On Wed, 24 Sep 2003 21:15:52 GMT, "Aisha"
wrote:
The products of fermentation of soil actionmycete Saccaropolyspora spinosa
(spinosads) is a fast acting fire ant bait. Brands include Eliminator,
Justice, Penn-Kill, Strike, Maxide. Ortho has a product with .15% spinosads
called Ortho Fire Ant Killer Bait Granules available at Wal-Mart. Read the
label to make sure you get the right one...remember the word SPIN.

This is probably good stuff. A&M should know, and being an Aggie Ex, I
tend to trust 'em. Nevertheless, the use, over use, and misuse of the
word "organic" drives me crazy. What does organic mean used in this
context? The stuff is a toxic chemical, for pete's sake. By the same
logic as is presented on the website, botulin is organic.

This reminds me of something I heard on television the other day
"contains no chemicals, only natural ingredients."

By the way, since this is a bait, I think the treatment described in
this original post was incorrect. The correct application of bait type
controls is to broadcast it (as is suggested on the website) or to
sprinkle it *around* (not on) the mound. Sprinkled around or
broadcast, the ants will come out and pick up the bait. This
preferentially targets imported fire ants, because they are aggressive
foragers. Substances sprinkled on the mound are not recognized as
potential food source by the ants. Instead, they just abandon the
mound and move to one of their other mounds.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor