RICHMOND -- Fire ants are on the move and the State of Virginia is stopping transport of items that carry them in 11 Hampton Roads localities.

Video: Hampton Roads under fire ant quarantine

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The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' temporary quarantine means those items must stay in the following areas -- James City and York counties and the cities of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach and Williamsburg -- until inspected.  

Regulated articles include soil, plants with soil attached, grass sod, used soil-moving equipment, used farm equipment, hay/straw/pine straw, honey bee hives that have been in contact with the ground, and logs, pulp wood or stump wood with soil attached.

Nurseries, tree removal services, timber operations, farmers, builders, construction companies and developers will be required to have regulated articles certified fire ant-free before these articles can be moved from regulated to non-regulated areas.

VDACS will host two educational meetings in July to address questions related to the quarantine:

July 1, 2009 from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, 1444 Diamond Springs Road, Room: 125 A & B, Virginia Beach

July 10, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to noon at Tabb Library, adjacent to lobby, 100 Long Green Blvd., Yorktown

“We will work with the affected communities and businesses to make sure that the quarantine will not deter economic growth in the greater Hampton Roads area while helping to keep an injurious pest that can be quite harmful to humans, pets and agricultural animals from moving to other areas of the state,” said VDACS Commissioner Todd P. Haymore

Red Imported Fire Ant were first found in Virginia in Hampton in 1989, officials say. They spread into other areas of the region primarly thorugh nursey stock from other areas of the country.

In Greater Hampton Roads from 1989 to 2007, the state treated an average of 33 fire ant sites per year. In the last six months of 2008, officials treated 642 sites, indicating that fire ants cannot be eradicated from Hampton Roads.

Fire ants are aggressive and bite. Their mounds are small, so you might not know they're there until one crawls on you. fficials say they first bite with their mandibles to anchor for the thrust of the sting, so as soon as you feel this pinching sensation, quickly sweep the ants off before they actually sting, thus reducing the likelihood of additional injury.