - no problem. Elsewhere, be careful.

[terracore]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

Anyone been bitten by little fire ants at Richardson Beach? Or bitten in HPP?

Little Fire Ants (LFA) first appeared on the BI in HPP and are fairly well established there. They are also well established in Orchidland. Unlike other ants LFA live in interconnected colonies in the ground and trees. The interconnected colonies can have tens of thousands of queens. Once established, they are impossible to eradicate. If you are successful at killing a colony, one of the interconnected colonies will quickly reoccupy that real estate. You CAN control them using products like amdro, to keep the active infestations away from your home and pets. But you have to reapply it every month or so.

Fortunately, LFA are not aggressive like their larger cousins. They do not swarm, and they take quite a bit of provocation to sting. I've removed several trees that were infested with LFA and only suffered a few stings, usually when they fall into clothing and they get pinched. Many people have LFA on their property for years before they are even aware of them, so they are fairly easy to co-exist with.

LFA are on the island to stay, and they will eventually be everywhere. I'm astonished that most of the garden centers only sell ant poisons that don't work on LFA. The stuff labeled for fire ants they sell at Home Depot don't work on LFA, because the colonies don't live in "mounds" like traditional fire ants. The only products that work are poison bait granules. I have to buy amdro granules on amazon because it's so hard to find here.

LFA like to live in palms, bananas, and trees where they can get under the bark. They love ornamental plants. They also like to live under rocks and in the ground.

I don't buy the pet blindness theory. Perhaps because it is so wet here they don't feel the need to drink from pet eyes. One of our dog's preferred places to sleep is an area that is infested with LFA and he shows no signs of ever getting bit.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by terracore

They do not swarm, and they take quite a bit of provocation to sting. I've removed several trees that were infested with LFA and only suffered a few stings, usually when they fall into clothing and they get pinched.

Yeah, when you mention it, that sounds right. I've brushed a few strays off bare arms and legs without a problem, but got bitten when one crawled under a shirt collar or up a pants leg leg without being noticed, and I moved and they got smooshed.

Still, I'm not inviting them to my picnic.

[Fredesch]

So do you need to worry about where you put your beach towels down? The look really small, how do you figure out where is OK to lay down and where you will get bit?

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

So do you need to worry about where you put your beach towels down? The look really small, how do you figure out where is OK to lay down and where you will get bit?

Well, you get someone you don't especially care for, invite them to come spend the day at Richardson Park, and hand them a jar of peanut butter. Make sure that this person you don't especially care for can't see too well. Tell them that the peanut butter is a special 120 SPF lotion, and they should apply it liberally to avoid sunburn. (of course, with the park being in Hilo, sun may be a non-issue, however, the not seeing too well could have its advantages here also) Have this you don't especially like person lie down, after applying the sunscreen/peanut butter, in a location where you suspect the ants may be present. The ants, who evidently go a little lolo for peanut butter, will, or will not, show up, and immediately begin crawling over your soon to be ex-person you don't especially care for. If, however, the ants fail to show up and go all lolo for the peanut butter, then all is well. You may want to bring a plastic spatula along, and a loaf of bread, with, perhaps, some jelly. It's a shame to let peanut butter, at 15 dollars a pint, go to waste.

Hope this helps


uuuurrrrpppp,,,, scuze me...............................

[Robin Rossi]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

Well, you get someone you don't especially care for, invite them to come spend the day at Richardson Park, and hand them a jar of peanut butter. Make sure that this person you don't especially care for can't see too well. Tell them that the peanut butter is a special 120 SPF lotion, and they should apply it liberally to avoid sunburn. (of course, with the park being in Hilo, sun may be a non-issue, however, the not seeing too well could have its advantages here also) Have this you don't especially like person lie down, after applying the sunscreen/peanut butter, in a location where you suspect the ants may be present. The ants, who evidently go a little lolo for peanut butter, will, or will not, show up, and immediately begin crawling over your soon to be ex-person you don't especially care for. If, however, the ants fail to show up and go all lolo for the peanut butter, then all is well. You may want to bring a plastic spatula along, and a loaf of bread, with, perhaps, some jelly. It's a shame to let peanut butter, at 15 dollars a pint, go to waste.

Hope this helps


uuuurrrrpppp,,,, scuze me...............................

Maybe a spray bottle full of sugar-water!!!!! maybe some ant-pheremones to spice it up.

[Robin Rossi]

Originally Posted by Fredesch

According to littlefireants.com Richardson Beach has a large area with little fire ants. Has anyone run into a problem with little fire ants there? Have you seen them there? Are the ants in HPP as well?

How did they get there and any signs of their larger bretheren ---- yet!!!!

[KaraBenNemsi]

"One of our dog's preferred places to sleep is an area that is infested with LFA and he shows no signs of ever getting bit." That sounds more comforting in view that LFA will be hard to impossible to eradicate.

Till the next invasive pest comes along. In Texas the other, mound building fire ants are apparently pushed aside now by so called 'crazy ants'.

Maybe we have volunteers walking the giant ant-eaters from the Hilo zoo at Richardson Beach Park? ;-)

[terracore]

Originally Posted by Robin Rossi

How did they get there and any signs of their larger bretheren ---- yet!!!!

They hitchhiked on some plants that were imported. By the time they were identified, they were considered too established to eradicate. LFA normally migrate very slowly because the individual ants usually don't stray more than about 10 feet from their colony, but people selling potted plants unwittingly caused the ants to spread all over the island. Once the free mulch at the landfill was infested, large trucks full of fire ant mulch sealed the island's fate.

I don't know if regular fire ants have found their way to the island, but I haven't heard of it. They are large enough they should be easier for the inspectors to find. My guess is that they will get here eventually. The fire ants in the SE part of the mainland are being displaced by another imported ant called the "crazy ant", which while it does not sting, it is omnivorous with a huge appetite and has a taste for electronics. People dealing with the crazy ants are wishing they had the fire ants back. Typical pesticides don't work on crazy ants. Unless an effective poison is discovered, when they get to Hawaii, they will destroy the ecosystem.

[Fredesch]

Still can't tell if Richardson Beach has a real problem or not. Why are big island threads always rambling this way and that? Anyone avoid any of the beaches with little fire ants?

And has anyone applied for a grant to teach coqui frogs to eat little fire ants? I hear the county council has lots of descressionary funds...