You see a mound of fluffy worked soil, particularly a few days after a heavy rain.
The mound has no opening in the center like most ant mounds. Red imported fire ants leave and enter the mound housing the colony through underground tunnels.
If you get stung it feels like being burned. A day or so later, the imported fire ant's unique venom forms a white fluid filled pustule or blister at the red sting site that is very characteristic - only fire ant venom causes this symptom!
Worker ants bite (with mandibles) and sting (with stingers) aggressively and repeatedly.
Fire ants are active most of the year in areas where they are a pest. During cooler seasons these pests are more active and are more likely to respond to your pest management operations. Top Choice can be applied at any time of year but for best results, apply the granules when ground temperatures are between 74 and 86 degrees; usually March and September. Spring time is the best for optimal control. As with any long-term ant control product, your best results will be seen by applying the product just prior to the ants most active period or at first sign of infestation. During hot summer months fire ants are visible and are indeed active. When you hire us to use Top Choice on your lawn, you will receive the 1 year guarantee. We guarantee that you won't have fire ants on your yard for one whole season. If your child is allergic to fire ants, like my daughter is, you can appreciate not having to worry about fire ants.
Fipronil, the active ingredient in TopChoice granules, is a slow-acting insecticide. This means that you will not usually see immediate results after application. This slow action is an advantage when getting rid of ants and fire ants.The social life of an ant colony is an important to remember when controlling the pests. Ants do indeed "socialize" in their daily routines, constantly touching each other. This constant and repetitive contact will rapidly spread the insecticide throughout the colony of ants. Once an ant has contaminated itself by foraging through areas treated with Fipronil or has fed on objects in the treated area, the ant will spread Fipronil to each ant it comes into contact with and these ants will spread to insecticide to other ants. If the insecticide were to work too fast, far fewer ants would be affected, lessening the effect of the product. Slow acting Fipronil will give you a more thorough kill of the fire ant colony. With Fipronil, slower is better; slower is more effective. Apply the granules evenly, at the proper time and be patient!
