8 May 2025
Residents and businesses in Palmview on the Sunshine Coast should be on the lookout for fire ants following a detection in the area.
A local pest manager reported the nest on Tuesday 29 April. The detection was made possible through the National Fire Ant Eradication Program (the program) ongoing engagement with property developers, inside and outside fire ant biosecurity zones.
On Wednesday 30 April, eradication officers visited the site and destroyed the nests using direct nest injection. The program’s scientists confirmed the report to be fire ants yesterday afternoon.
Eradication activities, including intensive treatment and surveillance, will initially commence up to 500 m from the detection site to protect the area and ensure no undetected fire ants remain.
Fire ant detections outside the program’s containment boundary do happen from time to time, and the program has procedures in place to manage them.
Eradicating fire ants requires a whole-of-community approach. The program needs everyone to:
- look for and report fire ants
- allow our teams property access to conduct eradication activities
- take steps to prevent the spread of this invasive pest.
Compliance checks and tracing of materials that can carry fire ants brought onto the infested site and surrounding areas will be assessed to help determine the source of the ants.
Fire ants can travel in materials such as soil, hay, mulch, manure, quarry materials, turf, and potted plants. Human-assisted movement is the biggest risk to their spread.
Visit fireants.org.au or call 132 ANT (13 22 68) for more information.