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10 April 2017 Efficacy of Nootka Oil as a Biopesticide for Management of Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
K. M. Addesso, J. B. Oliver, P. A. O'Neal, N. Youssef
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Abstract

Recent concerns regarding the impact of traditional synthetic pesticides on nontarget organisms have generated demand for alternative products with lower environmental impact. This demand has led to increasing focus on plant essential oils as sources of new biopesticides. In this study, we demonstrate that the essential oil of the Alaskan yellow cedar, Cupressus nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach, has activity against hybrid imported fire ant workers, Solenopsis invicta Buren × Solenopsis richteri Forel. In digging assays, ants were repelled by nootka oil and digging continued to be suppressed by nearly 50% in nootka oil-treated sand aged 6 mo in the laboratory. Higher worker mortality was also observed in contact and fumigation assays compared to control checks. In a field drench test, mortality of mounds treated with nootka oil lagged behind mounds treated with bifenthrin treatment for 7 wk, but both nootka oil and bifenthrin had higher mortality than the untreated check at the end of the 12-wk evaluation period. In a band application evaluation, nootka oil plots maintained a 90–95% reduction in fire ant mounds from the 2nd to 17th wk, when new mounds began to intrude on the field plots. The quarantine-approved bifenthrin band treatment maintained 100% control from the 2nd to 24th wk. Although the formulation tested here did not perform to Federal Imported Fire Ant Quarantine standards, other formulations may enable this product to reach 100% control. In addition, nootka oil could be beneficial in situations where ant suppression rather than complete quarantine elimination is the management goal.

© The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com
K. M. Addesso, J. B. Oliver, P. A. O'Neal, and N. Youssef "Efficacy of Nootka Oil as a Biopesticide for Management of Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)," Journal of Economic Entomology 110(4), 1547-1555, (10 April 2017). https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/tox114
Received: 11 January 2017; Accepted: 22 March 2017; Published: 10 April 2017
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KEYWORDS
Alaskan yellow cedar
hybrid imported fire ant
nursery production
Solenopsis invicta
Solenopsis richteri
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