ABSTRACT
Chemical baits have been used to control pest ant species such as fire ants and leaf-cutting ants. If a suitable imported fire ants (IFA) pathogen could be mass-produced, baits inoculated with this organism could be formulated and applied to IFA populations, just as the chemical baits are applied. Although the effects that the several bait toxicants just described exert on an IFA colony may differ, all of the chemicals use the same basic bait formulation, that is, the chemical is dissolved in a food attractant. Ecological selectivity is obtained by manipulating the amount of chemical toxicant reaching the target species with little or no effects on the nontarget species. Studies are underway to determine if, in fact, this formulation with greatly reduced oil content lessens the effect of fenoxycarb on other ant species. In laboratory studies, some nontarget ant species were found not to feed on pupae, thus imparting some bait specificity.
