[Texascavers] crazy ants & DE
Diatomaceous earth is a remarkable, all-natural product made from tiny fossilized water plants. Diatomaceous Earth is anaturally occurring siliceous sedimentary mineral compound from microscopic skeletal remains of unicellular algae-like plants called diatoms. These plants have been part of the earth's ecology since prehistoric times. It is believed that 30 million years ago the diatoms built up into deep, chalky deposits of diatomite. The diatoms are mined and ground up to render a powder that looks and feels like talcum powder to us. It is a mineral based pesticide. DE is approximately 3% magnesium, 33% silicon, 19% calcium, 5% sodium, 2% iron and many other trace minerals such as titanium, boron, manganese, copper and zirconium. Diatomaceous Earth is a natural (not calcined or flux calcined) compound. Diatomaceous Earth is a natural grade diatomite. However, the continual breathing of any dust should he absolutely avoided. http://www.ghorganics.com/DiatomaceousEarth.html * * *There are DE mines in Arizona, at least.* * *
RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants
If you read down to the bottom of the referenced link, it tells you all this about pool DE and other uses for food and commercial grade DE. In addition, commercial granaries mix it with grain to get rid of weevils and other bugs; you've probably eaten minute quantities in your bread or cereal. Some farmers mix it with stock feed to deworm cattle, horses and sheep. On the link, it tells you that swimming pool DE contains silica and other things that are poisonous. Louise List-Post: texascavers@texascavers.com Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:05:07 -0700 From: cclam...@swca.com To: donarb...@mac.com; fh...@townandcountryins.com CC: power_lou...@hotmail.com; texascavers@texascavers.com Subject: RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants >From TAMU... Diatomaceous earth (D.E., silicone dioxide) products registered by EPA as pesticides are usually applied as a fine dust contact insecticide to ant trails indoors or to produce barriers. No other forms of D.E. (e.g. swimming pool filter grade or treated D.E.) should be used as a pesticide. D.E. abrades the waxy layer from the insect exoskeleton causing the insect to desiccate. Although suitable for dusting foraging ant trails indoors, when applied as a dust or drench to fire ant mounds, diatomaceous earth usually does not eliminate colonies. Clover Clamons From: Don Arburn [mailto:donarb...@mac.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:56 PM To: Fritz Holt Cc: Louise Power; Texas Cavers Subject: Re: [Texascavers] crazy ants Not the same stuff. My vet said pool filter stuff would hurt pets, silica or something. Don's iPhone. On Dec 11, 2009, at 12:47 PM, Fritz Holt wrote: An interesting part of this string is the mention of diatomaceous earth. At one time I had an above ground pool and am vaguely familiar with this very fine white powder used in the filter. If kept dry, does it actually kill certain pests such as fire ants? I assume that ‘kills mechanically” means that it gets on their feet and disrupts some bodily function. Hopefully Mark Minton or someone can give us more detail. Fritz From: Louise Power [mailto:power_lou...@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:26 PM To: Texas Cavers Subject: RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants I got an e-mail from my sister today in response to the article. She lives SE of San Antonio and says: We have not seen them here but my friend, , who lives in Cotulla, about 90 miles south of here, has had them for about 3 years. Her exterminator comes and sprays and it essentially kills only the ones it hits. They then move the hive across the street or down into a vacant lot, etc.. Once they are disturbed again they move back to her house. She is having an influx of them right now. The only good thing is they do get rid of the fire ants but these are more invasive than fire ants. They do not sting and that is the another good thing about them. I sent her a link on diatomaceous earth, http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html and recommended that she send it to her friend. It may at least help keep them out of her house. I've been using it for years. Kills pests mechanically, not chemically, so they don't become immune to it. Good for getting rid of a lot of other pests, too. Louise > From: bmixon...@austin.rr.com > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:38:44 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] crazy ants > > We'll see. I can't help being suspicious of a press release that > quotes a professional exterminator, a "market development" person for > a company that makes a pesticide licensed for use against them, and a > professor who studies them, presumably with grant money. Notice that > is says that no bait has been developed specifically for them, not > that no existing bait works. My personal little bit of conspiracy > theory -- Mixon > > Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. > > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >
RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants
>From TAMU... Diatomaceous earth (D.E., silicone dioxide) products registered by EPA as pesticides are usually applied as a fine dust contact insecticide to ant trails indoors or to produce barriers. No other forms of D.E. (e.g. swimming pool filter grade or treated D.E.) should be used as a pesticide. D.E. abrades the waxy layer from the insect exoskeleton causing the insect to desiccate. Although suitable for dusting foraging ant trails indoors, when applied as a dust or drench to fire ant mounds, diatomaceous earth usually does not eliminate colonies. Clover Clamons <mailto:cclam...@swca.com> From: Don Arburn [mailto:donarb...@mac.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:56 PM To: Fritz Holt Cc: Louise Power; Texas Cavers Subject: Re: [Texascavers] crazy ants Not the same stuff. My vet said pool filter stuff would hurt pets, silica or something. Don's iPhone. On Dec 11, 2009, at 12:47 PM, Fritz Holt wrote: An interesting part of this string is the mention of diatomaceous earth. At one time I had an above ground pool and am vaguely familiar with this very fine white powder used in the filter. If kept dry, does it actually kill certain pests such as fire ants? I assume that 'kills mechanically" means that it gets on their feet and disrupts some bodily function. Hopefully Mark Minton or someone can give us more detail. Fritz From: Louise Power [mailto:power_lou...