Controlling Fire Ants with the Two-Step Method

Who should participate?
Let’s coordinate our efforts to help fight fire ants neighborhood-wide with the two-step method. If we work together, we can help eradicate the little buggers from our area. The more people that participate, the better chance we have to exterminate fire ants until next spring/fall. However, even if only one street participates, those residents will reap the benefits for some time.

What should I do?
There will be two controls days in spring and two in the fall. On control day #1, please consider applying your preferred fire ant control method in your yard. One week later, on control day #2, re-apply on any remaining mounds. If you are unavailable on those dates, please bait/destroy your mounds around the same timeframe for the most effective results. If it rains on either of these days, proceed the next dry day. To find the upcoming Fire Ant Control Days consult the Events page.

Remember if your neighbor participates, his remaining ants my set up camp in your yard. Don’t give them a fighting chance. Show those bugs your yard is also uninhabitable.

Read more information on native fire ants and red imported fire ants on the Texas A&M website.

Identify different species of ants and other insects in the Pest Library on the Terminix website. Find also bug-related kids games and coloring pages.

More information on Fire Ants and the Two-Step Method

How do I eliminate Fire Ants from my yard?
There is no single, easy answer for every situation. Most people with more than a handful of mounds will be most satisfied with just bait or the Two-Step Method. Remember that no method is 100% effective all the time, though some come close, and that no method is permanent. The ants will re-invade, with new colonies probably appearing after the next rain and certainly within a year.

What is the "Two-Step Method" for controlling Fire Ants?
One proven method of reducing imported fire ant populations in heavily infested home lawns and ornamental turf is called the "Two-Step Method" of fire ant control. Briefly, it's the sequential application of: 1) once or twice per year broadcast application of a bait product (e.g., Amdro®, Logic®, Award®, or Ascend® and others) and waiting several days to a week before; 2) treating nuisance mounds, using an individual mound treatment, such as a dust, granule, bait or drench insecticide. Otherwise, wait for the bait treatment to take effect. This method reduces the over-reliance on use of individual mound treatments and is suitable for treating larger areas.

Is there a non-pesticide alternative method to control Fire Ants?
Use either boiling water or beneficial nematodes for fire ants. The boiling water kills everything (including grass or plants), but is the cheapest and easiest way to go if you don't mind a little patch of brown grass. The nematodes work very well too and keep the ants from coming back for quite a while. Nematodes are available at the Natural Gardener (on Old Bee Caves), Round Rock Gardens (on Sam Bass) or in Georgetown at Good Luck. They are about $25 a box, which covers about 7 anthills or about 400 square feet of your yard.

Why tackle fire ants in the fall?
An ideal time to apply bait-formulated fire ant insecticides is from late August through October to allow the baits to reduce fire ant populations over the winter.

Baits can work quite well if the ants are out foraging to pick it up. It is best to treat in the late afternoon or evening. You will know if thunderstorms are a possibility, there is no dew on the grass, and the bait will not have to sit in the hot sun all day. Most of the bait will be picked up by morning.

If I put out the bait, how often should I reapply, and when?
The fall application is important because it will help suppress ants by the following spring. Sping applications will help until the following fall. Reapply when imported fire ant mounds begin to appear again. Generally, if you make a spring application, suppression should last until that fall, when the next application should be made.