The red imported fire ant, a pest newly introduced into California, threatens households, agriculture and wildlife. This study estimates the costs and benefits of a public program to eradicate the ants. The results show that almost all agricultural activities would be affected should the ants become established; however, households would incur the majority of costs. The total estimated cost if red imported fire ants become established would be between $387 million and $989 million per year in California. Given current funding levels for eradication of red imported fire ants, for the expected benefits to be at least as great as the expected costs, the probability of successfully eradicating the ants needs to be at least 0.65% if the annual costs of establishment are $989 million and 1.67% if they are $387 million.
Effective ant control is critical for controlling honeydew-secreting homopteran agricultural pests such as whitefly and mealybug. Low-toxicity ant baits may more effectively control ants than the broad-spectrum insecticides currently used in California vineyards and citrus orchards. This study focused on developing effective ant baits for use in bait stations to control field ant and Argentine ant, which aggressively tend homopteran pests. In the Coachella Valley, field ant is associated with the vine mealybug, a destructive nonnative pest. We conducted preference experiments for various commercially available ant baits and a bait formulated with anchovy plus imidacloprid. Field ant preferred the anchovy baits above all others tested, and in field trials the anchovy bait with 0.005% imidacloprid significantly reduced foraging activity. Argentine ant is the primary ant pest in vineyards and citrus orchards of California’s nondesert growing regions. We tested the efficacy of several chemical bait treatments, all of which significantly lowered Argentine ant populations.
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