Orders have been placed of the insecticidal bait intended to kill the little fire ant that has agriculturalists in the territory worried.
Dr Mark Schmaedick, entomologist at the Land Grant Division says the bait is a combination of corn grits, soybean oil, granules and insecticide.
A large quantity of the insecticide is needed in order to wage war on the insects which not only attack plants and trees but can make life miserable for humans. While small they have a mean bite that has a painful sting and causes a rash.
Dr. Schmaedick says they would need to spray the infected area every five weeks as that is the life span of the fire ants.
So far Tafeta is the only area where the ants have been found on island but according to Dr. Schmaedick whenever people or things are carried from the infected area to another site they have to go to all those other locations to spray and make sure there’s no infestiation of the little fire ant.
The Land Grant Division has also been conducting training for other ASG agencies to educate them about the pest and get their help in reporting any sighting of the little creatures.
“The more people who are out there looking for the ants, the more chances we have of eradicating them,” said Dr. Schmaedick.
To help promote awareness of the pest, Land Grant has produced a video about the little fire ant with the hopes that it will be shown on KVZK TV and Moana TV and also to other groups that want to help control or stamp out the little fire ant.