@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:26 PM To: Texas Cavers Subject: RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants I got an e-mail from my sister today in response to the article. She lives SE of San Antonio and says: We have not seen them here but my friend, , who lives in Cotulla, about 90 miles south of here, has had them for about 3 years. Her exterminator comes and sprays and it essentially kills only the ones it hits. They then move the hive across the street or down into a vacant lot, etc.. Once they are disturbed again they move back to her house. She is having an influx of them right now. The only good thing is they do get rid of the fire ants but these are more invasive than fire ants. They do not sting and that is the another good thing about them. I sent her a link on diatomaceous earth, <http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html> http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html and recommended that she send it to her friend. It may at least help keep them out of her house. I've been using it for years. Kills pests mechanically, not chemically, so they don't become immune to it. Good for getting rid of a lot of other pests, too. Louise > From: <mailto:bmixon...@austin.rr.com> bmixon...@austin.rr.com > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:38:44 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] crazy ants > > We'll see. I can't help being suspicious of a press release that > quotes a professional exterminator, a "market development" person for > a company that makes a pesticide licensed for use against them, and a > professor who studies them, presumably with grant money. Notice that > is says that no bait has been developed specifically for them, not > that no existing bait works. My personal little bit of conspiracy > theory -- Mixon > > Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. > > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: <mailto:bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu> bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or <mailto:sa...@amcs-pubs.org> sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > - > Visit our website: <http://texascavers.com> http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: <mailto:texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com> texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: <mailto:texascavers-h...@texascavers.com> texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >
Re: [Texascavers] crazy ants
Not the same stuff. My vet said pool filter stuff would hurt pets, silica or something. Don's iPhone. On Dec 11, 2009, at 12:47 PM, Fritz Holt wrote: An interesting part of this string is the mention of diatomaceous earth. At one time I had an above ground pool and am vaguely familiar with this very fine white powder used in the filter. If kept dry, does it actually kill certain pests such as fire ants? I assume that ‘kills mechanically” means that it gets on their feet and disrupts some bodily function. Hopefully Mark Minton or someone can give us more detail. Fritz From: Louise Power [mailto:power_lou...@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:26 PM To: Texas Cavers Subject: RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants I got an e-mail from my sister today in response to the article. She lives SE of San Antonio and says: We have not seen them here but my friend, , who lives in Cotulla, about 90 miles south of here, has had them for about 3 years. Her exterminator comes and sprays and it essentially kills only the ones it hits. They then move the hive across the street or down into a vacant lot, etc.. Once they are disturbed again they move back to her house. She is having an influx of them right now. The only good thing is they do get rid of the fire ants but these are more invasive than fire ants. They do not sting and that is the another good thing about them. I sent her a link on diatomaceous earth, http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html and recommended that she send it to her friend. It may at least help keep them out of her house. I've been using it for years. Kills pests mechanically, not chemically, so they don't become immune to it. Good for getting rid of a lot of other pests, too. Louise > From: bmixon...@austin.rr.com > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:38:44 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] crazy ants > > We'll see. I can't help being suspicious of a press release that > quotes a professional exterminator, a "market development" person for > a company that makes a pesticide licensed for use against them, and a > professor who studies them, presumably with grant money. Notice that > is says that no bait has been developed specifically for them, not > that no existing bait works. My personal little bit of conspiracy > theory -- Mixon > > Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. > > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >
RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants
Hi Fritz, If you follow the link it tells you what it means by "kills mechanically" and, hence, why you should keep it dry. Basically it's so fine it gets into the bugs pores, or otherwise into their anatomy, and desiccates them, ie. dries 'em out. Cheers, Stefan From: Fritz Holt [mailto:fh...@townandcountryins.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:48 PM To: 'Louise Power'; Texas Cavers Subject: RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants An interesting part of this string is the mention of diatomaceous earth. At one time I had an above ground pool and am vaguely familiar with this very fine white powder used in the filter. If kept dry, does it actually kill certain pests such as fire ants? I assume that 'kills mechanically" means that it gets on their feet and disrupts some bodily function. Hopefully Mark Minton or someone can give us more detail. Fritz From: Louise Power [mailto:power_lou...@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:26 PM To: Texas Cavers Subject: RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants I got an e-mail from my sister today in response to the article. She lives SE of San Antonio and says: We have not seen them here but my friend, , who lives in Cotulla, about 90 miles south of here, has had them for about 3 years. Her exterminator comes and sprays and it essentially kills only the ones it hits. They then move the hive across the street or down into a vacant lot, etc.. Once they are disturbed again they move back to her house. She is having an influx of them right now. The only good thing is they do get rid of the fire ants but these are more invasive than fire ants. They do not sting and that is the another good thing about them. I sent her a link on diatomaceous earth, http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html and recommended that she send it to her friend. It may at least help keep them out of her house. I've been using it for years. Kills pests mechanically, not chemically, so they don't become immune to it. Good for getting rid of a lot of other pests, too. Louise > From: bmixon...