Averting-cost measures of the benefits to South Carolina households of redimported fire ant control

A telephone survey of South Carolina households was conducted between Novem ber 1998 and January 1999 to gather information on the households' experien ces with the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Fifty-four pe rcent of the 809 respondents reported cash expenditures and/or household ti me for control and remediation. The estimated mean of annual cash expenditu res for this control and remediation is $80.37 per household. When househol d time used in control and remediation is valued at the minimum wage of $5. 15 per hour, the red imported fire ant is estimated to cost an average of $ 100.93 per household in cash expenditures and opportunity costs of househol d time.