Orange County Fire Ant Authority

A fleet of vans from the Orange County Fire Ant Authority broke the midday calm in a red-roofed Mission Viejo neighborhood Thursday, carrying a troop of exterminators on the prowl for a tiny but potentially deadly invader. The county's battle to eradicate the imported red fire ant--a stinging interloper from South America that was discovered in Orange County in 1998--has been so successful that the program has become a model for other areas similarly overrun.

A fleet of vans from the Orange County Fire Ant Authority broke the midday calm in a red-roofed Mission Viejo neighborhood Thursday, carrying a troop of exterminators on the prowl for a tiny but potentially deadly invader. The county's battle to eradicate the imported red fire ant--a stinging interloper from South America that was discovered in Orange County in 1998--has been so successful that the program has become a model for other areas similarly overrun.

Despite a $6-million budget and a small army of field technicians enlisted to fight them, the fire ants are winning--and heading north out of Orange County. The ants have invaded five sites in the San Fernando Valley, according to Los Angeles County officials, including one discovered earlier this month at Brand Park in Mission Hills. That site was treated this week, said Robert Atkins, deputy agricultural commissioner.

Despite a $6-million budget and a small army of field technicians enlisted to fight them, the fire ants are winning--and heading north out of Orange County. The ants have invaded five sites in the San Fernando Valley, according to Los Angeles County officials, including one discovered earlier this month at Brand Park in Mission Hills. That site was treated this week, said Robert Atkins, deputy agricultural commissioner.

Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved using $2 million more in state funds to continue eradication efforts against the red imported fire ant, which now infests more than 500 square miles of the county. The Orange County Fire Ant Authority has a five-year battle plan, but its $5.9-million, 18-month contract with the state and county ends June 30, said Executive Director Richard Bowen. He said the board's action provides funding through Jan. 31, 2002.

First comes the pain, then the burning. Within hours, a blister forms around each sting of the fire ant, which has infested more than 500 square miles of Orange County. "It felt like being stung by a wasp," said Jerry Sims of the Lake Forest-based Orange County Fire Ant Authority, who has experienced the painful bites. Today, the agency is hosting area politicians and city officials for an educational meeting on how to eradicate the 1/4-inch-long tropical insects.

Re "County Escalates Its Ground War Against Fire Ant," Feb. 25: Thank you for the article describing the very difficult job faced by the Orange County Fire Ant Authority as we attempt to do what some believe is impossible: completely eradicate the red imported fire ant from Orange County. However, our most recent data show that we are winning the war against this dangerous ant--an ant that threatens our entire way of life. We have just completed our first year (the authority was created in January 2000)

The red imported fire ant has established itself in at least four sites in Stanton, an Orange County Vector Control Agency representative told Tuesday night's City Council meeting. If left unchecked, the ant could become a serious problem in Stanton and other Orange County cities, warned Dick Meyer, assistant manager of the agency. Because of its prevalence in the Southwest, "the ant has changed lifestyles," impeding outdoor pastimes such as picnics and driving out native wildlife, Meyer said.

A new campaign to eradicate invading red fire ants will rely in part on help from residents armed with potato chips, cotton swabs, dish soap and plastic bags, say to county officials who hope to exploit the insect's voracious appetite. The fire ant, which now is found in 23 of the county's 33 cities and is threatening Southern California agribusiness, must be stopped, officials said. Residents who believe they have the red ants on their property are asked to put out potato chips as a lure.

A new campaign to eradicate red imported fire ants will rely in part on help from residents armed with potato chips, cotton swabs, dish soap and plastic bags, according to Orange County officials who hope to exploit the insects' voracious appetites. The fire ant, which now occupies 23 of the county's 33 cities and is threatening Southern California agribusiness, must be stopped, said officials Thursday as they announced a $5.9-million attack strategy.

With sightings of fire ants on the rise around the Southland, state agriculture officials are preparing a massive public-information campaign to help combat the insect with the mean sting. Today in Rancho Santa Margarita, ground zero for California's fire-ant infestation, the state will announce a plan to use everything from billboards to television spots to spread the word on how to identify and help eradicate the pest. The campaign, expected to cost about $1.

When it comes to battling the dreaded imported red fire ant, you won't find a fighter more gung-ho than the Brazilian phorid fly. The gnat-like bug injects an egg inside the hapless ant, whose body becomes food for the hatching larva. Other states are shipping these tiny winged assassins to the front lines of the great ant war, but not in California, where officials doubt their effectiveness.