BioOne.org will be down briefly for maintenance on 17 December 2024 between 18:00-22:00 Pacific Time US. We apologize for any inconvenience.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 October 2010 Long-Term Field Trial to Control the Invasive Argentine Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with Synthetic Trail Pheromone
K. Nishisue, E. Sunamura, Y. Tanaka, H. Sakamoto, S. Suzuki, T. Fukumoto, M. Terayama, S. Tatsuki
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Previous short-term experiments showed that trail following behavior of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), can be disrupted by a high concentration of synthetic trail pheromone component (Z)-9-hexadecenal. In this study, a long-term field trial was conducted in 100-m2 plots of house gardens in an urban area of Japan to see whether the control effect on Argentine ants can be obtained by permeating synthetic trail pheromone from dispensers. The dispensers were placed in the experimental plots during the ant's active season (April–November) for 2 yr with monthly renewal. To estimate Argentine ant population density, foraging activity of Argentine ants in the study plots was monitored by monthly bait surveys. Throughout the study period, Argentine ant foraging activity was suppressed in the presence of the dispensers, presumably via trail forming inhibition. In contrast, the level of foraging activity was not different between treatment and no-treatment plots when the dispensers were temporarily removed, suggesting that treatment with pheromone dispensers did not suppress Argentine ant density in the treatment plots. Population decline may be expected with larger-scale treatment that covers a significant portion of the ant colony or with improvement in the potency of the disruptant.

© 2010 Entomological Society of America
K. Nishisue, E. Sunamura, Y. Tanaka, H. Sakamoto, S. Suzuki, T. Fukumoto, M. Terayama, and S. Tatsuki "Long-Term Field Trial to Control the Invasive Argentine Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with Synthetic Trail Pheromone," Journal of Economic Entomology 103(5), 1784-1789, (1 October 2010). https://doi.org/10.1603/EC10008
Received: 8 January 2010; Accepted: 1 July 2010; Published: 1 October 2010
JOURNAL ARTICLE
6 PAGES

This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
+ SAVE TO MY LIBRARY

KEYWORDS
(Z)-9-hexadecenal
Argentine ant
control
Linepithema humile
synthetic trail pheromone
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission
Back to Top