Development Of Pheromone-Assisted Techniques To Improve Efficacy Of Insecticide Baits Targeting Urban Pest And Species

Background:

The pest control industry incurs an estimated $1.7B in damages every year. Current pest management techniques result in insecticide runoff and environmental contamination, which calls for improved bait technologies. Since most urban pests of interest use pheromones for organization and coordination of their colonies, many researchers have explored the possibility of using synthetic trail pheromones as an alternative strategy to mitigate this issue. 

Brief Description:

UCR Researchers have developed insecticidal baits that use highly target-specific control technologies. This novel pheromone-assisted technique (PAT) has little impact on the environment and non-target organisms. By combining the attractant pheromone of ants and existing bait matrices, they increased discovery and consumption of the baits by foraging ants, thus maximizing efficacy of the baits applied. Moreover, they have produced significant results at extremely low concentrations of the pheromone-assisted bait in comparison to the ones that are currently being used.