@austin.rr.com > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:38:44 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] crazy ants > > We'll see. I can't help being suspicious of a press release that > quotes a professional exterminator, a "market development" person for > a company that makes a pesticide licensed for use against them, and a > professor who studies them, presumably with grant money. Notice that > is says that no bait has been developed specifically for them, not > that no existing bait works. My personal little bit of conspiracy > theory -- Mixon > > Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. > > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com > -- IMPORTANT NOTICE: The contents of this email and any attachments are confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose the contents to any other person, use it for any purpose, or store or copy the information in any medium. Thank you.
RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants
An interesting part of this string is the mention of diatomaceous earth. At one time I had an above ground pool and am vaguely familiar with this very fine white powder used in the filter. If kept dry, does it actually kill certain pests such as fire ants? I assume that 'kills mechanically" means that it gets on their feet and disrupts some bodily function. Hopefully Mark Minton or someone can give us more detail. Fritz From: Louise Power [mailto:power_lou...@hotmail.com] Sent: Friday, December 11, 2009 12:26 PM To: Texas Cavers Subject: RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants I got an e-mail from my sister today in response to the article. She lives SE of San Antonio and says: We have not seen them here but my friend, , who lives in Cotulla, about 90 miles south of here, has had them for about 3 years. Her exterminator comes and sprays and it essentially kills only the ones it hits. They then move the hive across the street or down into a vacant lot, etc.. Once they are disturbed again they move back to her house. She is having an influx of them right now. The only good thing is they do get rid of the fire ants but these are more invasive than fire ants. They do not sting and that is the another good thing about them. I sent her a link on diatomaceous earth, http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html and recommended that she send it to her friend. It may at least help keep them out of her house. I've been using it for years. Kills pests mechanically, not chemically, so they don't become immune to it. Good for getting rid of a lot of other pests, too. Louise > From: bmixon...@austin.rr.com > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:38:44 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] crazy ants > > We'll see. I can't help being suspicious of a press release that > quotes a professional exterminator, a "market development" person for > a company that makes a pesticide licensed for use against them, and a > professor who studies them, presumably with grant money. Notice that > is says that no bait has been developed specifically for them, not > that no existing bait works. My personal little bit of conspiracy > theory -- Mixon > > Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. > > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >
RE: [Texascavers] crazy ants
I got an e-mail from my sister today in response to the article. She lives SE of San Antonio and says: We have not seen them here but my friend, , who lives in Cotulla, about 90 miles south of here, has had them for about 3 years. Her exterminator comes and sprays and it essentially kills only the ones it hits. They then move the hive across the street or down into a vacant lot, etc.. Once they are disturbed again they move back to her house. She is having an influx of them right now. The only good thing is they do get rid of the fire ants but these are more invasive than fire ants. They do not sting and that is the another good thing about them. I sent her a link on diatomaceous earth, http://www.dirtworks.net/Diatomaceous-Earth.html and recommended that she send it to her friend. It may at least help keep them out of her house. I've been using it for years. Kills pests mechanically, not chemically, so they don't become immune to it. Good for getting rid of a lot of other pests, too. Louise > From: bmixon...@austin.rr.com > To: texascavers@texascavers.com > Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:38:44 -0600 > Subject: [Texascavers] crazy ants > > We'll see. I can't help being suspicious of a press release that > quotes a professional exterminator, a "market development" person for > a company that makes a pesticide licensed for use against them, and a > professor who studies them, presumably with grant money. Notice that > is says that no bait has been developed specifically for them, not > that no existing bait works. My personal little bit of conspiracy > theory -- Mixon > > Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. > > You may "reply" to the address this message > came from, but for long-term use, save: > Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu > AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org > > > - > Visit our website: http://texascavers.com > To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com > For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com >
[Texascavers] crazy ants
We'll see. I can't help being suspicious of a press release that quotes a professional exterminator, a "market development" person for a company that makes a pesticide licensed for use against them, and a professor who studies them, presumably with grant money. Notice that is says that no bait has been developed specifically for them, not that no existing bait works. My personal little bit of conspiracy theory -- Mixon Always forgive your enemies. Nothing annoys them more. You may "reply" to the address this message came from, but for long-term use, save: Personal: bmi...@alumni.uchicago.edu AMCS: edi...@amcs-pubs.org or sa...@amcs-pubs.org - Visit our website: http://texascavers.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: texascavers-unsubscr...@texascavers.com For additional commands, e-mail: texascavers-h...@texascavers.com
[Texascavers] Crazy ants headed to cave country.....(now it's cave related!)
