The Most Effective Fire Ant Controls For Your Lawn

When you live in fire ant country, it pays to be proactive and prepared. Fire ants are more than nuisances; these aggressive pests attack and sting repeatedly when their ever-expanding territories are disturbed. Take charge of fire ant invasions by understanding these pests and your options for controls. By matching your treatment to your target situation, you can protect your family and pets from fire ants.

Know the Types of Fire Ant Controls

Fire ant control products fall into two main categories: contact killers and baits. Both types are effective, but they work in very different ways.

• Contact killers are fast-acting controls that start working immediately to kill fire ants on contact. Results are swift, but contact must occur to make the kill. Contact killers can control ants where the products reach and where those ants go. Treated fire ants can spread the product through the colony and share it with other ants they contact, including the queen.
• Bait controls work more slowly by design, and use ants to extend their range. Ants mistake effective baits for food, feed on the bait and take it back to their colonies. Then queens and other ants feed, and the whole colony dies.

With either type of fire ant control, following product instructions is critical. Bait products, for example, should not be irrigated after application; you'll diminish their effectiveness. But granular contact killers should be watered after application, following label instructions closely for the amount of water to use. Watering in releases the active ingredients so they can reach their target.

Match Your Product to the Problem

By the time mounds appear, fire ants have been lurking and working underground for months. Successful treatments tackle mounds and unseen tunnels and colonies. Baits and contact killers both provide effective treatment for the problem at hand.

• Mound treatments address the immediate problem of existing fire ants through deep-reaching, targeted controls. Baits, such as AMDRO^® Fire Ant Bait (Granules), treat the mound and disrupt the colony's reproductive life cycle, killing the colony in about two weeks. The contact-killing granules of GardenTech^® Over 'n Out^® Advanced Fire Ant Killer Mound Eliminator start work immediately to control mounds in 15 minutes, before ants can relocate.
• Full yard treatments control visible and hidden mounds, and proactively prevent new colonies or re-infestations from neighboring yards. AMDRO^® Kills Fire Ants Yard Treatment Bait (Granules) blankets your yard with enticing bait that foraging ants take back through their underground labyrinths. The contact-killing formula in GardenTech^® Over 'n Out^® Advanced Fire Ant Killer kills fire ant mounds in 15 minutes and provides six months of ongoing fire ant control.

The most effective approach to fire ant treatment is the one-two punch of proactive, full yard treatments and targeted treatments for visible mounds. This can be done with effective bait products, contact killers or a combination of both — whatever your fire ant situation and your family require.

Effective fire ant treatments give you the edge you need to take control before fire ants disrupt your home. With effective bait and contact killers from AMDRO^® and GardenTech^®, you can take on fire ants, and take back your yard.

Amdro is a registered trademark of Central Garden & Pet Company. GardenTech is a registered trademark of Gulfstream Home and Garden, Inc. Over 'n Out is a registered trademark of TechPac, LLC.

Always read the product label and follow the instructions carefully.