My wife is allergic as all get out and we can't seem to get rid of them at our new house. I have spot treated every mound and I broadcast killer over the whole yard. I swear the mounds just move. They haven't gone away and as a matter of fact seem to be hanging around our pool decking more and more.

What products have you used to get them good and gone?

Mound treatment with orthene.

Yard treatment with extinguish and amdro.

Extinguish is the top product in most programs including TAMU.

ETA: wait until you get some clear weather after rain and bait will clean up good. Ants are extra active and you don't lose bait to the rain.

Have you tried something like this?
https://www.domyown.com/talstar-xtra-granular-insecticide-p-1434.html

Actives should be very strong on fire ants

Product label and supplemental label for fire ants included on the site.

No for some reason I didn't gi to domyown although I have used them for literally all my other pest needs for the better part of a decade. /facepalm

Mound drench nests with 2-3 gallons of a 5 gallon bucket mixed with Demon WP insecticide. Soak them good.

Put out a few Lays potato chips around your yard.
If they attract fire ants then put out bait such as Amdro or Extinguish.

The bait goes bad fast in the heat so buy small amounts or split with neighbors.

Stay vigilant after rains. That's when new queens mate and fly off making new colonies.

The problem in my backyard is that I can't find the mounds but they are all over the pool decking. Very frustrating.

Fipronil sprayed on whole yard will kill every bug for 12+ months. Serious stuff. Domyown.com

Ortho orthene in the black jug for big mound tx

Ortho bait in the white jug with the black label for when you see a trail.

Most likely you have a bum neighbor that isn't doing anything. Ants probably have a taj mahal built and they keep trying to expand into your yard. Maybe look over the fence and see who the bum is.

I'll have access to 2/3 next week when we get a new fence. No joke I've spot treated at least 10 mounds in 2 months as well as spread granules over whole yard. Its getting old. Wife got 3 bites yesterday and luckily we preemptively got 3 prescriptions for her in case of a bite but her foot still swelled up to 2x its normal size.

Sea Speed said:

---

The problem in my backyard is that I can't find the mounds but they are all over the pool decking. Very frustrating.

---

Try the Lays trick putting some chips out and follow the ant trail back to the nes. That may give you a direction to bait with Extinguish or Amdro

Mounds are currently subsurface due to drought, thus hard to find.
Look around any object in contact with ground. Fence, outbuildings, stepping stones, deck, flowerbed edging.

I have had a pesticide applicators license for 35 years but would not generally broadcast insecticide spray all over a yard that my family was walking in - especially little kids and wives of childbearing age. Health hazards from insecticides are not to be taken lightly.

I had a trail the other day but I lost them where decking hit the grass.

Yard treatment with "Over and Out"
Individual mound treatment with Amdro*.

*WHEN THE GRASS AROUND IS DRY

Orthene is nasty trash that just moves them a foot or two away.

Go big or go home -

Orthene.

You can smell that it's bad news as soon as you open the jug.

I like to shovel up a bit of one mound and place it on another and reverse. Let these ****ers take care of each other.

JSKolache said:

---

Fipronil sprayed on whole yard will kill every bug for 12+ months. Serious stuff. Domyown.com

---

my neighbor is in pest control and uses fipronil. Top choice is the consumer available brand. stuff aint cheap though.

Walt Luddiger said:

---

JSKolache said:

---

Fipronil sprayed on whole yard will kill every bug for 12+ months. Serious stuff. Domyown.com

---

my neighbor is in pest control and uses fipronil. Top choice is the consumer available brand. stuff aint cheap though.

---

Taurus SC (fipronil) can be bought on Domyown.com

That's what I use on my lawn (not fire ant territory) and it does take care of everything else. Fipronil should be active on fire ants but Taurus SC is marketed as not being labeled for that use.

https://www.domyown.com/termidor-sc-p-184.html

I managed a pest control company in Lubbock for 3 years after graduation and Taurus SC and Talstar liquid is what we bought for exterior ant mound treatment as well.

