Fire ant

How to tell

• Copper-red head and thorax with a darker abdomen, in mixed sizes within one colony.
• Mounds are loose domes of worked soil with no visible central opening.
• Disturb a mound and workers pour out and climb rather than scatter.
• Stings leave a white pustule after a day, which distinguishes them from most other ant bites.

Where you'll find it

• Open sunny turf, especially along driveway and sidewalk edges.
• Around irrigation boxes and utility covers where soil stays damp.
• Under pavers and the edge of a pool deck.

Why it matters

Fire ants sting repeatedly and defend the mound as a group, which is a real problem in a yard used by children or pets. They also damage irrigation and electrical boxes by packing them with soil.

How Strike treats it

We broadcast a bait across the treated turf so foraging workers carry it back to the queen, then treat individual mounds directly for faster knockdown. Bait timing matters — it goes down when the ground is dry and ants are actively foraging. New mounds can appear from neighboring properties, so yards on a recurring plan get mound checks at each visit.

What you can do before we arrive

• Do not water the lawn for a day before and after treatment.
• Do not disturb or flood mounds — that scatters the colony into satellites.
• Flag mounds near play areas so we treat those first.
• Keep pets off treated turf until it has dried.