Gulf Coast BioTech Controls
"Taming Nature with Nature"
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Worms Enlisted To Fight Fire AntsFor years fire ants have plagued East TexasThe Huntsville Item, Saturday, November 26, 1994 BY MELONY CLOSS For years fire ants have plagued East Texas, stinging people and swelling tree trunks with their activity but nature has provided a nemesis for this pest in the form of a parasitic, microscopic worm. Nernatodes — round, unsegmented threadlike creatures less than half a millimeter long — are the answer to fire ant control. A groundbreaking soil treatment called ANTidote containing the nematodes was formulated to seek out and destroy fire ant larvae and queens. “I think it’s the biggest discovery of the 20th Century with the way it kills the fire ants,” said Ginger Hanna, the owner of Gulf Coast Biological Controls, 366 FM 2550, in Huntsville. Hanna, after doing field work in her yard for a Pennsylvania nematode researcher; found that pouring a solution of water and ANTidote onto the piles in her yard turned fire ant dwellings into ghost mounds. The nematodes migrate through the ant tunnels invading the fire ant queens and larvae. They release a toxin that kills the ants by physical damage and infection. Once the larva is depleted, the colony members die of either starvation or infection.
“The ants try to escape the infection and scatter,” Hanna said. “They begin to move the larvae to other areas of the mound so they won’t get infected, but what they don’t realize is that they are carrying the nematodes on their backs infecting the whole mound.” Once the ants determine that the mound is unsafe, they try to rebuild with little “kicker” mounds, but they are so sick with the infection that they die before completion.. “All they know to do is build,” said Hanna, “and they’re building while they die. My whole yard is a graveyard.”
Once the ants are infected, they do not bite because their main concern is to rebuild. When the ants bring the large queen larvae to the surface, a major infection has set in. Hanna began testing on August 8 in her yard, and since the flood in October, the nematodes spread to a field near her house, since they flourish in moist weather. Now most of the mounds have been eradicated and all that are left are nymphs, smaller ants that without adult ant care will die. The way fire ants make themselves visible is by building gigantic mounds, especially around tree trunks and stumps. They dig up the soil from its fibrous root system and hold on the roots. When it rains, the trees receive none of the water because there is no soil left around the roots to absorb it, causing the trees to yellow.
“It’s not natural to have trees in east Texas swelling like they are and it’s because of the fire ant activity inside,” said Hanna. Most of the swelling in the trees in her yard has gone down and the soil surrounding them is level once again, but there is one tree where the left side is still swollen. The Gulf Coast Biological Center was given an Environmental Protection Agency Pesticide Producing number, which gives Hanna the authority to produce the pesticide. Gaiyla Mutton, the manager of UPA Apartments, used ANTidote to control the fire ant problem they had in the yards. “She applied it in the latter part of September and you could see the difference immediately” she said. They we getting into the air conditioners, but they’re still dying.” Paula Bear, who is employed at American Bank in Huntsville, is another satisfied customer. “1 had quite a few mounds in my yard and around my trees and she applied it when she first started testing around August or September,” she said. “Now we can walk around barefoot. I think it’s worth a try especially if you have children or pets.” Treatment is about $50 for rural areas and $25 for residential areas. It lasts for a year or more, and the nematodes spread. “People should not wait for their neighbors to get a treatment and hope it will spread to their yards. They should get their own and we can have control faster” said Hanna. ANTidote is not available in the stores and can only be purchased in Huntsville from Hanna, but one pest control business in Houston, Nettles Exterminating Company Inc., has the nematodes as well. “We found out about ANTidote by reading ant article in a magazine mentioning Ginger,” said Don Nettles, the owner. “The non-chemical approach is the wave of the future and she’s ahead with her product lab.” With the use of nematodes, chemical toxins are becoming obsolete. “We don’t have to use the highly toxic materials anymore so it’s much safer,” said Nettles. ‘It may take more time, but if the result is control, then that’s what we’re looking for.” Nettles said that there was a similar product to control fleas, but this is the first time that a successful method of fire ant control has been introduced. “It’s God’s gift to mankind because it’s not toxic and it kills these pests with tremendous force,” she said.. “It’s clean, safe, cheap and it works.” For More Information Contact: |
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