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Money pumped into battle against fire ant

Taipei City Government staff instruct the public how to kill red fire ants during a press conference yesterday. The Cabinet has vowed to control the spread of the nuisance species within three years. PHOTO: SEAN CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES

Amid rising concerns about South American red fire ants, the En-vironmental Protection Adminis-tration (EPA) yesterday said that NT$90 million will be allocated over the next three years to prevent further spread of the species.

The Cabinet has instructed the Council of Agriculture to coordinate government efforts to work on the problem. EPA officials said that they would work closely with the council to strengthen measures preventing the ant from invading other areas.

As part of a campaign to educate the public and train environmental officials, experts in Taoyuan yesterday offered tips for identifying the species and described its typical behavior.

Last week, the EPA was busy warning the public against the misuse of chemicals when combating the ant. Most people believe that spreading insectcide might be the best way to eradicate the pest.

But because insecticides are expensive and potentially hazardous to the environment and other animals, the experts told environmental officials how important it is to use insecticides judiciously.

"We have lots of work left to do to fight the ant. The EPA will allocate NT$90 million over the next three years to accomplish this mission."

Lin Ta-hsiung, EPA deputy administrator

"We have lots of work left to do to fight the ant. The EPA will allocate NT$90 million over the next three years to accomplish this mission," EPA Deputy Administrator Lin Ta-hsiung (林達雄) said.

The EPA is encouraging chemical makers to register their products as licensed environmental pesticides as soon as possible. To reduce paperwork, the EPA has made applications relating to red fire ant prevention a top priority. Officials said that licenses can be issued within five working days.

For example, hydramethylnon -- which has been approved by the EPA -- can kill ants by preventing them from converting food into energy.

Hsu Err-lieh (徐爾烈), professor of National Taiwan University's Department of Entomology, said the EPA's three-year project tackling the fire ant was focusing on killing the ants observed on the ground. To eradicate the species, it might take five to 10 years, he said.

"Using chemical baits remains the most efficient way of killing the ant. However, pesticides should not be used until at least one week later so that the worker ants searching for food outside will have time to take the toxins back into their nests," Hsu said.

Chemicals provide only temporary control of fire ants and must be reapplied periodically. Experts estimate that spreading 2kg to 10kg of bait on each hectare of agricultural land is appropriate.

In Taipei City, where some mounds of the introduced fire ant were discovered on a traffic island on Chunghua Road last week, more baits were distributed yesterday nearby.

City officials said yesterday that the situation remains under control and the affected location did not affect surrounding areas.

However, the source of the introduced red fire ant is still not known.
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