It's Time To Read Up On Ants And Their Control

With ants now becoming Number One on the hit list for pest controllers, it is timely that a new publication has been released that can help pest management professionals improve their ant control procedures. It is Stoy Hedges’ Second edition of the Field Guide for Management of Structure-Infesting Ants.

A thorough reading of the interesting story about each of the 42 species of ants is sure to erase some myth conceptions about ants. It will give PCOs a new perspective on understanding the diversity in ant biology and control strategies.

INFO ON ARGENTINE ANTS. As with a good novel, I couldn’t put the book down until I had finished reading the 277 pages. After reading 10 pages on Argentine ants alone, I realized why it is so hard to control this particular species. Extended super-colonies can develop because 10% of the population is queens. In April or May, when they are a year old, they are executed so younger queens can continue the vigorous production of eggs.

Hedges listed other reasons why the Argentine ant is so successful. Workers and queens from neighboring colonies are not antagonistic. They are opportunistic and quickly adapt their nesting habits to new conditions. They out-compete most other ant species because they are so aggressive, persistent, pugnacious and tenacious. The queens not only lay eggs, they help to groom and feed the young. New colonies readily develop by splitting and budding. Mating is not done by swarmers which are subject to predation; they mate in the nest. If a PCO succeeds in killing 90% of the colony, the remaining 10% will repopulate the community. A particularly valuable chart on page 36 of the book lists which species exist in each state. I have not found this information anywhere else.

I believe it is a Myth Conception that all ant species can be treated alike during control work. It is essential that the species be identified. This can easily be done with a hand lens if the PCO takes the time to read the manual cover to cover. The pest control professional is not likely to follow a cookie-cutter procedure with each and every ant job without regard to species identification. One cannot read the book without realizing the futility of giving a guarantee of total control of all ant species.

RECENT RESEARCH. There seems to be no end to the Argentine ant story. At the Whitmire Micro-Gen Research Labs Symposium held in September in San Antonio, Texas, Don Reierson reported on tests which showed that liquid baits are effective because the Argentine ant doubles its weight after ingesting liquid, which suggests the importance of liquid baits. He found also that larvae are fed protein while sucrose is fed to workers. Up to 50% of the food they ingest is exchanged with fellow workers. His tests on toxicants show that fipronil and abamectin have the greatest effect on Argentine ants.

On a historical note, some of the earliest research done on Argentine ants was in the 1930s by Arnold Mallis, author of the Handbook of Pest Control. He certainly would have rejoiced in knowing that the editor of the 8th Edition of the Mallis Handbook published a book that includes the Argentine ant story.

Harry Katz, a contributing editor to PCT, may be contacted at Berkshire E-3076, Deerfield Beach FL 33442, 954/427-9716.