Control of the Western Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis, with Poisoned Baits1

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Abstract
The western harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex occidentalis (Cresson), is considered a pest of low-rainfall rangeland in the Western States. Trials with Kepone®(decaehlorooctahydro-1,3,4,-metheno-2H-cyclobuta[cd]pentalen-2-one)-peanut meal-peanut oil bait and mirex (dodecachloroöletahydro-1,3,4-metheno-2H-cyclobuta (cd) pentalene)-corncob grit-soybean oil baits were successful, but only when the materials were applied during the summer when the ants were actively foraging for seeds. These bait materials, as also Bayer 38920(6,7,8,9,10,10-hexachloro-l,5,5a,6,9,9a-hexahydro-3-methyl-6,9-methano-2,4-benzodioxepin (chlorinated to contain 70% total chlorine content)) on corncob grits’ were readily accepted and carried into the nests by the ants. Results of individual hill tests can be confounded by the over-lap of foraging ants from different hills and by colonies moving their brood from one mound into another. Application of a 2× mirex fire ant bait (0.15% mirex) was tested successfully on 50-acre plots of rangeland, a 3-pound-per-acre rate being as effective on land averaging 23 hills per acre as 5 pounds of bait per acre on land averaging 37 hills per acre.

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