Another colony of aggressive fire ants found in LV area

Monday, July 1, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.

Pest test

To find out if ants are fire ants, place a coffee can with a few potato chips on its side near the insects. Wait up to four hours. If reddish brown ants are feeding on the bait, clamp the lid on the coffee can and place it in a freezer for 15 minutes to kill the ants.

The ants, still in the can, may be brought or sent to: Nevada Department of Agriculture, 2300 McLeod Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89104.

Include your name, address and phone number. You will be notified of the ant identification results.

Source: Nevada Department of Agriculture.

A second colony of imported fire ants has been found in Las Vegas, and state officials are set to start eradicating the pests this week.

Last week Nevada agricultural officials confirmed that the University of Nevada, Las Vegas had the largest infestation of the tiny, aggressive ants found in the state.

The second site was discovered at a gas station near Flamingo Road, Boulder Highway and Nellis Boulevard, Tom Smigel of the Nevada Department of Agriculture in Las Vegas said.

The department, working with the university and the gas station owner, will begin a three-step process to eradicate the aggressive fire ants, Smigel said.

"We are taking this problem seriously," said Tom Hagge, UNLV's associate vice president for facilities management and planning.

At UNLV the ant infestation covers about 80 acres and could cost up to $6,000 to fully treat, Smigel said. Each nest contains from 100,000 to 250,000 ants.

The imported ants have probably been digging into the grass, under sidewalks and around buildings at the university for four or five years, Smigel said.

It will take about a month to eliminate the ants, Hagge said.

First a growth hormone will be applied to the sites. After the hormone, a toxic agent will be applied to the ant mounds, followed by a residual pesticide.

Not all stinging ants are the imported fire ants. "The key is, which fire ant do you have?" Smigel said. The two colonies found in Las Vegas are invaders that were imported to the United States from South America in the 1930s.

The imported variety are known as Solenopsis invicta and are dark reddish brown, tiny, aggressive and sting relentlessly.

"Red imported fire ants are aggressive and will repeatedly sting anything that disturbs them," Jeff Knight, state entomologist for the Department of Agriculture, said in a statement Friday.

The stings of the pests are painful to most people and deadly in about 1 to 2 percent of the population, Knight said.

The native southern fire ant is known as Solenopsis xyloni. It is not as aggressive as the invaders.

The two new colonies were discovered after the state changed its survey practices. Instead of looking for the ants at nurseries, golf courses and parks, surveyors started combing the ground by ZIP code, Smigel said.

"I hope we don't have too many imported fire ants," Smigel said.

Last year in Texas, where fire ants are commonly found, $580 million was spent on controlling the insects and another $300 million was lost in damage from the ants, which chew through electrical wiring and invade wooden building frames, according to Larry Gilbert, director of Brackenridge Field Laboratory at the University of Texas, Austin.