Does a Fire Ant Sting or Bite?

Sting!

The fire ant grabs onto your skin with the pinchers by its mouth and then stings you with a stinger located on the end of its body.

Ouch!

The best remedy is to just leave it alone and let it heal.  The sting will turn red and then a little puss pimple will form.  It is disconcerting the first time you see it, but it will heal.  Ice can provide some short term relief, but time is the best healer.

The best prevention of fire ant stings are sharp eyes and quick hands.  Avoid the ant.  But, if the ants are in your garden bed, then you need to encourage them to more somewhere else by applying Diatomite.  The advantage of Diatomite is its color.  It is bright white so once you shake it on a pile you can see exactly where the ants were.  Then I recommend leaving about 1 square meter alone for a few days.  Motion on the ground will trigger the ants to emerge so if you want to check the status of the mound just pound on the ground next to the mound.  That is:

Pound the Ground by the Mound

and see if the ants swarm.  If yes, apply Diatomite again.  If no, then you are good to go.

Fire Ant Pile

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