Argentine ant control around homes: efficacy of treatments and urban runoff |
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| Authors: | Les Greenberg Michael K Rust SaraJean Wright Dong-Hwan Choe |
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| Institution: | 1. Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USALes.greenberg@ucr.edu;3. Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA |
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| Abstract: | ABSTRACTPest management professionals in California receive more customer complaints about Argentine ants than for any other urban ant pest. Fipronil, applied as a 30 × 30 cm band around the house foundation, has become the preferred treatment used to control these ants. Unfortunately, fipronil is now showing up in urban waterways at levels that are toxic to aquatic invertebrates. Our recent studies are aimed at mitigating insecticide runoff while still controlling the ant infestations. A high priority is preventing fipronil runoff from the driveway to the street, where it can flow into drains and from there to urban waterways. In this paper, two related studies address these issues. Not treating driveways with fipronil reduced by two to three orders of magnitude its runoff when compared with earlier studies. However, not treating the driveway can reduce efficacy of treatments. Granular bifenthrin, indoxacarb, botanicals, and a thiamethoxam ant bait were tested as supplemental treatments. The gel bait showed the best result as a supplement, but only after 8 weeks. We have reduced fipronil runoff while maintaining efficacy of the ant treatments. |
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| Keywords: | Linepithema humile urban pesticide runoff fipronil bifenthrin indoxacarb thiamethoxam ant bait |
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