Biting ant, Tetramorium aculeatum (Hymnoptera: Formicidae) Responses to Food Lures and Poison Baits on Coffee, Coffea arabica Tree

Abstract

Colony composition of biting ant. Tetramorium aculeatum. attractiveness o f food lures and suitable insecticides for poison baiting were studied. Five coffee plants in cross diagonal line were randomly selected and number of nests recorded per canopy stratum.
Colony composition was determined from one active nest on each of the randomly selected plants. Chopped beef, beef fat. mutton, sheep tail-fat. peanut butter and margarine (Remia'i*) were assessed for their attraction of the biting ant. The efficacy of
poisoned bait prepared by mixing six different insecticides with chopped mutton was evaluated. Mean number o f biting ant nests with active colony per plant ranged from I to 7, 0.4 to 7, and 0.5 to 1 in the upper, middle and lower canopy, respectively. The
corresponding mean number of abandoned biting ant nests was 0 to 3, 0 to I and 0 to 1. On the average an active biting ant nest had a range o f 0 to 10, 0 to 56. 9 to 6<S. 28 to I OS. and 0 to 3 eggs, larvae, pupae, workers and queen/ king per nest, respectively.
Mutton attracted significantly more number o f biting ants (468 ants/ tree) than any of the tested food lures followed by sheep tail fat (271 ants/tree). Lower number of ants (10 ants/trce) were lured by Margarine, beef and beef fat. The average number o f biting ants
died in a poison bait varied between zero and 30 per tree. Mutton poisoned with carbaryl 85wp killed significantly more number of biting ants (30 ants/tree) than the other insecticides