An article from the Wall Street Journal that was just sent to all city employees in League City, where it turns out we have a problem with "crazy ants". I had never heard of them until now. And they are starting to show up in San Antonio and other cave areas of the hill country _ 'Crazy Ants' Get Under Skin of Gulf Coast Residents SEPTEMBER 5, 2009 PEARLAND, Texas -- Swarms of foreign "crazy ants" are spreading through Texas and Florida, raising alarms that the tiny, frenetic bugs will rival the fire ants that have ravaged the South, costing billions of dollars in damages each year. Although the new pests don't pack the powerful sting of fire ants, scientists say they can do as much damage, killing wildlife and shorting out electrical equipment. Crazy ants have an additional trait that is proving especially irksome: They like to hang out where people live and are difficult to dislodge once they get inside buildings. View Slideshow Eric Kayne for The Wall Street Journal "Crazy ants" swarm exterminator Tom Rasberry's hands in a Pearland, Texas, field with a heavy infestation. Called crazy ants because they scramble in all directions rather than trudging along a straight track, the ants carpet the ground and swarm over anything in their way -- plants, animals or humans. Scientists think the ants originated in the Caribbean. The bugs, technically known as paratrechina species near pubens, form multiqueen supercolonies and breed by the millions, especially during the summer. They have now spread to 14 Texas counties, mostly around Houston, but have been found in three new spots this summer, including San Antonio 200 miles to the west. In Florida, similar insects are known as Caribbean crazy ants (paratrechina pubens), and they have been spreading rapidly for about five years, said Roberto M. Pereira, associate research scientist at the University of Florida. In Texas, the bugs are known as Rasberry crazy ants, after Tom Rasberry, an exterminator in this Houston suburb who has been warning about the new ants since he first found them in 2002. They "pose a clear and present danger to our way of life," he warns on a blog he devotes to the bugs (http://crazyrasberryants.blogspot.com/). Across south Texas, the insects have been shorting out electrical sockets, air conditioners and, at Cindy Fitch's house in Pearland, the transformer that controls her floodlights. She has replaced it three times in the past two years. "I always thought they were just a nuisance," she said recently outside her two-story home, "but now I've found they tear stuff up." The Port of Houston now gets weekly pest-control visits to control the ants, which damaged backup power equipment there about a year ago, spokesman Edwin Henry said. Eradicating the bugs is difficult, experts say, partly because they move their nests the minute anyone disturbs them. No baits -- poisons that insects carry into their colonies -- have yet been formulated specifically for these ants, which eat everything from hotdogs to honey, but don't like fire-ant bait. They do, however, eat fire ants. Termidor, which chemical titan BASF AG originally developed for termites, is government-approved for keeping the ants at bay, but it must be applied by professional exterminators at a cost of hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Over-the-counter pesticide sprays leave piles of dried corpses that look like drifts of brown sand, but still barely dent the ants' numerous populations. Mounds of dead ants were piled up by a back door of the First Presbyterian Church in Pearland last week when Mr. Rasberry was called in. Now the church is facing thousands of dollars of extermination costs, said Rev. Winfield Jones. Last year, Mr. Jones said, he spent $300 on chemicals just to keep circling ants out of his nearby house. "They reminded me of the children of Israel, marching around Jericho," he said. The ants live happily in human environments, said Dr. Roger Gold, head of the urban entomology program at Texas A&M, noting that people are responsible for much of the ants' spread, transporting them in objects such as potted plants. He and other scientists are eager to study the ants more, but funding has been hard to come by. So far, much of the limited research available has been done by Dr. Gold's graduate students. One of them, Jason Meyers, now works as a market-development specialist at BASF. He said the Texas ants act like those that infested Colombia a decade ago, asphyxiating chickens and causing farmers to flee. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has agreed to pay $30,000 to study new sightings of the insects in Texas. Several Texas beekeepers reported in August that the ants were killing their hives. "It's not spread out far enough to where the industry is abuzz about this problem -- but it will be," said Jerry Stroope of Pearland, who has about 2,000 hives.
