Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards
Argentine ants are a major pest in California. In this study, a biodegradable calcium alginate hydrogel with an aqueous boric acid bait was tested against Argentine ant populations in a citrus orchard and a vineyard. A new continuous method was developed to produce large quantities of hydrogel bait...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources
2024-06-01
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| Series: | California Agriculture |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3733/001c.120496 |
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| author | Benning Le Kathleen Campbell Hoeun Park Shu-Ping Tseng Raju Pandey Gregory S. Simmons Ruth Henderson Carmen Gispert Michael K. Rust Chow-Yang Lee Roghaiyeh Karimzadeh Yong-Lak Park Dong-Hwan Choe |
| author_facet | Benning Le Kathleen Campbell Hoeun Park Shu-Ping Tseng Raju Pandey Gregory S. Simmons Ruth Henderson Carmen Gispert Michael K. Rust Chow-Yang Lee Roghaiyeh Karimzadeh Yong-Lak Park Dong-Hwan Choe |
| author_sort | Benning Le |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Argentine ants are a major pest in California. In this study, a biodegradable calcium alginate hydrogel with an aqueous boric acid bait was tested against Argentine ant populations in a citrus orchard and a vineyard. A new continuous method was developed to produce large quantities of hydrogel bait for the field test. Foraging activity levels of ants were compared between baited and untreated zones. For both study sites, four to five monthly bait applications throughout summer provided a greater than 80% reduction in ant activity. Based on spatial analyses by distance indices, the baited areas were characterized by gaps (areas with lower ant counts) and the untreated control zones were characterized by patches (areas with higher ant counts). This indicated area-wide suppression of Argentine ants. For the citrus orchard, post-baiting panel trap monitoring showed reductions of both ants and Asian citrus psyllid in the baited zone compared to the control. For the vineyard, mid-season soil analyses indicated that the impact of boric acid baiting on soil boron concentration was negligible. In sum, the calcium alginate hydrogel bait with boric acid as an active ingredient may provide a promising solution for Argentine ant baiting. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c5cb4d4f562c4c77a1ab5ffd6f4e906e |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0008-0845 2160-8091 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-06-01 |
| publisher | University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources |
| record_format | Article |
| series | California Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj-art-c5cb4d4f562c4c77a1ab5ffd6f4e906e2025-08-20T03:36:31ZengUniversity of California Agriculture and Natural ResourcesCalifornia Agriculture0008-08452160-80912024-06-0178210.3733/001c.120496Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchardsBenning LeKathleen CampbellHoeun ParkShu-Ping TsengRaju PandeyGregory S. SimmonsRuth HendersonCarmen GispertMichael K. RustChow-Yang LeeRoghaiyeh KarimzadehYong-Lak ParkDong-Hwan ChoeArgentine ants are a major pest in California. In this study, a biodegradable calcium alginate hydrogel with an aqueous boric acid bait was tested against Argentine ant populations in a citrus orchard and a vineyard. A new continuous method was developed to produce large quantities of hydrogel bait for the field test. Foraging activity levels of ants were compared between baited and untreated zones. For both study sites, four to five monthly bait applications throughout summer provided a greater than 80% reduction in ant activity. Based on spatial analyses by distance indices, the baited areas were characterized by gaps (areas with lower ant counts) and the untreated control zones were characterized by patches (areas with higher ant counts). This indicated area-wide suppression of Argentine ants. For the citrus orchard, post-baiting panel trap monitoring showed reductions of both ants and Asian citrus psyllid in the baited zone compared to the control. For the vineyard, mid-season soil analyses indicated that the impact of boric acid baiting on soil boron concentration was negligible. In sum, the calcium alginate hydrogel bait with boric acid as an active ingredient may provide a promising solution for Argentine ant baiting.https://doi.org/10.3733/001c.120496 |
| spellingShingle | Benning Le Kathleen Campbell Hoeun Park Shu-Ping Tseng Raju Pandey Gregory S. Simmons Ruth Henderson Carmen Gispert Michael K. Rust Chow-Yang Lee Roghaiyeh Karimzadeh Yong-Lak Park Dong-Hwan Choe Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards California Agriculture |
| title | Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards |
| title_full | Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards |
| title_fullStr | Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards |
| title_full_unstemmed | Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards |
| title_short | Field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of Argentine ants: Promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards |
| title_sort | field evaluations of biodegradable boric acid hydrogel baits for the control of argentine ants promising results in vineyards and citrus orchards |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3733/001c.120496 |
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