Areawide suppression of fire ants.

Abstract

Abstract This chapter describes an ARS headquarters-funded Areawide Pest Management (AWPM) project (the areawide Suppression of Imported Fire Ants Project), which aims to maintain low fire ant (Solenopsis invicta and S. richteri) populations with reduced need for bait toxicants by using available self-sustaining fire ant biological control agents in conjunction with bait toxicants. The project has entered the last 2 years of its expected duration. A new protocol has been developed to expand the project from the initial demonstration sites to other, smaller, sites in areas under different land use. Current sites were all established on improved, grazed pastures under cattle production. New demonstration sites were established on 'high value' properties where fire ant control is highly desirable and represents a high economic, environmental and/or aesthetic value (e.g. parks, poultry farms, hunting clubs, natural areas, military facilities, and urban horticulture). The objective is to expand the AWPM concept to other customers besides cattle farmers and to demonstrate that the concept of using biological controls in combination with toxic bait applications can be used in many different situations. This will apply what has been learned from the large-scale AWPM programme on pastures to properties and owners that have a high probability of continuing the fire ant IPM programme after project funding expires. It is expected that these properties will serve as examples for neighbouring property owners, and thus create a knowledge base on fire ant management and biological control that will provide for continuing expansion of interest in fire ant IPM in different regions in the USA.