Notes from the Field: Tracking the Red Imported Fire Ant across Virginia
Morgan Malone
During the summer and fall of 2020 I started collecting observations of Red Imported Fire Ant (RIFA) mounds throughout southeastern Virginia. My goal was to survey the current range of fire ants and to find any new infestations outside of the current quarantine range.
I used visual surveys, which involves scanning roadsides for fire ant mounds. The survey design was adapted from USDA Imported Fire Ant Manual and included sampling along east-west roadways. Every 5 miles I made planned stops where I looked more closely for RIFA mounds. This often-included pastures, parks, and power line rights of way.
RIFA mounds are easy to identify, especially if you know what you are looking for. Fire ants build visible soil mounds. Mounds can be dome-shaped but vary depending on the soil type and level of disturbance. Mounds are typically in open sunny areas such as lawns, pastures, fields, driveways, and roads. Growing up in North Carolina I stepped (and sat) in my fair-share of fire ant mounds. This summer I was more cautious than I was as a kid and avoided getting stung.
Fire ants are relatively new to Virginia. They were first found in Hampton Roads, but have since spread east through Brunswick and Mecklenburg Counties. A few mounds have also been found in Richmond. As I walked through the area, I looked for mounds, small piles of dirt, or any disturbances along the ground. If I suspected fire ants, I poked the soil with a shovel. Red Imported Fire Ants will boil out of the mound when it is disturbed.
I recorded the number of active mounds at each survey site. I will use this data, along with observations collected through VDACS and iNaturalist, to create a distribution map of fire ant mounds in Virginia.
Mapping invasive species distributions can help inform management decisions and provide reference data for future studies. Stay tuned for more information.
If you live in Southeastern VA and would like to participate in data collection, please check out the project’s webpage here: https://blogs.lt.vt.edu/redimportedfireantva/ or join our iNaturalist project: https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/red-imported-fire-ants-in-virginia