Fire Ant Control in Turf

Imported fire ants build mounds in lawns, sports fields, parks, and golf turf. Colonies disrupt play and maintenance and can deliver painful stings to people and animals.

How to Recognize Fire Ants

Fresh mounds are loose, dome-shaped soil without a central opening. Worker ants respond aggressively when the mound is disturbed; identification matters because many non-stinging ants are beneficial.

Why Damage Develops

Colonies favor open sunny ground and move after flooding, irrigation changes, or disturbance. New queens can establish colonies beyond treated mounds.

Reduce Pest Pressure

• Scout the turf and confirm the pest before treating.
• Correct irrigation, fertility, mowing, thatch, or compaction problems that weaken roots and crowns.
• Treat the susceptible life stage and preserve beneficial insects where practical.

What University Research and Extension Guidance Says

Extension programs commonly combine broadcast baiting for area-wide suppression with targeted mound treatment when rapid control is needed. Baits work best when ants are actively foraging and when rain or irrigation will not spoil the bait during the label-specified interval.

Choosing and Timing a Turf Treatment

Use the products below as a starting point, then select a product labeled for the turf site and target pest. Match the application to the vulnerable life stage, place the material where the pest is feeding, and follow watering-in directions when treatment must reach the crown or root zone.

Research and label note: Research results help explain pest biology, timing, and product performance, but they do not expand a product label. Confirm the turf species, use site, target pest or nematode, life stage, rate, irrigation directions, and application interval on the current label before use.

University sources: NC State Extension: Arthropod Pests of North Carolina Turf; NC State Extension: Pest Control for Professional Turfgrass Managers.