Find tips from UF/IFAS for managing fire ants in your Florida citrus grove to protect both grove workers and your trees.
Fire ants are an insidious pest to have in your Florida citrus grove, targeting both grove workers and citrus. According to a UF/IFAS Tip of the Week article, “In terms of tree health, this pest can cause direct damage to tree trunks, including girdling young trees when they build mounds in tree wraps and causing feeding damage to trunks of more mature trees if mounds are built up against trees.” According to the article, red imported fire ants are more likely to build mounds in tree wraps during dry, hot months as they are attracted to the readily available water due to irrigation or even from feeding on tree sap.
Additionally, “fire ants have been documented to farm honeydew-producing plant pests including Asian citrus psyllids, lebbeck mealybugs, aphids and scales. When ants farm these organisms, they collect the sugar-rich honeydew from the pest and in return groom and/or protect them from predators. When grooming, ants are generally keeping their “herd” clean of fungal spores that could harm their food source.” Fire ants are a menace to grove workers, pose a threat to young citrus, and actually protect other citrus pests from natural predators. The article also shared tips for managing fire ants; see them below.
Managing Fire Ants in the Citrus Grove
The article shared these tips for managing fire ants:
- “Optimal management for fire ants includes the use of well-timed bait applications. Baits take a few days to start showing impacts but are effective in terms of reducing the entire population, including those that you cannot see.”
- “Baits are most effective when fire ants are actively foraging, generally from spring through fall.”
- “Late afternoon to evening applications are often the most effective as ants tend to forage in the cooler dawn and dusk times of the warm season.”
- “Like all insecticides, you must rotate the mode of action and sometimes even the carrier (flakes vs. granules) since fire ants can develop behavioral adaptations to avoid baits that they become too familiar with.”
Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions -or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.