The effects of a juvenile hormone analogue on laboratory colonies of pharaoh's ant, Monomorium pharaonis (L.) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

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Abstract
Laboratory colonies of Monomorium pharaonis (L.) were given access only to food containing the juvenile hormone analogue isopropyl-11-methoxy-3, 7, 11-trimethyl-dodeca-2, 4-dienoate (Altosid). In contrast to control colonies all the brood died in 4–8 weeks and queens ceased to lay eggs at about this time. Comparison of ovaries dissected from treated and untreated queens showed the former to be atrophied and without developing oocytes. In treated colonies the worker caste became extinct between 9 and 20 weeks after treatment commenced but queens remained alive for more than 20 weeks. Treatments were lethal with exposure periods of one week only. Juvenile hormone analogues show real potential for the control of M. pharaonis.