USE OF FENOXYCARB FOLLOWED BY ACEPHATE FOR SPOT ERADICATION OF IMPORTED FIRE ANTS (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE)

A two-step method, consisting of a single broadcast application of fen oxycarb [Logic(R)/Award(R)] bait, followed one week later by acephate [Orthene(R) 75S] colony treatments, was applied to small (<3 ha) incip ient infestations of Solenopsis invicta Buren or S. richteri Forel at four sites (Arkansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee) in advance of the federa l quarantine line. By visually locating fire ant colonies and by colle cting ants with sugar-baits, eradication was documented at three of fo ur sites. Implications for using this eradication strategy are discuss ed.