AgResearch said:

---

Walt Luddiger said:

---

JSKolache said:

---

Fipronil sprayed on whole yard will kill every bug for 12+ months. Serious stuff. Domyown.com

---

my neighbor is in pest control and uses fipronil. Top choice is the consumer available brand. stuff aint cheap though.

---

Taurus SC (fipronil) can be bought on Domyown.com

That's what I use on my lawn (not fire ant territory) and it does take care of everything else. Fipronil should be active on fire ants but Taurus SC is marketed as not being labeled for that use.

---

Oh well I already have Taurus SC when I needed to get rid of carpenter ants at my last house. I will just use that then. Usually I just use bifen it but ill crank it to 11 around the whole yard.

OP, have you considered Horned Toads?

or crazy ants! They wiped out my fire ants a few years ago but have sadly moved on.

Based on personal experience, Bengal Ultra Fire Ant Dust is the best product out there.

Background: we built on an old pasture and flood irrigate the yard (aprox 1.5 acres). After moving in, had fire ant mounds all over, like 20+ would show up after irrigating. Tried treating with other products but could never eradicate all of them. Local hardware store suggested Bengal, probably 7 or 8 years ago. Switched over, knocked them out and have been fire ant free for the last 5-6 years.

Bifenthrin sprayed over entire yard will do wonders.

Sea Speed said:

---

I had a trail the other day but I lost them where decking hit the grass.

---

Maybe they're camped out under the pool deck/ spaces behind the pool wall? I didn't scroll through all the applications, but sounds like a bait is needed to take back to the mound to kill the mound/ queen.

Bait and spraying Taurus SC are next up when this rain subsides.

We were standing across the street talking with the neighbors and my wife got bit like 5 more times her feet look like Martin short in pure luck.

Top Choice by Bayer.

Supposed to be applied like fertilizer, by a licensed professional. However if you have the right "guy" they might sell a bag to you. A 50/60 lb bad does just over one half acre, but is about $200 now.

We knock back the mounds with Surrender (ugh the smell), then apply Top Choice a couple days later and water in. An application can last for a couple years or more.

Sea Speed said:

---

Bait and spraying Taurus SC are next up when this rain subsides.

We were standing across the street talking with the neighbors and my wife got bit like 5 more times her feet look like Martin short in pure luck.

---

Maybe there's a foot fetish site out there for swollen cankles, at least make some money off her misery!!


My sister developed a fire ant allergy in her late teens/ early 20's that affects her airways. She has to carry an epi pen now everywhere. I have no idea how she avoids being bitten. I work outside and probably get bites almost weekly if not every other week. Mine swell and itch for days, but thankfully now major allergies with them.

Hopefully y'all get it solved. I wonder if there's any spray to apply to yourself to keep them from hitching a ride and bitting. I'm not aware of anything. But it's also a pain to spray your feet/ shoes every time you go out.

Idk but she has 3 medicines on standby, 2 oral and 1 topical that she takes if she gets bit. I think having it in her system already really helped with the last 5, but it is very frustrating for her.

toolshed said:

---

Sea Speed said:

---

Bait and spraying Taurus SC are next up when this rain subsides.

We were standing across the street talking with the neighbors and my wife got bit like 5 more times her feet look like Martin short in pure luck.

---

Maybe there's a foot fetish site out there for swollen cankles, at least make some money off her misery!!


My sister developed a fire ant allergy in her late teens/ early 20's that affects her airways. She has to carry an epi pen now everywhere. I have no idea how she avoids being bitten. I work outside and probably get bites almost weekly if not every other week. Mine swell and itch for days, but thankfully now major allergies with them.

Hopefully y'all get it solved. I wonder if there's any spray to apply to yourself to keep them from hitching a ride and bitting. I'm not aware of anything. But it's also a pain to spray your feet/ shoes every time you go out.

---

Not to derail, but an epipen should be a standard item for easy access for everyone. Even if you don't think you have any allergies, you may, or you may be around/with someone who does. Get one from your doctor and have it available as much as possible.

Most good answers have been taken - so I'll just add that when a new mound of fire ants introduce themselves in an unneighborly way, I enjoy stirring the mound and hitting em with wasp killer and watching em twitch.