Palolo Neighborhood Board No. 6

Stinging Ant Maybe a New Experience for You

WHAT CREATURE… has blinded cats & dogs on the Big Island?… stings causing painful, long-lasting welts?... is so small & slow-moving it’s practically invisible?… can fit a whole nest under a macadamia nut shell?… eats peanut butter on a stick?… nests in potted plants?…drops down from overhead branches?… gets inside clothing?… caused abandonment of farms & nurseries?… is impossible to eradicate because it nests in so many different sites on a property and efficiently forms new nests in the neighborhood?… found only in Hawaii county and one farm in Waihee Maui, (so far!)?… must be kept off Oahu?

EVERY PROPERTY owner, manager, and renter should know the answer... It’s the “Little Fire Ant” (“LFA”).

INSPECT.

Check stuff from another island, like potted plants, tree fern logs, even soil, gravel, volcanic cinders, charcoal, containers, vehicles.
Remember… it’s outdoors… it’s very small… it’s orange brown … it’s slow moving.

BAIT TEST.

Peanut-butter-on-a-chopstick bait -- See test description at http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/IP-LFA.pdf (UH guide w/ good pictures)

DON’T POISON IT. REPORT IT RIGHT AWAY.

Call 643-PEST (Hawaii's pest hotline). See http://www.hawaiiinvasivespecies.org/pests/littlefireant.html. They want to survey surrounding area for othes nests.

DON’T TRANSPORT IT.