Yelling ‘Fire Ant!’ in a Crowded Region

Forget killer bees--they are so yesterday. Let’s talk red fire ants, the latest invaders of Southern California. If it’s not one thing it’s another.

Orange County officials discovered the infestation two months ago. Since then the nasty little pests have been found across a stretch from Mission Viejo in the south to Los Alamitos in the north and outward to El Monte and distant Indio.

A dozen states have more experience than they’d like with fire ants. California officials have brought in experts from Texas, one of the worst-hit, to study the outbreak here. The initial report: The insects are too numerous to eradicate, and it could cost millions to stop their advance.

These aren’t the lovable Hollywood creatures on screen at your local multiplex. Fire ants are more aggressive than their cousins and multiply faster. Their sting can be fatal to humans allergic to the venom.

Still, you have your bad critters and your good ones. Local fire control authorities, for instance, are using goats to munch flammable hillside grass, and back in Florida the state dispatches manatees to gobble weeds that threaten to clog drainage ditches and creeks. Nothing, alas, has been able to stop the fire ants, though a concoction that sterilizes the female shows promise.

You’d think that Orange County could do more. After all, the mascot at UC Irvine, its premier font of knowledge, is the anteater.