Jun 6, 2011 – When The Queen Goes Bye-Bye
QUESTION:
Many ant bait products kill various species of ants "at the source", the goal being the Queen. What happens to the rest of the colony after the queen dies?
ANSWER:
I believe the goal of ant baits is actually to kill ALL the ants in the colony, not just the Queen (or Queens, as some ant species may have numerous Queens laying eggs). Most ants will ingest the liquid and gel baits themselves, as the adult ants, but will feed protein baits to the larvae so that the larvae can pre-digest this material first, and then regurgitate it back as food for the adult workers. The white-footed ant is one of the unusual ones in this respect, with larvae feeding heavily on "trophic" (unfertilized) eggs that the queen produces in abundance.
Thus, if the worker ants gather the liquid and gel baits that contain carbohydrate attractants they should consume the bait themselves, along with offering some of it to other workers in the colony, the larvae, and the Queens too. In this manner, with a little luck, these active ingredients get passed around to all members of the colony and potentially can kill them all, not just the queens. As we know, all ants working in that colony are females, and many of these may have the ability to begin egg production if the queen dies, which eventually she will, and in this way the colony itself does not necessarily die off just because the founding queen is no longer there. If the ant baits killed only the queens the colony could still continue to produce new offspring. The ultimate goal certainly is to ensure the queens are dead too, but the workers tumble as the active ingredients take effect.
Many of the ant baits are stomach poisons only, and rely on being ingested. A few have contact active ingredients such as fipronil, so these have the potential to kill the ant workers just in the act of carrying them to the colony. All of the active ingredients are designed to work slowly, giving the workers plenty of time to carry the bait back into the colony and pass it around before the ant itself begins to feel the effect. Of course the active ingredients also need to be non-repelling, allowing the ant to carry it in its mouth without any repulsive effect by the bait. These are the reasons that baiting is such a magnificent method for ant control IF the ants will accept the bait, so offering them a variety of choices (gel, granule, protein, sugar) to see which kind they are taking may be needed.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
Many ant bait products kill various species of ants "at the source", the goal being the Queen. What happens to the rest of the colony after the queen dies?
ANSWER:
I believe the goal of ant baits is actually to kill ALL the ants in the colony, not just the Queen (or Queens, as some ant species may have numerous Queens laying eggs). Most ants will ingest the liquid and gel baits themselves, as the adult ants, but will feed protein baits to the larvae so that the larvae can pre-digest this material first, and then regurgitate it back as food for the adult workers. The white-footed ant is one of the unusual ones in this respect, with larvae feeding heavily on "trophic" (unfertilized) eggs that the queen produces in abundance.
Thus, if the worker ants gather the liquid and gel baits that contain carbohydrate attractants they should consume the bait themselves, along with offering some of it to other workers in the colony, the larvae, and the Queens too. In this manner, with a little luck, these active ingredients get passed around to all members of the colony and potentially can kill them all, not just the queens. As we know, all ants working in that colony are females, and many of these may have the ability to begin egg production if the queen dies, which eventually she will, and in this way the colony itself does not necessarily die off just because the founding queen is no longer there. If the ant baits killed only the queens the colony could still continue to produce new offspring. The ultimate goal certainly is to ensure the queens are dead too, but the workers tumble as the active ingredients take effect.
Many of the ant baits are stomach poisons only, and rely on being ingested. A few have contact active ingredients such as fipronil, so these have the potential to kill the ant workers just in the act of carrying them to the colony. All of the active ingredients are designed to work slowly, giving the workers plenty of time to carry the bait back into the colony and pass it around before the ant itself begins to feel the effect. Of course the active ingredients also need to be non-repelling, allowing the ant to carry it in its mouth without any repulsive effect by the bait. These are the reasons that baiting is such a magnificent method for ant control IF the ants will accept the bait, so offering them a variety of choices (gel, granule, protein, sugar) to see which kind they are taking may be needed.
View past Ask Mr. Pest Control questions.
