The red imported fire ant (pictured above) arrived in the United States in the 1920's via boat, probably in Mobile, Alabama. Since that time it has spread principally from the Atlantic coast states, through the South and through to California and as far north as Kansas. In the U.S. it has no natural predators. It survives best in warm climates.

Some domestic red fire ants also exist in the U.S. but are not considered nearly as harmful or damaging to crops and animals as the very aggressive RIFA (red imported fire ant).

Red fire ants tend to build their nests in areas next to concrete, or other structures which might hold heat and help keep their underground nets warm. They also seem to shy away from building their nests near domestic red fire ants.

They have a queen which lays thousands of eggs continuously. Their nests may have as many as 500,000 fire ants. Bites from the ants can be extremely painful and sometimes fatal. The ants eat almost anything; grass, leaves, birds, dead animals including chickens, dogs, cats, rats and mice.

Their nests are normally quite visible and have obvious mounds of dirt piled up from their diggings. Most of their entrances (and there may be several) are not in the center of the mound, but on the sides of the mounds. Mounds may vary in size from one foot to three feet. A larger mound generally indicates a larger ant colony. The tunnels beneath the mounds may go as deep as four feet. It is pitch black in the tunnels and the ants communicate with each other by chemical exchanges and touch.

Recognizing fire ants from domestic red ants may be difficult for most homeowners. It is unwise to poison or kill domestic red ants by mistake when you intended to only kill the red imported fire ant. Domestic red ants are part of nature's food chain for a great number of lizards, frogs and animals.

Poisons often take weeks, sometimes up to six weeks, to kill off a single colony. However, it is possible to immediately chase the red imported fire ants out of the area by using a garlic douse over their mound. One of the biggest objections we have to poisons is that the poisons are sprinkled around the mounds and are eaten by birds.

In tests we performed by our own staff, we used four ounces of Mosquito Barrier per gallon of water and poured the mixture over the mound. The next day the ants were nowhere to be found. We dug up the entire mound with shovels and could find no trace of any red imported fire ants. We conducted these tests many times - each time with the same result. No ants anywhere. In dozens of tests, after searching outwards from our doused mounds and finding no new colonies in all directions for nearly a quarter mile, we began to offer Mosquito Barrier for the purpose of red imported fire ant colony eradication. We have yet to have heard of any case where the ants did not abandon the site within 24 hours of dousing. Our method is all natural and environmentally sound.

No poisons were used and no damage was caused to any lawns or grass.