From The Harvester, May 1974
Ants – rated X
(No redeeming qualities)
To read the newspapers, one might get the idea that Florida’s fire
ant problem is something quite new. Not so … in November 1970,
The Harvester reported that the fire ant problem was growing
rapidly. As far back as 1968, the damage from fire ants was
conservatively set at $93 million.
Environmentalists prevented the use of the only effective control
known, the pesticide Mirex.
Now, going on four years after the problem had reached dangerous
levels, Florida is still fighting. Commissioner Doyle Conner is fighting
too. Conner is not fighting ants, he is fighting to get the state
Legislature to set aside nearly a half million dollars to contain this
rapidly advancing threat to humans, livestock and crops.
Although it was believed that eradication was possible back in 1970,
it is now believed that this import from Brazil can no longer be
destroyed completely. The only control yet discovered is the chemical
Mirex. Mirex is our only hope and it appears to be our main stumbling
block toward aerial application and control. The EPA is prohibiting
aerial application due to pressure from environmental groups.
These are the facts: Bait material will consist of 14.7 percent
soybean oil, 85 percent corn cob grits, and just 3/10ths of one percent
Mirex. The total amount of Mirex applied from an airplane would amount
to about ½ teaspoon per acre (an acre is approximately 208 feet by
208 feet for you city folk.) The toxicity of Mirex is about the same as
for aspirin. Tests have indicated that if you (or a pet or any wild
creature) were to consume every particle of the bait applied to a normal
house-size lot (highly unlikely) the health hazard would be the same as
taking one aspirin. On the other hand, Mirex is a pest-specified
insecticide and is very effective against fire ants.
Danger from the fire ant is not only measured in dollars and cents
this year or next. Longer lasting danger is likely because fire ants
feed on other insects – but the insects they feed on are those
that are beneficial to our environment. These beneficial insects eat
large quantities of crop-destroying insects. Should infestation become
too great, we are liable to be faced with a world in which the fire ant
is our dominant insect – an insect that stings like a bee, is
aggressive and vicious and has no redeeming qualities.
An editorial, appearing in the Orlando Sentinel Star sums up
the problem this way, “Commissioner Conner faces several
obstacles. He needs to convince environmentalists that the treatment
does no harm, except to its intended target. He also needs to sell the
economics of the program to the public as well as the Legislature.
Recent episodes of human and animal suffering resulting from fire ant
attacks make it imperative that appropriate measures be taken.