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Home > Oil Gas News > Unique Solution to Fire Ant Infestation Problem
Unique Solution to Fire Ant Infestation Problem
ARINIX™ is a nylon plastic material embedded with pesticide that can work as a barrier as daunting to fire ants as a giant river. The pests walk over it and quickly discover they have poison on their legs. They will avoid almost anything protected with the ARINIX™, from telephone switches to traffic signals.
SAN JOSE, CA, (PRWEB) November 15, 2005 -- The smallest of things can cause the worst havoc. Consider the red imported fire ant. It is only a quarter-inch long at its biggest. But this ferocious pest can bite with its powerful mandibles and sting its victims repeatedly with venom. As they spread like a virus, they leave widespread economic damage in their wake. The fire ants cause more than $1.2 billion in damage and control efforts in Texas alone, destroying or damaging crops, parks, school grounds, electrical wires, sprinklers, and anything else in their way. The invasion of the fire ants may sound like a bad science fiction movie, but the threat is very real.
A plastics and industrial products company that has been around for five decades, NIX, has figured out a clever way to repel these invaders and prevent them from damaging sensitive outdoor equipment. The solution, dubbed ARINIX™, saves a lot of money and maintenance headaches. No more do you have to spend money on frequent exterminations, replace damaged equipment, or clean up the damage the ants cause. ARINIX™ keeps fire ants at bay because it has an effective pesticide embedded in plastic.
“We’re just beginning to look at new uses,” said Gene Ozawa, president of NIX of America, the U.S. subsidiary of NIX in San Jose, Calif. “Dealing with fire ants is just one of many uses for ARINIX™. The applications go on and on.”
You can't fire bomb many pests. Eradication is a losing war. And fire ants are especially tough. Pouring pesticides on fire ant mounds fails to kill the queen ants that are buried deep underground. The queen can lay as many as 800 eggs per day, and a single colony may have several hundred queens.
“Eradication of fire ants is not going to happen, especially in the southeastern U.S.,” says Dr. Bastiaan M. Drees, one of the most respected fire ant authorities in the world and a professor of entomology at Texas A&M University. “Some have referred to attempts at eradication as the Vietnam of entomology.”
The ants keep spreading fast. If you've never traveled to the South, be wary of open pastures peppered with small dirt mounds. If you kick a mound by accident, the ants will crawl upon your leg in a swarm and attack with their fiery stings. The hum of electrical equipment is like a love song for these ants. Dr. Drees and Dr. Cook, Associate Research Scientist at the entomology department of Texas A&M University, say that the cold-blooded animals are attracted to the extra warmth that utility housings and other electrical devices give off during winter. The ants seek the shelter of these places during heavy rains. The ants chew on insulation, causing short circuits and switch failures.
Fire ants have infested the entire south from Texas to Florida. Experts predict the threat could spread to the West Coast of the U.S. and further north from the Southern states. If fire ants are anywhere near your location, you should think about ways to ward them off ahead of time. As you can see, this isn’t some vague threat like aliens from outer space. This is a real world problem with measurable costs.
In contrast to many pesticides, ARINIX™ is a long-term solution. Our own accelerated-aging laboratory tests have shown effectiveness for three to five years. Independent university tests have also proven that it works as a protective barrier against pests, including fire ants, other ants and most spiders.
“It’s a huge step forward for protection in commercial industry segments,” said Dr. Drees. “Prior to this product’s development, chemically-based treatments could not provide more than a year’s protection. Industries are looking for three to five years.”
ARINIX™ can save wiring and fuel injection systems in cars. It protects traffic control boxes, air conditioner vents, sprinklers, high-voltages transformers, outdoor sensors, security cameras, cable TV wires and boxes, utility wires and control boxes, bedposts and table legs for picnic tables, water heaters, sewer pipes, vents around building foundations, airport runway lights, nursery plant pots, museum storage, and vending machines.
Applying ARINIX™ doesn’t take rocket science. A technician with a pair of chemical-resistant gloves can easily install protection within a matter of minutes to create a continuous barrier around an object that needs protecting.
NIX is now introducing the product for general use to protect against fire ants and a wide range of other pests. The return on investment for using ARINIX™ is expected to be huge for companies and government agencies that lose millions of dollars in equipment a year to pests.
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