Post office squashes ant program

Friday, Aug. 24, 2001 | 11:23 a.m.

Don't mail the ants.

Officials at the Nevada State Division of Agriculture in recent weeks have encouraged residents who find fire ants to trap them, tape them to a post card and mail them to the department.

The agriculture department launched the campaign to alert residents to the potential hazards of the tiny red menaces after several colonies of the ants -- which are prevalent in the Southeast and pack a painful bite -- began moving into the Las Vegas Valley in 1998.

This time, however, it's the division of agriculture that got stung.

U.S. Postal Service officials on Thursday said that it's illegal to send anything -- including fire ants -- that is taped to a business reply card.

Vic Fenimore, spokesman for the postal service's district office in Las Vegas, said the agriculture department must now recall and destroy the cards, which include information about the insects and provide instructions for residents who find "suspicious ants."

Jeff Knight, state entomologist and supervisor of the agriculture department's fire ant program, said the postcards were his idea, and that he received permission in 1999 from postal employees in Reno and Las Vegas.

Fenimore said he didn't know about the agriculture department's post card campaign until he received a call from the Las Vegas Sun. An investigation revealed that only the design of the reply card was approved in 1999, not an item that instructs people to tape the ant samples to the card, Fenimore said.

"It is illegal on a card-sized piece to attach anything, especially a clinical specimen," Fenimore said. "These cards should never have gotten into circulation."

A fire ants' sting feels similar to being burned with a match, and the toxin leaves a raised, red sore on the skin. When the ants are ready to attack they alert other fire ants by distributing a chemical signal, then fight as a group. The painful stings can lead to swelling, itchy skin and, in some cases, an allergic reaction.

Researchers believe fire ants were introduced to the United States in the late 1930s, when the insects hitched a ride on a ship from South America. Since then, ant colonies have been steadily spreading throughout North America, often through shipments of plants to commercial nurseries. The ants destroy crops, damage sidewalks and roadways and invade homes.

The postcards recommend people use a jar baited with peanut butter or mint jelly to catch the ants. People should don protective gloves before covering the jar and freezing it overnight, according to the card.

"Attach a sample to this postcard with transparent tape and mail it," the instructions conclude. The card also warns that collecting fire ants is a potentially risky activity, and that the agriculture department isn't responsible for injuries incurred while capturing the ants.

The most crucial step in dealing with a sharp increase in the fire ant population involves identification, Knight said.

Ants native to the area -- which would counteract the invading species -- can't be eliminated along with the fire ants, Knight said.

The agriculture department's offices in Reno and Las Vegas get anywhere from a dozen to 30 calls a week from residents who think they've found fire ants, Knight said.

"We don't have the manpower to send someone out every time the phone rings," Knight said. "The postcards make it easy for people to get the specimens to us."

For the past two years the department has received about a postcard per week, he said. There has been no instance of a postcard arriving with a live ant attached, Knight said.

Tom Smigel, regional manager for the agriculture department's Las Vegas office, said he had hoped the conflict with the post office could be resolved without recalling the postcards.

Smigel said an e-mail message about the recall will be distributed to libraries and state offices, which have the cards.