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My battle with cut/harvester ants

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JB!98
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10:36p, 3/9/26
AG
OB, i have fought this battle with limited success for 2 years. I have to admit; I have been fighting a rear-guard action. The enemy has control. My last-ditch effort before setting my entire property on fire is Fipronil.

The enemy has built a stronghold in my front flower bed, and I believe that this is their HQ (main mound).

Does anyone have experience with this treatment? Best means of application?

Thanks, and Gig'em, signed a desperate man.
Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so. - Justice Samuel Alito 2022
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Mas89
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10:55p, 3/9/26
AG
Sevin Dust got rid of the mound of them I had a couple years ago.
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Jack Squat 83
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12:42a, 3/10/26
AG
I am following this one. SOBs constantly stripping my garden.

Hopefully some good info to come.
I don't think you know me.
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FatZilla
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In reply to JB!98 • 1:08a, 3/10/26
AG
JB!98 said:
OB, i have fought this battle with limited success for 2 years. I have to admit; I have been fighting a rear-guard action. The enemy has control. My last-ditch effort before setting my entire property on fire is Fipronil.

The enemy has built a stronghold in my front flower bed, and I believe that this is their HQ (main mound).

Does anyone have experience with this treatment? Best means of application?

Thanks, and Gig'em, signed a desperate man.


Diatomaceous earth over entire area. Cheap and controls ants and many other pests while being natural and non toxic. Washes away with rain so give it a good dry spell set of days when applying it. Sevin dust if that fails.
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Gunny456
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In reply to JB!98 • 1:15a, 3/10/26
AG
Get you some Texas horned lizards/toads.
80% of their diet is harvester ants. If we would not have basically wiped them out with insecticides we wouldn't have harvester ant infestations now.
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Gunny456
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In reply to JB!98 • 1:38a, 3/10/26
AG
Might page 87Flyfisher on here. He is our resident entomologist and will give excellent advice on your issue. He has helped me many times.
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Chetos
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In reply to Gunny456 • 3:45a, 3/10/26
AG
Gunny456 said:
Get you some Texas horned lizards/toads.
80% of their diet is harvester ants. If we would not have basically wiped them out with insecticides we wouldn't have harvester ant infestations now.


Yup. Been in my rural hill country house for more than 15 years. Never sprayed any insecticides and never had any problems with infestation. I have tons of lizards, frogs , etc that keep everything at bay. Although I do rely on sticky traps inside to keep control of scorpions. Also, never had a dog get cancer. But that may be coincidence.
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C ROC N
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3:50a, 3/10/26
https://galveston.agrilife.org/files/2012/03/Red-Harvester-Ants-Publ.-E-4021.pdf
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Micropterus
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4:28a, 3/10/26
AG
PTM is labeled and highly effective on leafcutter ants, as well as all ants in general. Taurus SC and Termidor SC are same a.i. with different label wording.


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IMnAg79
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7:04a, 3/10/26
AG
I've had luck with Taurus SC.
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Gunny456
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In reply to Chetos • 7:23a, 3/10/26
AG
We had many mounds around our house and out in the pastures at our ranch by Harper for over 30 years.
They never caused any problems or did damage of any kind so we left them alone.
They did much more good than harm by far. So we never sprayed or applied insecticides.
Over those years we enjoyed the occasional sighting of a horned toad but nothing like we used to see when I was young.
The mounds were great places to put dead rattlesnakes and watch them devour anything but the skeleton.
Same as you we used sticky traps in the house to catch centipedes and scorpions.
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Deerdude
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8:01a, 3/10/26
Gotta tell yall a funny method that worked for me. Back in late 80's early nineties I worked for an H2S safety company. I carried a testing pump that put out I think it was 25 or 50 ppm to calibrate sensors with.
Cut ants moved into the yard in NW San Antonio and I tried several pesticides to no avail. I got a wild hair one day and put fresh batteries on the pump and stuck the hose down into the hole and let it run until batteries ran down.
Ants never showed themselves in my yard again.
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maroon barchetta
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8:06a, 3/10/26
My dad had ants he referred to as harvester ants at his house in Carmel Hills on Lake Mathis.

They didn't have a mound so much as they had a hole in the ground. Rockier soil where he was. He loved them because they would stake sticker burrs/grass burrs into the nest, crack them open, eat the seed inside, and throw the "husk" back out by the entrance.

