Skip to main content
ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research » Research » Research Project #444541

Research Project: FY23 Developing Biological Control and other Safeguarding Tools to Manage Invasive Pests

Location: Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research

Project Number: 6036-32000-051-024-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement

Start Date: Aug 1, 2023
End Date: Jul 31, 2025

Objective:
To prevent the spread of imported fire ants in the USA by improving treatments of nursery stock used to maintain the Federal Imported Fire Ant Quarantine. Determine the efficacy of bifenthrin and lambda cyhalothrin drench-only treatments and dinotefuran surface spray using 24-inch root balls infested with small RIFA colonies (in collaboration with TSU).

Approach:
1) Validate the alate and worker RIFA soil bioassay results from bifenthrin and lambda cyhalothrin drench-only treatments using 16-inch root balls infested with small RIFA colonies. 2) Determine the residual efficacy of non-repellent insecticides applied at reduced rates to (a) minimize treatment costs and (b) prevent migrating RIFA colonies from infesting B&B root balls. 3) Improve IFA treatment methods of B&B root balls in collaboration with the Tennessee State University, Otis L. Floyd Nursery Research Center (TSU) by conducting bioassays on female fire ant alates using soil samples from TSU studies, pending need and resources. 4) Infest large (24-inch) ball & burlap root balls with small fire ant colonies. Treat infested root balls by drenching with bifenthrin or lambda cyhalothrin insecticides, spraying root ball surfaces with the non-repellent insecticide dinotefuran, and applying water to root balls serving as controls. Compare the efficacy of these treatments to disinfest the root balls of the fire ant colonies.