Fire ants are rapidly becoming one of Australia’s most dangerous pests. Until very recently, invading them could only get you to at least 97 percent of the continent. The invasive species made its first US appearance—accidentally imported on ornamental plants—in Brisbane, Australia in 2001. Since then, they’ve continued to explode in number across SEQ—and far past it—provoking increasing alarm from experts and community members. UCR entomologist Professor Mark Hoddle has spent the past 30 years studying the invasive fire ants and developing methods to control and eliminate them. He calls the war on these buggers “the Vietnam of entomology.”
It’s a bleak picture. Once established, fire ants have spread across up to 850,000 hectares up the eastern seaboard and are now advancing into the Tweed, Ballina, and Byron Shires. The National Fire Ant Eradication Program has been fighting fire ants for years and is successfully exterminating nests in an eradication zone around South-East Queensland. This program employs chemical baits containing pyriproxyfen and methoprene, which prevent fire ant queens from producing mature worker ants, effectively dismantling entire colonies over a few months. The battle remains challenging.
Impact and Health Risks
Fire ants not only represent an ecological disaster, but a looming public health disaster to the residents. In the U.S., fire ants have infested over 150 million acres in 15 southern states. Shockingly, more than 14 million Americans experience their painful stings each year. A national study found that nearly one in four of those stung have an allergic reaction.
Physical and emotional toll Yet the consequences of fire ant stings can be serious. People suffer from severe rashes, pustules, and unbearable itching. In Australia, life-threatening emergencies have resulted from fire ant stings. In four of these cases, ambulances were called and 20 of these were hospitalized for their bites. As John Keleher, a resident affected by the infestation, noted, “When you get stung, you know how bad those fire ants are.”
“You’re going to have pustules develop on your skin, it’s going to be super itchy.”
The invasive impacts of fire ants
We should be worried about the aggressive nature of fire ants. They can boil out of their nests when disturbed. This is dangerous behavior particularly for our children who might unknowingly step on their nests.
Current Efforts and Challenges
To combat the infestation, Queensland is investing an additional $24 million over two years to bolster suppression efforts against fire ants. Despite these investments, many residents are still disheartened by the state of affairs. Kirsty McKenna expressed her concerns: “People are disheartened — we feel like we’re on our own battling this issue.”
The success of the eradication program depends almost entirely upon unified action from the community. Mark Hoddle emphasized this point: “When there is not sufficient collective action for the public good, the programs collapse.” Given the persistent, continuous nature of this challenge, what each person does matters—doing better leads to doing much better overall.
Recent convictions voiced by experts such as Marni Manning have raised concerns about the long-term vitality of eradication efforts. “I’m seeing us lose this fight, and I have been at least for the last five years,” she stated. Manning highlighted that the last thing authorities want is for people to resort to using excessive chemicals on their properties just to enjoy their outdoor spaces. “The last thing we want to do is have a situation where people are pouring a cocktail of chemicals onto their land just so they can actually sit outside,” she remarked.
The Future of Fire Ant Control
Our National Fire Ant Eradication Program has almost obliterated this invasive scourge, thanks to seven years of extensive funding from the Queensland government. Professionals — including Professor Hoddle — remain cautious about the long-term prospects. Robertson urged that we have deep public buy-in and public commitment to eradication approaches. Without it, our battle against fire ants will soon be an unwinnable one.
Keleher described his daily struggle with fire ants: “It’s two to three hours of my day every day just complying with the necessary paperwork and treatment regime.” This kind of commitment goes to show the personal burden that fire ant invasions have on people.
These communities are proactively navigating the economic and social losses sure to come. A common purpose will be needed in order to combat this fire ant scourge. This growing crisis needs urgent action. Now more than ever, we need to engage and educate the public and encourage their action to stop rapidly spreading fire ants from establishing permanent colonies around the country.