You could always find their nests easily by the pile of grass burr husks around a hole.

They seemed beneficial in that case.
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Butchy Woods
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8:16a, 3/10/26
AG
They have built several large mounds on our property. Has anyone tried pouring a fungicide down the holes? My understanding the seeds and leafs grow a fungus and the ants eat the fungus. Feel free to correct my understanding.
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JB!98
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8:51a, 3/10/26
AG
Thanks all for the advice. I will let you know how it goes. I plan on treating when the threat of rain is over. Gunny, I have not seen a horned toad for 30 years, it's a shame.
Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so. - Justice Samuel Alito 2022
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TXAG 05
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9:07a, 3/10/26
AG
Mix the poison with grape nuts cereal. They love grape nuts for some reason, take it down in the hole and it kills them.
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Tagguy
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In reply to JB!98 • 9:49a, 3/10/26
AG
OB art project time.

Molten aluminum + ant colony = cool sculptures






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JB!98
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In reply to Tagguy • 9:52a, 3/10/26
AG
Tagguy said:
OB art project time.

Molten aluminum + ant colony = cool sculptures











While cool.......



Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so. - Justice Samuel Alito 2022
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1990Hullaballoo
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In reply to TXAG 05 • 9:56a, 3/10/26
AG
TXAG 05 said:
Mix the poison with grape nuts cereal. They love grape nuts for some reason, take it down in the hole and it kills them.


Local terminator guy told me the same.

Buy powder Orthene and Grape Nuts cereal. Dampen cereal with water. Mix Orthene in so it sticks to cereal.

Put out around holes when no rain or dew is expected. Keep pets away from- they will lick/eat and it will make them sick but not kill.

I know several folks thi worked for.

May have to reapply after current eggs hatch. Just do so before more eggs are laid.
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WheelinAg
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10:04a, 3/10/26
AG
I've been battling them for 6 months with Amdro, which is labeled for leaf cutters. It seems to knock them back for a while, but I think they are just moving to a new location. Has anyone used PTM? If so, what are you using to inject it into the mound?
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JB!98
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In reply to WheelinAg • 10:10a, 3/10/26
AG
WheelinAg said:
I've been battling them for 6 months with Amdro, which is labeled for leaf cutters. It seems to knock them back for a while, but I think they are just moving to a new location. Has anyone used PTM? If so, what are you using to inject it into the mound?

Mine just giggled at Amdro for cut ants among other things that I have tried. Where I may have been missing the boat is treating twice to account for the eggs.
Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so. - Justice Samuel Alito 2022
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Gunny456
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In reply to TXAG 05 • 10:14a, 3/10/26
AG
Their main diet is seeds. Hence the name "Harvester ants". Probably why they like grape nuts.
I remember as kids the big thing was to have harvester ant farms to watch.
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Cromagnum
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10:16a, 3/10/26
AG
Treat with bifenthrin. Only have to nuke from orbit twice a year and you'll never see ants again.
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SanAntoneAg
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In reply to JB!98 • 11:17a, 3/10/26
AG
JB!98 said:
I plan on treating when the threat of rain is over. Gunny, I have not seen a horned toad for 30 years, it's a shame.


And we wonder why.
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maroon barchetta
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In reply to SanAntoneAg • 11:20a, 3/10/26
SanAntoneAg said:
JB!98 said:
I plan on treating when the threat of rain is over. Gunny, I have not seen a horned toad for 30 years, it's a shame.


And we wonder why.


Yep
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WheelinAg
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In reply to Gunny456 • 12:05p, 3/10/26
AG
Gunny456 said:
Their main diet is seeds. Hence the name "Harvester ants". Probably why they like grape nuts.
I remember as kids the big thing was to have harvester ant farms to watch.


I'm not an entomologist, but I think Leaf Cutter and Harvester ants are two different kinds of ants. I've never seen the ants I have collects seeds, they are always carrying cut pieces of vegetation.

I'd rather have nature take care of it, but I also don't want them stripping my pecans.
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JB!98
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In reply to WheelinAg • 12:10p, 3/10/26
AG
WheelinAg said:
Gunny456 said:
Their main diet is seeds. Hence the name "Harvester ants". Probably why they like grape nuts.
I remember as kids the big thing was to have harvester ant farms to watch.


