THE INVASION

This army is an increasingly substantial problem for managers of both agricultural and conservation lands. A recent study estimated that the annual damage to the cattle industry in Texas alone from these fierce warriors is approximately $255 million. Research studies have addressed ways to control the fire ants, with many of those studies conducted at Texas Tech University.

Texas Tech Professors in the Department of Range, Wildlife and Fisheries Management, Gad Perry, Ph.D., and Carlton Britton, Ph.D., have discovered that this pesky army might have a natural enemy already here on the green earth.

“As the ants started to expand, an apparent pattern started emerging. Although the ants are found in high densities in most types of fields, the adjacent fields planted with W.W.-B. Dahl grass shows a much lower density of ant mounds,” says Perry. “In fact, several fields with the specialized grass had no ant mounds that could be detected.”

The original seed for this particular grass was collected near Manali, India, in 1960. The grass is named after the late Bill Dahl, a former Texas Tech faculty member. He first planted and evaluated the grass in West Texas.

“This grass is a warm-season, tufted, perennial bunchgrass that has larger leaves and more foliage than native species. It has consistently produced 10,000 to 12,000 pounds of forage per acre in central and across most of Texas,” said Britton.

Observations of cattle grazing show that animals prefer the grass. At the Texas Tech experimental ranch, steers graze the grass in preference to other species. The Dahl grass also requires less fertilizer and is less expensive to maintain than Bermuda grass.

To expand the study, the researchers decided to look at other ants existing on the High Plains to explore the theory that they may not like the W.W.-B. Dahl grass as well. Scholars will next research the properties of the special grass to determine what elements in the grass make it a natural enemy for this army of invaders. Perry says eventually, researchers would like to develop a spray out of the qualities in this grass that would help to eradicate these pesky critters.

“There’s an indication that the ants depredate or kill quail and other small animals. If the animals happen to be in the wrong place, there is no way to stop the ants from killing them,” explains Perry. “If a type of grass can repel this species of ant, the agricultural industry could benefit greatly.”

Finding a natural enemy to battle this army potentially could rescue the agriculture industry from the damage and money lost from the invasion of the Red Imported Fire Ant. Texas Tech is on its way to encouraging this army of ants to raise its white flag and surrender.