How Much Do You Know About FireAnts?

Stinging Truth About Fireants

1. How many people are stung by fireants each year

a. 20,000

b. 200,000

c. 2 million

d. 20 million

2. What percentage of those stung are allergic to fireants?

a. About 2%

b. About 5%

c. About 15%

3. What should you immediately do if/when you are stung by a fireant?

a. Wash off with water

b. Spray with a cleaning solution

c. Brush them off and step away from the mound

4. Fireant mounds are always visible and easily avoided.

a. True

b. False

5. Fireants do not cause damage to structures or electrical equipment.

a. True

b. False

6. Fireants are responsible for more personal injury and property damage in the US over the past twenty years than any other insect.

a. True

b. False

7. More children are stung each year by fireants sting than all other insects combined.

a. True

b. False

8. One fireant mound can host up to:

a. 25,000 ants

b. 50,000 ants

c. 100,000 ants

d. 500,000 ants or more

9. A recent survey of residents of the southern US showed that how many children had been stung by fireants in the last year alone?

a. 15%

b. 27%

c. 59%

d. 88%

10. People who fall victim to fire ant stings often suffer from:

a. chest painsb. nausea and dizziness

c. hives and swelling

d. coma

e. all of the above

Answers

1. 20 million.
2. About 15%. 10-15% of those stung by fireants are allergic. So that means, that of the 20 million that were stung last year, almost 3 million had allergic reactions.
3. Brush them off and step away from the mound immediately.
4. False. While some mounds are visible, some may be too small to see, or may be hidden underneath sidewalks, driveways, or landscape structures.
5. False. Fireants are instinctually attracted to warmth, leading them to nest within urban structures and electrical wiring, telephone exchanges and transformers. Costing humans huge amounts of money.
6. True. Each year, fire ants affect more than 40 million people, causing damage to their health, homes, and public facilities, and more then $2 billion in property damage in the southern US alone.
7. True. Parents in the southern US are more worried about their children being stung by fireants than they are about bicycle related injuries!
8. 500,000 fireants or more. Fireant mounds can extend into the earth to 20 feet deep or more, with lateral tunnels extending out more than eight feet in all directions. A single colony may have dozens of queens, each capable of laying 1,500 eggs per day.
9. 88%. Children lack the ability to notice fireant mounds and therefore are more at risk of their stings.
10. All of the above. Although comas happen in rare cases, any of the symptoms may happen if you are stung by fireants.

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