[Ant Control Issue] Ant Control Product Guide

Editor’s note: Following is a review of some of the latest products for the ant control market. Manufacturers: If you have ant control information you’d like to appear in PCT magazine, send a press release and high-resolution photo to jdorsch@giemedia.com. PCT will feature additional ant products in future issues.

BASF
www.PestControlFacts.org

BASF’s Termidor termiticide/insecticide, the same undetectable liquid treatment that has been used to defend more than 3.5 million homes from termites, offers highly effective, low-dose control of outdoor ants, the manufacturer reports.

Termidor is easily picked up by ants, and has a quick speed of kill — one to three days — but is slow-acting enough to ensure transfer throughout the population, the company said.

The company’s Phantom termiticide-insecticide, with the active ingredient chlorfenapyr, is an undetectable liquid product applied by pest management professionals to control ants, roaches, termites, bed bugs and a host of other general nuisance pests that infest residential and commercial structures.

Phantom is labeled for outside pest entry points as frequently as every month, making it an ideal rotational product in a general pest control program with Termidor, BASF reports.

Bayer Environmental Science
www.BackedbyBayer.com

Bayer offers the solutions pest management professionals need to tackle any ant infestation in any environment, including:

• Maxforce FC Ant Killer Bait Gel, which combines a high-moisture formula and fipronil that provides fast control of ant colonies.
• Maxforce Granular Insect Bait, which features hydramethylnon and an irresistible formula that satisfies ants’ nutritional need, the company said.
• Maxforce FC Ant Bait Stations start working in just six hours and feature a child-resistant, inspectable top for easy inspection.
• Maxforce FC Fire Ant Bait combines fipronil with a proven bait matrix for fast control. This bait also is labeled for broadcast and mound treatments.
• TopChoice, a low-dose granular insecticide with imidacloprid, provides year-long preventive and curative fire ant control, the company said.
• Tempo Ultra and Suspend SC are residual sprays that provide fast knockdown and long-term control of readily accessible nests.
• Premise, which is a non-repellent that controls ants and reduces honeydew — a preferred food source for ants.

Central Life Sciences
www.zoecon.com

Extinguish Plus Fire Ant Bait is highly attractive to fire ants and other ants. It combines the killing speed of an adulticide with the long-lasting control of an insect growth regulator (IGR), the company said. Worker ants carry the bait into the mound as food for the colony. The ants then feed the bait to the rest of the colony and then, in turn, feed it to the queen. The IGR sterilizes the queen and prevents rebound, while the adulticide kills problem worker ants, the company said.

Extinguish Plus is approved for use in many areas including commercial grounds, lawns, rangeland, pasture and landscaped areas, Central Life Sciences reports.

DuPont Professional Products
www.proproducts.dupont.com

DuPont Advion ant gel now is registered for use in Florida, and controls multiple ant species — including all key sweet feeders, plus carpenter, Argentine, Pharaoh and many others. It also features chemistry that leverages the ant’s own enzymes to provide total colony control, even when multiple queens are present, the company said.

Combined with proven performance and a unique mode of action, Advion ant gel has an excellent toxicological profile and has been registered by the EPA under its Reduced Risk Program. In addition, the smooth gel stays thick when applied, even on the hottest days, the company said.

EcoSMART
www.ecosmartprofessional.com

EcoPCO AR-X Multi-Purpose Insecticide Aerosol is highly effective on ants and is a “green” product for PCOs, according to manufacturer EcoSMART. EcoPCO AR-X uses a new technology developed by EcoSMART that combines botanical oils with natural pyrethrum as the active ingredient to create a “micro-encapsulation” effect that extends the residual life of the normally volatile ingredients. EcoSMART reports that the length of the residual activity of EcoPCO AR-X is equal to conventional insecticides, and is unscented as well. PCOs can have both quick knockdown/kill and long residual activity using a natural active ingredient, the manufacturer reports.

FMC Professional Solutions
www.fmcprosolutions.com

Transport GHP Insecticide from FMC Professional Solutions is a new non-repellent that delivers a dual action approach of fast-acting results and a long-lasting residual. Offering a unique formulation and low-dose technology, Transport GHP transfers among ant infestations quickly, the company said.
Ideal for controlling all ants, from Caribbean crazy to fire and Argentine to carpenter, Transport also controls crickets, earwigs, mosquitoes and other pests, the company said. Transport GHP comes in pre-measured, 0.3-ounce water-soluble bags, making it easy to use.

Innovative Pest Control Products
www.antcafe.com

The Ant Café Bait Station provides a cost-effective method to place gel and liquid ant baits where they are needed and in a manner that protects customers, the environment and prolongs the bait’s effective life, the company said.

