Some of Georgia’s wildlife are feeling the sometimes deadly
sting of fire ants. Entomologists and wildlife biologists have
found evidence that fire ants are hurting loggerhead turtles,
brown pelicans, quail and alligators.

Attacking Turtle Eggs and Hatchlings

"A few years ago, we began seeing fire ants in the nests
of adult loggerhead sea turtles during hatching time," said
Brad Winn, a Georgia Department of Natural Resources biologist.
He works with the Nongame Wildlife and Natural Heritage Section
in Brunswick, Ga.

State wildlife biologists check turtle nests after hatching
to learn how many turtles hatched and how many hatchlings didn’t
survive.

"We found fire ants and small holes in eggs that we
believe
were caused by ants chewing into the eggs," Winn said.
"I’ve
never seen these kinds of holes in any nests other than ones
containing
fire ants."

But fire ant damage goes farther than egg holes. "During
and just after hatching, I have found young turtles that were
killed in the shell by fire ants and others that were killed by
fire ants after hatching," he said.

To evaluate the insect problem, the wildlife biologist called
on Stan Diffie. He’s an entomology research coordinator with the
University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.

Diffie tracks the fire ant populations on the beaches of Sea
Island and Jekyll Island. "It’s not a major problem
yet,"
Diffie said. "Even with the highest incidents, they don’t
appear to be hurting the sea turtle population."

Reducing
Pelican and Quail Populations

On the other hand, the researchers believe fire ants are
affecting
brown pelican and bobwhite quail populations.

"Two years ago, a colony of brown pelicans off the coast
of Georgia completely abandoned an area of their rookery right
in the middle of the nesting season," Winn said. "This
was a sure signal that something was wrong."

Winn found a large number of fire ants in the area and in the
birds’ nests. Wildlife biologists worried the fire ants might
attack other ground-nesting coastal birds like black skimmers
and gull-billed terns — both on the state’s rare bird
listing.

To control the ants, Diffie treated the bird rookery with fire
ant bait before the spring nesting period.

"The area the birds abandoned was recolonized that
spring,"
Diffie said. "We haven’t seen any evidence of abandonment
since."

The researchers will check the rookery this fall to determine
the effectiveness of the treatments and the correlation between
fire ant populations and the pelicans’ hatching success.

Quail and Fire Ants Competing for Food

On the Mossy Dell Quail Plantation in Leesburg, Ga., Diffie
has seen signs that fire ants are reducing the quail population
in Georgia.

Both ants and chicks feed on insects. If the fire ants
outcompete
the chicks, the quail don’t have enough to eat. Diffie is working
with a local plantation owner to test his fire ant theory.

Based on Texas research, Diffie knows fire ants can kill quail
eggs and hatchlings in a controlled environment. Now he plans
to find out how much damage they can do in the quail’s natural
habitat. This research is being conducted on UGA’s Wolf Creek
Research Farm in Turner County, Ga.

Attacking Baby ‘Gators’ Too

Back on the coast, Winn has found evidence that fire ants are
attacking yet another victim — the alligator.

"Three or four times, I’ve seen entire alligator nesting
mounds become one big fire ant colony," he said. "The
hatching eggs were killed. And the female adults, who normally
guard the eggs and assist in the hatching process, had abandoned
the nests."

Research into these wildlife and fire ant reports has just
begun. So concrete data to support Winn’s findings isn’t
available.

"I have no doubt that fire ants are killing hatching
alligators,"
Winn said. "And lots of things can kill hatchling turtles.
But I’ve seen too much evidence of fire ants not to believe
they’re
one of the culprits."