Fire Ants and Crazy Ants Are Taking Over Louisiana Yards

If you have been out in the yard lately, you have probably noticed Louisiana is battling two major invasive ant species: the aggressive Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) and the fast-spreading Tawny Crazy Ant (Nylanderia fulva).

I think one of the worst feelings in the world is to look down at your foot and see ants covering it. And I am convinced the ants do a little countdown and say "3,2,1, BITE!"

And those fire ant bites hurt. And the itching will be with you for about a week.

Ants Can Be Destructive in Louisiana

The fire ants will build those mounds all around your property and they don't play nice with humans. And the colonies of ants can grow to massive sizes. The destruction they can cause is beyond what I ever would have imaged. They are attracted to electrical equipment and can cause damager to air conditioning units, circuit breakers, and transformer boxes. The ants can cause massive electrical shorts.

But the ants also cause problems to the ecosystem. They can harm crops and displace other wildlife and native insects. The other problem with ants is that they can get in your house. That's big time annoying. And they are hard to get rid of. In many of these cases, you will need a pest control company.

Where You Will Find Ants in Louisiana?

Fire ants thrive in open fields across all 64 parishes. They are very active along the Gulf Coast region. The high humidity and coastal rainfall make southern Louisiana including Lafayette and New Orleans ideal breeding grounds for crazy ants.

Parishes like Caddo, Bossier, and East Baton Rouge experience heavy annual fire ant infestations in agricultural pastures and in neighborhoods.

How to Get Rid of Fire Ants in Louisiana

Getting rid of these pests requires a calculated approach with bait granules that are slow-acting. You would typically put these granules across whole lawns allows worker ants to carry the toxin back to kill the queen. You can also try liquid insecticide to apply directly to the fire ant mounds.