Pyrethroids were to be used only in high risk situations late in the season. On the Web I m not allowed to remain technologically obsolete for long. Ron Neese, WAS Treasurer, is collecting registration fees. We have native fire ants in California. They do not bite and sting and build huge mounds like the imported fire ant, but they are an agricultural pest.
Fire ants cause problems with almonds, table grapes and citrus.
We are interested in ant control research because we have problems with other ants, especially the Argentine ant. Researchers at UC Riverside and UC Berkeley are trying to determine the best attractants to be put into the fire ant baits. That formulation contained gydramethylnon in a matrix of corn grits and soybean oil. Actually, southern fire ants prefer freeze-dried American cockroaches to silkworms, anchovies, mealworms and crickets. Two, well timed, applications of Tahara should keep ants off the orchard floor during almond harvest.