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, XXXX, 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.
