Bait-preference Tests for the Argentine Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

In choice feeding tests, Argentine ant, Iridomyrmex humilis (Mayr), workers preferred 25% honey water or sucrose water over granulated brown sugar or other solid foods with high protein content such as tuna meal. In the field in competition with the preferred natural food, honeydew, workers fed consistently on sucrose water and honey water over a period of 15 days and exhibited a significant preference for sucrose water. Various emulsifiers and ethanol used to suspend toxicants in the sucrose water did not by themselves significantly deter feeding. Workers readily fed upon, and were killed by, the sucrose water bait containing 10 or 100 ppm Avermectin.