Experts to Examine Ant Infestations Today

Five nationally known experts in the study of red fire ants will tour ant-infested areas of Orange County today to assess the danger from the aggressive species that has colonized nurseries, backyards, parks and fields in several cities.

The experts were invited by officials at the California Department of Food and Agriculture who are concerned about the ant outbreak, the largest and most widespread ever recorded in California. The ants swarm by the hundreds when disturbed, and their painful stings cause blisters that can last for weeks. For people allergic to the ant venom, the stings can be fatal.

About 100 red fire ant mounds have been spotted in Southern California since Oct. 9; officials believe the pests came into South County on trees and shrubs imported by a local nursery and then planted in housing developments.

More than 40 of the mounds are in a small park in front of an apartment complex in the Robinson Ranch planned community near Trabuco Canyon.

Other mounds have been spotted in the past two months in Cypress and Mission Viejo, in the Los Angeles County city of El Monte, and in Indio, in Riverside County.

“Right now what we’re trying to do is, obviously, to draw a circle around this problem, to get a handle on how bad it is,” Food and Agriculture spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said.

“It’s too early to say, but there is an indication we’ll have to fight this battle on several fronts. No one is going to find this very pleasant to deal with.”

The entomologists and biologists will try to determine if the outbreak can be easily contained and how best to prevent its spread. They are working with county officials to warn residents to avoid stepping on or near the ant mounds.

The estimated dozen previously recorded infestations of fire ants in the state were contained to nurseries in isolated agricultural areas, and were quickly eradicated.

But the ants found recently are in residential areas across a broad swath of territory, making the problem harder to control. Hidalgo said the ants may have been colonizing for several years. In the southeastern United States, where fire ants have been a persistent problem since the 1940s, children are routinely stung by the insects. Several dozen people have died from the stings.