Red Imported Fire Ant - Countermeasures

Countermeasures

Many scientists and agencies are attempting to develop methods to stop the spread of the RIFA. Traditionally, control has been achieved through pesticide use. From the 1950s into the 1970s, Mirex was extensively used in an attempt to eradicate the species. However, the pesticide inadvertently aided the fire ants' spread by killing numerous native ant species that compete successfully with them. Mirex also caused even broader ecological harm that was often attributed to the fire ants. For example, it was first thought that the ants were linked to the decline of overwintering birds (e.g. the Loggerhead Shrike), but a later study showed that the pesticides were largely to blame. RIFAs have virtually no natural biological control agents native to, or naturalized in, the United States, China, Philippines, or Australia. Current research is focused on introducing biological control agents from the RIFA's native range.