Qld: Are fire ants on the retreat or laying in wait?

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Qld: Are fire ants on the retreat or laying in wait?

By Alex Murdoch

BRISBANE, April 13 AAP - Queensland today appeared to be winning its fight to rid thestate of potentially deadly fire ants, authorities said.

But they admit the aggressive invaders could just be laying in wait.

Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Fire Ant Control Centre spokesman Paul Gellatlysaid the insects had the ability to invade and colonise at an alarming rate.

He warned residents to be on the lookout for the aggressive killers in their own backyards,with sites previously found in south-west and south-east Queensland including Wacol, partsof Ipswich, Beaudesert, Rochedale and the Port of Brisbane.

"It's too early to claim victory yet," Mr Gellatly told AAP.

"It's not the fire ant nests that you can see that are the problem - it's the ones you don't."

Mr Gellatly said complacency was now the DPI's worst enemy.

The warning came as Australian governments declared fire ants a nationwide threat,launching a $41 million collaborative plan to send the insects packing.

The Queensland government has also added another 80 new field officers to the FireAnt Control Centre earlier this month, bringing the team's total to 530 people.

State Primary Industries Minister Henry Palaszczuk said the full support of all thestates was imperative to keep the threat from spreading.

"We can beat the ant," he said in a statement.

Fire ants, considered to be extremely aggressive, attack in swarms, with their alkalinebased venom causing severe pain, pustules and in some cases deadly allergic reactions.

Mr Gellatly said the ants, originally from South America, were first found in the Portof Brisbane in February 2001 - sparking a $123 million eradication program over threeyears.

He said 96 per cent of fire ants in the areas first targeted by the DPI had been destroyedusing a baiting process which stopped the ant Queen, which can lay 1,200 eggs in a day,from reproducing.

"In the original nesting sites, you would now be hard pressed to find an ant," Mr Gellatly said.

He said so far the ants were yet to cause the extinction of native animals, amphibiansand insects (including other ants).

"But if they get out of hand - it's definitely on the cards," Mr Gellatly said.

Mr Gellatly said hopefully the prompt action of the DPI had stopped the spread of thedangerous insects in their tracks.

AAP am/jfs/sek/jlw

KEYWORD: FIREANTS