Writings: Biosecurity Queensland wasting bait and money spreading fire ant baits when ants are not actively foraging.

The chaotic treatment program of the National Fire Ant Eradication Program (which consumes a significant proportion of the program’s funding) is one reason why fire ants continue to spread.

The insect growth regulators (IGRs), s-methoprene (used for mosquito control in wetland areas) and pyriproxyfen (used to control fleas on cats and dogs) are our best weapons for controlling fire ants – when used properly by professional pest managers.

The baits can be effective when fire ants are actively foraging for IGR-infused corn grits during the warmer months in south-east Queensland: from September to March.

But the current Director of the National Fire Ant Eradication Program, Ashley Bacon, has tasked staff with baiting properties now (August) when fire ants are not actively foraging – a waste of both time and money.  

Previous Program Directors have been just as incompetent. They have tasked staff with:

• under-treating areas: less than three time a year.
• leaving gaps in the treatment blankets allowing the pest to spread,
• on occasion applying bait ahead of rain events that render the bait ineffective,
• injecting nests with insecticide that cause nests to split and spread,
• creating environmental and public health risks by allowing the public to use baits registered for professional use.

Biosecurity Queensland’s incompetence is reason why the Queensland State Government should no longer be managing fire ant control.

National funders would be better directing the majority of fire ant management funding DIRECTLY to local councils with Invasive Pest Management Plans who could administer quarantine programs with professional biosecurity compliance officers and treatment programs with professional pest managers.

5^th August 2024