Picture this: you’re out checking your crops on a sunny morning, and suddenly, it feels like your pants are on fire. That’s the reality fire ants are bringing to our doorstep. These tiny invaders are finding our nation all too welcoming, sparking dire warnings and massive eradication efforts.
The Unwelcome Guests
Fire ants, originally from South America, are an aggressive invasive species with an excruciatingly painful sting. First detected in Brisbane in 2001, these tiny invaders have found Australia to be an ideal new home. With no natural predators and a climate that suits them perfectly, fire ants have the potential to spread across 95% of our vast country.
These resilient pests are masters of adaptation. They can spread both above and below ground, fly up to 5 kilometres, and even form rafts to cross bodies of water.
Warnings from an Infested USA
Dr. Robert Puckett, assistant professor and extension entomologist at Texas A&M University, has been following Australia’s efforts to eradicate fire ants since they were discovered in Brisbane 23 years ago. In a recent visit to Australia, Dr. Puckett warned that “some of the densities are approaching what we see in Texas on pasture land.”
More than 40 million people in the US live in areas infested with red imported fire ants. Around 14 million are stung every year, with about 6,000 suffering from anaphylaxis.
Dr. Puckett outlined several fundamental ways that life changes for humans when RIFA (Red Imported Fire Ants) move into an area:
- You begin to constantly survey your surroundings. After your first sting, you become immediately tuned into observing mature colonies and avoiding them.
- You bait infested private property every year; many landholders in America fence off farmhouses to treat for ants while letting them rage across paddocks containing livestock.
- You no longer walk around barefoot.
- You change how you store agricultural products.
- You always wonder if materials laying around the yard, like firewood, have fire ants under them.
- You build footpaths and buffers on private property.
- Schools hire certified Integrated Pest Management personnel specifically to manage fire ants.
Dr. Puckett’s observations reflect a grim reality, one he echoed in Texas Monthly last year: “The fire ants themselves haven’t changed that much. But our response to them has evolved. They’ve just become part of our reality.”
Threatening Our Livelihoods and Lives
The potential impact of fire ants on Australia’s ecosystem and economy is immense. Studies predict significant population declines in our native wildlife, with 45% of birds, 38% of mammals, 69% of reptiles, and a shocking 95% of frogs in affected areas.
The Invasive Species Council has issued dire warnings, noting that if fire ants are not eradicated, the impact of these tiny pests could surpass the combined damage done each year by feral cats, wild dogs, foxes, camels, rabbits, and cane toads.
Fire ants pose a direct threat to rural communities and agricultural output. They attack livestock, feast on the tender growth of citrus, cucumber, eggplant, and sweet potato crops, and can halt or damage harvest equipment with their mounds.
And let’s not forget the damage they can cause to our infrastructure, nesting under foundations and disabling electrical equipment.
Biosecurity analysts told a recent Senate inquiry that Australia could lose 2.8% of its GDP to fire ants – an economic hit equivalent to “half a Covid” every year. In the United States, where fire ants have spread, they cost industry and the agriculture sector a staggering $7 billion annually.
“Eradicating fire ants is a formidable challenge that requires a united community effort,” says Ashley Bacon, Executive Program Director of the National Fire Ant Eradication Program.
“If we fail, life in Australia will change — backyard cricket, picnics in the park, and walking on the grass without shoes could become a memory.”
The Fight Against Fire Ants
Australia is not standing idle. A Senate report has provided 10 recommendations to contain and eradicate fire ants, and The National Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP) is actively working to wipe out fire ants from Australia by 2032.
Fire ant biosecurity zones are in place and apply to anyone handling materials that can carry fire ants, such as soil, baled materials, mulch, manure, quarry products, turf, cotton, and potted plants.
“Everyone, from individuals to industry to governments, has a crucial role to play in eradicating fire ants, and it is important we take this threat seriously,” says Mr. Bacon.
“We need to work together to secure a future free of fire ants.”
Learn more about fire ant eradication at the National Fire Ant Eradication Program’s website here.
Photo Credit: National Fire Ant Eradication Program
Sources: Farm Online, Senate Standing Committees on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport – Red Imported Fire Ants in Australia, Invasive Species Council, National program set to wipe out fire ants by 2032 – NFAEP, National program intensifies efforts to combat fire ants – NFAEP, Texas Monthly