At Central Life Sciences, we recognize our role in educating citrus growers on the importance of protecting their citrus investment from fire ants. Our solutions provide growers with effective and economical products.
For citrus growers looking to protect and grow their investment, it is important to not overlook the threat of fire ants. Fire ants are a common insect threat in citrus groves that can girdle young citrus trees and attack workers with painful stings. To help operations fight back against fire ants impacting their citrus groves and workers, Central Life Sciences offers two proven solutions:
- Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait is an effective bait that can be used anywhere fire ants are found. It is specific to target pests and won’t affect other beneficial ant species. USDA quarantine approved, this product has no withdrawal period and offers the application flexibility of individual mound, broadcast, as well as aerial treatments. It contains an insect growth regulator (IGR) that affects a queen’s reproductive abilities, preventing worker ants from being replaced as they die. The queen eventually starves to death, and the entire colony is eliminated.
- Extinguish® Plus (Fire Ant Bait) gives non-bearing trees a fighting chance against fire ants. The IGR in Extinguish® Plus sterilizes the queen and prevents rebound, while the adulticide starts killing ants immediately after ingestion. With its two-way action, Extinguish® Plus is economical to use and has a great price per acre. This bait is labeled for individual, mound, and aerial applications. Extinguish® Plus also works very well as a barrier treatment around fields, reducing the migration of fire ants from neighboring properties.
Recommended Bait
Current UF/IFAS bait recommendations advise using Extinguish® fire ant baits to manage fire ant populations. To understand how to effectively control fire ants, it helps to understand the biology of the pest.
Foraging fire ants seen outside of the actual colony on the ground and on trees make up only a fraction of the ant colony population. Fire ant mounds can extend well below ground with many foraging tunnels emerging in all directions. Foraging ants bring Extinguish® fire ant bait back to the colony where they are fed to the older larvae. The larvae consume the bait and later regurgitate it in liquid form. This “liquid” is then distributed to all colony members as their food. Baits that are brought back to the colony by foragers are eventually distributed throughout the colony and, depending on the bait, they either sterilize queens and/or kill foraging ants.
To learn more about Extinguish® Professional Fire Ant Bait and to find a list of regional sales representatives near you, visit CentralAntControl.com or call 800.347.8272.