Pest ants are among the top reasons for the public calling for professional pest management service. Residual treatment is often employed by professionals for outdoor treatment of pest ants. In an effort to minimize the environmental impacts of off-site movement of insecticides used in outdoor treatments, various reduced-risk strategies have been developed and implemented. However, it remains important for the reduced-risk strategies to maintain an acceptable level of control efficacy. Using the Argentine ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as a target species, this study tested if two novel strategies (pheromone adjuvant and hydrogel bait delivery system) allow us to utilize some of the reduced-risk methods (reduced rate and boric acid liquid baiting) without compromising the effectiveness of pest ant control. This new protocol was compared with two other “conventional” protocols that might mimic some of the common strategies used by pest management companies. Findings from the field study will be reported and their implications for urban pest ant treatment will be discussed.
