10-21-2012, 03:14 AM
Here's an article about how LFA was eradicated from a site in Maui using an "experimental treatment":
http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/news/2010-news-re...t-on-maui/
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2010/...5-092.html
The "experimental" treatment turned out to be off-label use of Indoxacarb (which has since been approved for fire ants under the brand name Advion) mixed into a paste and then applied directly to the trees. Unfortunately, for use on fire ants Advion is only produced in a granule similar to amdro and is essentially produced for ground mound fire ants like you see in the southern US. Apparently for the FDA to approve tree-based ant treatments, it costs several million dollars PER TREE SPECIES during testing in order for it to be labeled for such use. Thus, all pastes etc applied to trees using these chemicals are "off label" use and therefore, no such commercial preparation exists. In order to make your own paste you would need to use the chemical in the granule, not the granule.
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.det...28585.html states: "One difficulty - a permanent obstacle faced by farmers in Hawaii - is that labeling a pesticide, even an established one, for a new use costs tens of millions of dollars. Crops of limited production, like tropical fruits, don't provide enough of a market to recoup the cost, and, Vanderwoude said, "EPA is extremely conservative." It wants a separate trial for each variety.
Ants on the ground can be attacked with poison granules, but these don't work on trees. The first step, Vanderwoude said, was to develop a sticky vehicle, which is about the consistency of mayonnaise, to spread on the trees.
The poison was available, but a suitable bait had to be developed also.
The worker ants don't grow, so all they need is energy food - sugar, which they grow themselves by tending mealybugs and scale insects, harvesting the sticky secretions. A sweet bait won't attract ants, because they have plenty.
What's in short supply, said Vanderwoude, is protein, needed by the queen and males for reproduction. The ants quickly gobble up the local insects, so there is a permanent meat famine. The answer: protein-flavored snacks mixed with poison.
The bait-poison was developed in rainy Hilo, and Waihee is also wet, which adds another complication.
The granules lose potency quickly when they become wet, Vanderwoude said. However, it is the opposite with his tree bait. It loses effectiveness as it dries, so a little moisture helps restore it."
It doesn't look like there will be commercialization any time soon.
http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/news/2010-news-re...t-on-maui/
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/oct2010/...5-092.html
The "experimental" treatment turned out to be off-label use of Indoxacarb (which has since been approved for fire ants under the brand name Advion) mixed into a paste and then applied directly to the trees. Unfortunately, for use on fire ants Advion is only produced in a granule similar to amdro and is essentially produced for ground mound fire ants like you see in the southern US. Apparently for the FDA to approve tree-based ant treatments, it costs several million dollars PER TREE SPECIES during testing in order for it to be labeled for such use. Thus, all pastes etc applied to trees using these chemicals are "off label" use and therefore, no such commercial preparation exists. In order to make your own paste you would need to use the chemical in the granule, not the granule.
http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.det...28585.html states: "One difficulty - a permanent obstacle faced by farmers in Hawaii - is that labeling a pesticide, even an established one, for a new use costs tens of millions of dollars. Crops of limited production, like tropical fruits, don't provide enough of a market to recoup the cost, and, Vanderwoude said, "EPA is extremely conservative." It wants a separate trial for each variety.
Ants on the ground can be attacked with poison granules, but these don't work on trees. The first step, Vanderwoude said, was to develop a sticky vehicle, which is about the consistency of mayonnaise, to spread on the trees.
The poison was available, but a suitable bait had to be developed also.
The worker ants don't grow, so all they need is energy food - sugar, which they grow themselves by tending mealybugs and scale insects, harvesting the sticky secretions. A sweet bait won't attract ants, because they have plenty.
What's in short supply, said Vanderwoude, is protein, needed by the queen and males for reproduction. The ants quickly gobble up the local insects, so there is a permanent meat famine. The answer: protein-flavored snacks mixed with poison.
The bait-poison was developed in rainy Hilo, and Waihee is also wet, which adds another complication.
The granules lose potency quickly when they become wet, Vanderwoude said. However, it is the opposite with his tree bait. It loses effectiveness as it dries, so a little moisture helps restore it."
It doesn't look like there will be commercialization any time soon.