I'm not an entomologist, but I think Leaf Cutter and Harvester ants are two different kinds of ants. I've never seen the ants I have collects seeds, they are always carrying cut pieces of vegetation.

I'd rather have nature take care of it, but I also don't want them stripping my pecans.

I believe these are harvester ants that I am fighting. I understand the sentiment of not using chemicals that have an effect on other wildlife. However, my front flowerbed looks like sand dunes, and it has become an eyesore. If there was a way of getting them to move, I would give it a shot. At this point, I just want them gone.
Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so. - Justice Samuel Alito 2022
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GottaRide
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In reply to JB!98 • 12:43p, 3/10/26
S
What you are describing sounds much more like leaf cutter ants vs red harvester ants. Red harvesters are easy to knock out (I used to poison them out but now leave them alone). Leaf cutters are much more difficult.
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docb
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1:42p, 3/10/26
AG
I just let them do their thing. I have several mounds (more like a hole) at my ranch in Blanco County. I always just figured they made for good bird food. One is by the barn but I just try not to park on it. Fire ants are another story.
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CactusThomas
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In reply to maroon barchetta • 1:45p, 3/10/26
AG
maroon barchetta said:
SanAntoneAg said:
JB!98 said:
I plan on treating when the threat of rain is over. Gunny, I have not seen a horned toad for 30 years, it's a shame.


And we wonder why.


Yep

lol they are in his front yard flower bed. You are not obligated to coexist with pests and vermin; there are plenty of other areas- he's not treating the back 40.
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MagnumLoad
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2:07p, 3/10/26
I have them. They carry away acorn shells, down leaves, and other organic debris. They don't seem to strip trees or plants, except maybe pear trees.
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Hank the Grifter
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In reply to Deerdude • 2:07p, 3/10/26
Deerdude said:
Gotta tell yall a funny method that worked for me. Back in late 80's early nineties I worked for an H2S safety company. I carried a testing pump that put out I think it was 25 or 50 ppm to calibrate sensors with.
Cut ants moved into the yard in NW San Antonio and I tried several pesticides to no avail. I got a wild hair one day and put fresh batteries on the pump and stuck the hose down into the hole and let it run until batteries ran down.
Ants never showed themselves in my yard again.

In a similar vein my suggestion was going to be hooking up a hose to the tractor exhaust and fixing the other end to a very large bowl. Hold the bowl down on top of the mound for 5 mins while the tractor is running.
Works like a charm.
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JB!98
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In reply to docb • 2:10p, 3/10/26
AG
docb said:
I just let them do their thing. I have several mounds (more like a hole) at my ranch in Blanco County. I always just figured they made for good bird food. One is by the barn but I just try not to park on it. Fire ants are another story.

I am unfortunately in sand down here and they make some big mounds. Yeah, if these were in a pasture then I would not mess with them other than running over them with the shredder every now and then.
Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so. - Justice Samuel Alito 2022
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Jack Squat 83
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2:26p, 3/10/26
AG
As someone mentioned we are talking about 2 different ants/issues.

Mine are not the mounds at all, they nest in a hole in the ground (we're on a gravel hill more or less) and at times it's 200' away from the action. They will move in at night and strip every leaf off of multiple okra plants/roses/peppers, and then pack all of that back along their trail to the hole. Someone suggested placing bug bombs upside down over the hole and that seems to knock that one "mound" out and it helps but then they quickly spring up elsewhere. I guess all the tunnels connect. It's a frustrating battle.

At our place the plants we want are under constant attack.
I don't think you know me.
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Gunny456
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3:08p, 3/10/26
AG
Jiminey Christmas the regular " red ant" as most folks call them are Harvester Ants. They will build a mound up….use to be a sign of rain for us on the ranch. Sometimes there is just a hole in the ground but it will be typically cleared of vegetation two or three feet around the entrance. Their typical diet is seeds but they will eat other insects or chow down if you throw something by their hole.
Harvester ants don't typically strip garden plants etc. They are the main diet of horny toads.
They are the ants that as kids we would have the green plastic ant farms that were in just about every elementary school class in Texas.
They are good ants and are considered as much beneficial.
This is a pic of the Harvester Ant.
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