Biocontrol options for urban pest ants

Several factors have led to increasing interest in biological control of urban ants but practical applications are limited. Some aspects of the urban environment that make it difficult for biological control to be adopted include: (1) a low pest threshold and tolerance for insects; (2) the lack of proven biocontrol agents; (3) the interactions between indoor and outdoor ant populations; and (4) the inability to formulate biocontrol agents into products suitable for the urban market. Parasites, predators, and pathogens are considered as agents in biological control programs and each group may be advantageous for certain situations. However, pathogens have the highest potential for use in urban, environments because the microorganisms can be delivered in acceptable formulations for use in the urban environment. Pathogens offer a wide range of characteristics that make them suitable for biopesticide formulation and use in biological control programs. Parasitic organisms also may be useful in classical biological control of outdoor ants. Predators are not Likely to be useful as introduced biocontrol agents, although they may be important in natural control of ants.