Document text
State will trap for fire ants By Paul Fattig Kathleen Johnson wants to make one point very clear: No fire ants are known to exist in Oregon. But that doesn�t mean the stinging scourge imported from South America isn�t a potential threat, said Johnson, an entomologist who supervises the Oregon Department of Agriculture�s plant pest and disease program. That�s why the department has launched a program to set up bait stations around the state to see if fire ants are present. The anti-ant crews hope to keep the bugs from establishing a beachhead in Oregon. Fire ants are known for aggressively attacking humans and for their stinging bites. The ants also are a threat to crops, she said. The ant trappers, who are using Spam for bait, are focusing on western Oregon. "Back in the early 1990s we found a railroad car in Salem infested with fire ants," Johnson said, noting the car was immediately fumigated. The ants had hitched a ride in cottonseed shipped to Salem, she noted. "They can build their nests inside vehicles � in the trunk of a car or the structure of a truck," she said. "When these ants have mating swarms, they can create new colonies wherever the vehicle happens to be, even in Oregon." Although the ants favor a warm climate, studies suggest they could survive throughout the Pacific Northwest, she said. First detected in 1918 in Alabama, the ants have spread west into Southern California, she said. Traps will be set in high-risk areas, such as nurseries, large landscaped developments less than five years old and sites where goods, machinery and vehicles from infested areas congregate. The traps will be set out periodically through the end of August. In addition to Spam, Vienna sausage or mint jelly will do the trick, Johnson said. The trappers will leave the bait for a short period, then return to collect whatever ants have gathered for the picnic. The ants will be identified in the department�s lab. Oregon hasn�t been surveyed for fire ants since 1993. "Imported fire ant is the kind of pest you hope you don�t find," Johnson said. "But if it is there, we want to find it sooner rather than later. That gives us the best chance of eradicating it." Obituaries | Sports | Business | Classifieds | Tempo | Prime Times | So Oregon Sites | Outdoor Journal | Subscribe | Contact | Movies | Advertise | Real Estate Showcase | Archive | Editorials | Letters to the editor | Religion | Wake-up Call | NIE | Cyber Chef | Job Network | So Oregon Weather | WSJ Northwest | Forums | AP Wire | AP Money | F.A.Q. | Awards Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. The Community Newspaper Subsidiary of Dow Jones & Co, Inc Copyright �The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA