1961] 
Insect Control Programs 
87 
or both. Whatever is the case, it does seem that the damage currently 
being done by the imported fire ant in the untreated sections infested 
in this country is less than would seem to justify the massive campaign 
that has been mounted against it. Agencies in all but two infested 
states do not even grant the fire ant a place in their lists of the more 
important plant pests. The USDA cites farmer support for the 
program, and this support certainly exists at least in some sections. 
But the enthusiasm of farmers for the spray programs is too often 
based merely on a vague feeling that insecticides in general are a good 
thing. When, as in large areas covered by the present program, the 
farmers individually get the spray free, they tend to overlook possible 
bad effects it may bring with the benefits. In any case, the satisfaction 
of farmers is certainly no substitute for a careful and extensive 
professional check of current fire ant damage. No such check has 
been made by the USDA, or at least none has been reported upon 
since 1952. 
Control Operations 
Control efforts directed against the imported fire ant were first 
initiated on a small scale by the State of Mississippi in 1948, without 
notable success. A survey of the infested area was begun by the USDA 
in the fall of 1948, and, together with limited investigation of the 
biology of the ant and control measures against it, 6 ran until research 
funds were stopped in 1953. This investigation did not deal with 
aerial control measures, and little attention was paid to wildlife 
damage. It is important to note that from 1953 until 1958, after 
the USDA had started its mass spray program, it spent no money 
for fire ant research. 22 Meanwhile, several independent agencies had 
done part-time research on various aspects of fire ant biology and 
control, including medical studies of the effects of the venom on 
humans at Tulane University, biological and control studies at 
Auburn and Mississippi State Universities, and behavioral and other 
investigations by Dr. E. O. Wilson and others (including the present 
author) at Harvard University and in the field. The Fish and 
Wildlife Service, although greatly hampered by lack of research 
funds for this purpose, was giving some attention to the prospect of 
mass broadcasting of insecticides as it could be expected to affect 
wildlife. 
Against this patchy research background, in March, 1957, the 
USDA noted that it had requested the approval of Congress for 
control of the fire ant, and Congress forthwith passed a special “Fed- 
eral Plant Pest Act,” authorizing the USDA to take measures against 
