A Surprisingly Non-attractiveness of Commercial Poison Baits to Newly Established Population of White-Footed Ant, Technomyrmex brunneus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in a Remote Island of Japan

Authors

  • Mamoru Terayama Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science
  • Eiriki Sunamura Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute
  • Ryota Fujimaki Hachijo Town Hall, Tokyo, Japan
  • Takashi Ono Hachijo Town Hall, Tokyo, Japan
  • Katsuyuki Eguchi Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v68i1.5898

Keywords:

invasive ant, house pest, control, food preference, poison bait

Abstract

The white-footed ant, Technomyrmex brunneus, was newly introduced and established in a remote island of Japan and has caused unacceptable damage to the daily life of residents. To establish proper control measures, the present study investigated whether T. brunneus is effectively attracted to commercially available poison baits used to exterminate common household pest ants and the Argentine ant in Japan. Cafeteria experiments using three types of nontoxic baits and eight types of commercial poison baits for ants were conducted in the field, and the attractiveness was compared among the baits. The liquid poison bait “Arimetsu,” which consists of 42.6% water, 55.4% sugar, and 2.0% borate, and nontoxic 10% (w/v) sucrose water showed the highest attractiveness. On the other hand, other commercial poison baits were not as attractive. Therefore, sucrose liquid is the most effective attractive component to use in poison baits for T. brunneus.

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Author Biographies

Mamoru Terayama, Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science

Department of Biological Sciences

Visiting Researcher

Eiriki Sunamura, Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute

Researcher

Ryota Fujimaki, Hachijo Town Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Residents’ Section

Officer

Takashi Ono, Hachijo Town Hall, Tokyo, Japan

Residents’ Section

Officer

Katsuyuki Eguchi, Tokyo Metropolitan University Graduate School of Science

Department of Biological Sciences

Associate Professor

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Published

2021-03-26

How to Cite

Terayama, M., Sunamura, E., Fujimaki, R., Ono, T., & Eguchi, K. (2021). A Surprisingly Non-attractiveness of Commercial Poison Baits to Newly Established Population of White-Footed Ant, Technomyrmex brunneus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in a Remote Island of Japan. Sociobiology, 68(1), e5898. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v68i1.5898

Issue

Vol. 68 No. 1 (2021)

Section

Research Article - Ants

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