The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) has expanded the Imported Fire Ant Quarantine to include several new localities in the state. These invasive pests have venomous stings and can cause damage to the environment.
The quarantine for the ants now includes counties of Chesterfield, Lee, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Prince George, and Surry and the independent cities of Colonial Heights, Danville, Hopewell, and Petersburg. They’re primarily in southern Virginia but have been moving north as the populations spread.
VDACS says it has found that populations could continue to spread to other areas, “either through natural means or through human-assisted movement of infested articles.” Populations spread through plant products from infested areas or natural spread from infested areas.
The first report of an imported fire ant in Virginia was in 1989. The ants’ mounds are typically found in “warm, sunny locations such as landscape beds, lawns, around trees and shrubs, along sidewalk cracks and against buildings.”
When disturbed, the ants sting rapidly and aggressively. “Hundreds of fire ants may swarm and run up vertical surfaces to sting,” the USDA says. The stings are painful and can cause a burning sensation and itching blisters.
To limit the spread, the quarantine restricts the movement of high-risk items until they are certified as free of the imported fire ant. These include:
- Any life stage of imported fire ant
- Soil (except soil shipped in original containers after commercial preparation)
- Plants with roots with soil attached and rhizomes with soil attached
- Grass sod
- Used soil-moving equipment (unless free of all non-compacted soil)
- Used farm equipment (unless free of all non-compacted soil)
- Hay and straw stored in direct contact with the ground
- Honey bee hives stored in direct contact with the ground
- Logs and pulpwood with soil attached
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
