Amdro
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Amdro is probably the most popular product for use against fire ants. It is a bait - little yellow bits of food for fire ants that you can either put near the mound or "broadcast" around your yard to prevent them entirely. Fire ant workers who are out foraging for food will grab it, bring it back to the nest, and distribute it around. It uses an ingredient called hydramethylnon, which does not kill insects immediately. Instead, it gradually causes them to get sick and die over a 24 hour to 72 hour period. It keeps their bodies from forming a chemical they need to make more energy, and eventually they get tired and die. That gives a little bit of a time period for the ants to return home, spread it around, and kill a bunch more in the nest. Ants can't detect this chemical, so they will readily eat the bait.
How well does it work? Competitors cite studies (one from Texas A & M and one from Clemson University) showing that Amdro starts out effective, killing 90% of nests, but then drops off afterwards. I think this is a little bit of a misreading of the studies. In fact, a quote from one of the studies cited is: "Simply put, they all work and they all work well. They just work at different speeds and for different lengths of time." Amdro is a "quick" bait - it will kill off a colony very quickly, getting about 90% of them within two weeks. However, you can't just put it out there and leave your yard alone for six months. After two or three weeks, Amdro is not going to do much. So if you have visible nests in your yard you want to get rid of right now, Amdro is a great option. If you have no fire ants but want to have protection for five or six months, there are better products for that out there that do not give immediate relief, but will keep working for a much longer period.
If you decide you want to go with it, you can
buy Amdro online here
Sources and Useful Links::
http://www.nofireants.com/how/studies/
http://www.nofireants.com/client_files/documents/CommerciallyAvailable.pdf
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/hydra1.htm
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