ANTS!!! OMG the ants!

[shelleyd2008]

My bad, according to this site http://fireant.tamu.edu/materials/multimedia_photos/ the red ones were the fire ants.

I would love to know what the big inch-long ants were!!

This site has identification techniques http://www.controlfireants.com/identifying-fire-ants.htm

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Rizq, I hate to tell you but I saw some fire ants at my place a few days ago. I was freaking out. I killed one, brought it inside and looked on the computer to make sure. Sure enough, it was a fire ant. I'm not quite 2 hours north of Knoxville.

But those black ants...I know just what you're talking about. We had our duck coop back towards the woods but had to move it because of the ants.

We were getting bit up by those black ants constantly even though the ducks didn't seem to be bothered. We moved the ducks clear across the property to get them away from those little black ants.

Laurie

 

[new2chix]

If you can find their home, a few pots of boiling water should kill most of them as well as the eggs.

 

[rizq]

Shelley - Did they look like this? http://www.uark.edu/ua/arthmuse//images/museum_notes/Cow%20killer%203x3%20a.jpg

That is a red velvet ant. Apparently a wingless wasp ... who knew? Awesome

They are actually pretty, but I still kill every one I come across and if I could find THEIR nest ...

TennesseeTruly - We have quite a few of these ants too. We still have large piles of logs and trees that they pushed over to place our house ... we are slowly burning this stuff, but it is home to all manner of creatures from snakes and rats to wood roaches and ants (mostly the little black ants and carpenter ants). I was bitten a few times while burning the other day too, but not 100% sure that it was the ants).

I hope the fire ants don't move in on our property ... what a mess they would be!

 

[rizq]

Quote:
Is it really that simple?? I will have to try that! Can't get much cheaper or easier than that ... and safer around the chooks than trying to poison the buggers.

 

[new2chix]

Works on my regular, run-of-the-mill ants - if they aren't boiled, they are drowned. Any survivors seem to look for new real estate!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Heck, I saw one of those here in KY just the other day! These were big, and whitish, I don't know what they were. I was told those were fire ants, bit idk. The fire ant pics I found were the little red ones.

 

[rizq]

Weird ... I have never seen huge whitish ants ... they can stay in Florida as far as I am concerned. Tennessee has enough larger-than-life bugs to more than suit me!

I also just read that the red velvet ants don't have a nest. They are parasitic and lay their eggs in the nests of other ground dwelling wasps and bees. Maybe I will stop killing them. Much less likely to be stung by a velvet than by the winged ones!

 

[Preservation Acres]

Boiling water is the best thing. Non toxic, and it'll wipe them out. If they're in a really deep nest, the survivors will build a new, smaller nest that's closer to the surface. Let them finish it, then HIT THEM AGAIN!!!!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Quote:
Yeah, at least the red velvets don't fly, and are pretty obvious. You can see them coming before they get you.