The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, is a severe pest with agricultural, ecological, and medical significance. The baiting treatment is one of the main methods to control S. invicta. However, few studies have evaluated the acceptance of fire ant bait. Here, field and laboratory studies were conducted to investigate the foraging behaviors of S. invicta responding to fire ant baits containing different concentrations of active ingredients (fipronil, abamectin, or indoxacarb). Field studies showed that S. invicta transported significantly less 0.0125% fipronil bait than control bait (without toxicant) and 0.0001% fipronil bait. The number of foraging ants significantly decreased with an increase in fipronil concentration. Our previous study showed that S. invicta usually buries the food treated with repellent chemicals, and interestingly, significantly more soil particles were transported into tubes containing 0.0001% fipronil bait than tubes containing control bait or 0.0125% fipronil bait. In addition, S. invicta transported significantly less 0.0005% abamectin bait than control bait, and significantly fewer ants were found in tubes containing 0.0125% abamectin bait than control bait. However, there was no significant difference in bait transport, number of foraging ants, and weight of soil particles relocated in tubes containing different concentrations of indoxacarb bait. In addition, laboratory studies showed that S. invicta transported significantly less 0.0125% fipronil bait than control bait and bait containing abamectin (0.0025% or 0.0125%) or indoxacarb (0.0125% or 0.0625%). In addition, the transport speed for the 0.0125% fipronil bait was the slowest. These results show that specific concentrations of some active ingredients may negatively affect bait acceptance for S. invicta, and should be avoided in fire ant bait production.
Keywords: Solenopsis invicta; bait; fipronil; foraging behavior; recruitment; repellency.