The mealybug Planococcus ficus Signoret is an important vineyard pest, causing direct damage from feeding as well as vectoring important viral pathogens. Several species of ants tend P. ficus in California, including the pavement ant, Tetramorium immigrans Santschi. We tested the impact of polyacrylamide hydrogels loaded with a 25% sucrose solution and a variety of individual insecticide active ingredients (abamectin, boric acid, pyriproxyfen, spinosad, and thiamethoxam) on T. immigrans populations in vineyards. Additionally, we measured how a reduction of T. immigrans impacts densities of both P. ficus and its natural enemies. All insecticides tested reduced ant counts to some extent. Thiamethoxam was the most effective insecticide tested in both years. Boric acid was the least effective overall with pyriproxyfen and spinosad causing intermediate reductions in ant counts. In a separate trial, thiamethoxam loaded hydrogels reduced ant counts and significantly reduced P. ficus infested grape clusters, but did not reduce P. ficus vine trunk populations, nor increase parasitism rates. This is the first trial of hydrogel bait used for T. immigrans management and demonstrates the effectiveness of polyacrylamide hydrogels as ant baits and that T. immigrans reduction also lowers P. ficus abundance.

中文翻译：

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粉蚧、榕树 Planococcus ficus、通过路面蚂蚁减少、Tetramorium immigrans、在葡萄园中使用聚丙烯酰胺水凝胶诱饵进行管理


粉蚧 Planococcus ficus Signoret 是一种重要的葡萄园害虫，因喂养而造成直接损害，并传播重要的病毒病原体。加利福尼亚有几种蚂蚁喜欢 P. ficus，包括路面蚂蚁 Tetramorium immigrans Santschi。我们测试了负载 25% 蔗糖溶液和各种个别杀虫剂活性成分（阿维菌素、硼酸、吡丙醚、多杀菌素和噻虫嗪）的聚丙烯酰胺水凝胶对葡萄园中 T. immigrans 种群的影响。此外，我们还测量了 T. immigrans 的减少如何影响 P. ficus 及其天敌的密度。所有测试的杀虫剂都在一定程度上减少了蚂蚁数量。噻虫嗪是这两年测试过的最有效杀虫剂。硼酸总体上效果最差，吡丙醚和多杀菌素导致蚂蚁数量中等减少。在另一项试验中，载有噻虫嗪的水凝胶减少了蚂蚁数量，并显著减少了榕树感染的葡萄串，但没有减少榕树藤干的数量，也没有增加寄生率。这是用于 T. immigrans 管理的水凝胶诱饵的首次试验，证明了聚丙烯酰胺水凝胶作为蚂蚁诱饵的有效性，并且减少 T. immigrans 还可以降低 P. ficus 的丰度。