So far in FY1999, department port inspectors have checked 102,204 commercial trucks, rejecting 3,279 and placing another 4,321 under warning hold to destination. Another four RIFA colonies have been discovered at Arizona nurseries during warning hold inspections and annual RIFA nursery surveys. In states with known infestations, taxpayers spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on fire ant abatement and control. The impact is felt in urban areas, with residents trying to control fire ant colonies in lawns and gardens, repairing damage done by the pests and obtaining medical treatment for bites. The red imported fire ant was identified in Alabama in 1930.
Fire ants feed on seeds and young plants.
They damage electrical and irrigation systems and prevent harvesting crops by hand. Fire ants also attack people, livestock and wild animals. The red imported fire ant biting and stinging behavior is generally a defensive reaction. When a mound is disturbed, large numbers of worker ants come to the mound surface and can rapidly cover an unsuspecting victim.