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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Gainesville, Florida » Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology » Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #337950
Research Project: Invasive Ant Biology and Control

Location: Imported Fire Ant and Household Insects Research

Title: Toxicity Profiles and Colony Effects of Liquid Baits on Tawny Crazy Ants (plus an update on their U.S. distribution)

Author
item Oi, David

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/10/2015
Publication Date: 10/14/2015
Citation: Oi, D.H. 2015. Toxicity Profiles and Colony Effects of Liquid Baits on Tawny Crazy Ants (plus an update on their U.S. distribution). Meeting Abstract. pp. 38.

Interpretive Summary: Abstract only.

Technical Abstract: Tawny crazy ants, Nylanderia fulva, is an invasive ant that are known to readily forage on the liquid, carbohydrate rich honeydew produced by hemipterans such as aphids and scales. There is interest in developing liquid ant baits that can eliminate tawny crazy ant colonies. Preliminary and anecdotal reports have indicated that liquid ant bait formulations containing active ingredients of dinotefuran, imidacloprid, or disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT) can kill tawny crazy ant workers (Meyers & Gold 2007 J. Agric. Urban Entomol. 24: 125-136; Oi, unpubl. data). Delayed toxicity profiles of liquid bait formulations consisting of sucrose solution and the aforementioned active ingredients were generated for tawny crazy ants. None of the baits met the standard criteria for effective ant bait active ingredients of <15% mortality after 24 hours and >90% mortality within 14 days (Stringer et al. 1964 J. Econ. Entomol. 57: 941-5). However the dinotefuran and imidacloprid formulations did have > 90% mortality unlike the DOT. Liquid bait formulations containing imidacloprid and dinotefuran caused significant reductions in brood levels of laboratory colonies of tawny crazy ants. Dinotefuran treatments also had significantly fewer numbers of live workers in these colonies as well as death for a majority of the 10 queens per colony (n=5 colonies per treatment). DOT baits were not tested against colonies. The tawny crazy ant is spreading in the southern United States. As of March 2015, 81 counties or parishes had reports of tawny crazy ant infestations. New infestations since April 2014 were reported in 1 county each in Texas and Florida, 2 counties in Georgia 14 parishes in Louisiana, and the initial report of an infestation in Alabama. The number of counties or parishes, per state, with tawny crazy ant infestations are as follows: Texas-28, Louisiana-19, Mississippi-3, Alabama-1, Georgia-3, and Florida -27.