Gourmet Ant Baits are attractive to and effective on ants and roaches, the company said. The bait uses an organically derived active ingredient, which can be a selling point for green accounts. The gel bait is heat stable to more than 150° F. The liquid bait is available in the company’s patented pre-filled bait station in a new, cost-effective 24-count box.

Nisus Corp.
www.nisuscorp.com

Niban and Niban-FG, Terro-PCO and Nibor-D are “green” borate-based products manufactured by Nisus Corporation that kill and control ants and many other household pests. Niban comes in regular and fine granular forms for outdoor or indoor use. It will not degrade in heat or sunlight and lasts through up to 4 inches of rain without molding, the company said. Its superior food-grade attractants lure pests quickly, and its borate active ingredient kills the entire colony.

Terro-PCO’s super-sweet attractant instantly gets ants’ attention, the company said. It also uses a borate mode of action to kill and control all common household ants and their colonies. Nibor-D is a borate dust that provides an inexpensive and flexible means of getting to hard-to-reach areas indoors. It does not contaminate other baits, cake or corrode metals, the company said.

Rockwell Labs Ltd
www.rockwelllabs.com

InTice Smart Ant Gel is a new gel bait for control of a wide range of pest ants. It does not get runny in hot weather, and does not “skin over” when it dries, allowing ants to continue to feed on it, the company said.

After several years and more than 100 test formulas, Rockwell Labs has been able to replicate desirable properties. New InTice Smart Ant Gel is thick and sweet, and is individually packaged in fully labeled boxes containing one 1.5-ounce syringe with the plunger installed. Twelve boxes come in a counter-top display carton.

Syngenta Professional Products
www.securechoice.us

Optigard Ant Gel Bait by Syngenta is a clear, non-staining and low-odor gel formulation that offers control of a broad spectrum of ants, including Argentine, carpenter, ghost and other pest ant species. Optigard Ant Gel Bait is readily transferred among individuals within ant colonies to control workers, brood and queens, the company said.

The non-repellent, second-generation neonicotinoid insecticide provides precision control in a ready-to-use syringe. The proprietary active ingredient found in the Optigard brand of products, thiamethoxam, controls ants by contact and ingestion as well as trophallaxis (regurgitation). Optigard Ant Gel Bait provides a longer window of palatability so, as it ages, ants continue to feed on the bait without loss of attraction, the company said.

The gel bait will not contaminate other control methods, and can be used as part of an Integrated Pest Management program or alone.

Univar
www.masterline.com

The MasterLine family of products offers both a repellent and non-repellent line for ant control needs.

MasterLine Bifenthrin 7.9 has the proven performance, protection and repellency of bifenthrin. It is approved for food- handling areas, and its broad label and long-lasting residual provide control of a variety of ants, termites and 75 other pests, the company said.

Univar’s non-repellents include MasterLine I MaxxPro 75W, which comes in water-soluble packets, and the new MasterLine I MaxxPro 2F, available as a liquid in a 27.5-ounce measurable container. Both contain the active ingredient imidacloprid.

Waterbury Companies
www.CBProProducts.com

New Drax NutraBait was specially developed in cooperative agreement between the Waterbury Companies Product Development Team and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Formulated with more than 14 balanced nutrients required by both carbohydrate- and protein-feeding ants, the advanced bait matrix in Drax NutraBait works to exploit ant foraging behavior and food transfer throughout the colony, the company said.

The proven 5 percent boric acid formula provides fast control of the ant colony, reducing costly customer callbacks, the company said. The company’s Pressurized Baiting System (PBS) puts bait right where PCOs want it, eliminating the need for expensive equipment, the company said.

Whitmire Micro-Gen
www.advanceantbait.com

Advance Ant Baits are designed for superior attractiveness. Multiple attractants and formulations ensure the baits are accepted quickly and transferred throughout the colony, the company said. These baits provide colony elimination and fit well into any IPM program.

Each Advance formulation is designed to target specific ants:

• Advance Granular Carpenter Ant Bait — carpenter and other large-sized ants
• Advance 375A Select Granular Ant Bait — odorous house, Argentine and other medium-sized ants
• Advance Granular Ant Bait — little black, pavement and other small-sized ants
• 388B Advance Ant Gel Bait — all sweet-loving ants
• 381B Advance Liquid Ant Bait — all sweet-loving ants
• Advance 360A Dual Choice Ant Bait Stations — Pharaoh ants
• Ascend Fire Ant Bait — fire ants