By John Wood, Certis USA Regional Manager

1) Q: Does Seduce control protein or carbohydrate feeding ants?

A: We are asked this one a lot. Seduce contains both protein and carbohydrate carriers and therefore will attract and kill most ant species regardless of their feeding habits.  This is an important feature in ant bait since individual ant species change their feeding habits during the season. So regardless on the timing Seduce provides ant control of most species. Most ant baits only control protein or carbohydrate feeding ants.

2) Q: Which ant species are the main pests in almonds?

A:  In general harvester ants, pavement ants and southern fire ants can be present in almonds with pavement and southern fire ants having the greatest potential for causing nut damage.   Trial data and reports from the field confirm that Seduce controls most ant species found in almonds, such harvester ants, pavement ants and southern fire ants as well as other species. 

3) Q: What is the financial loss to the almond grower if they do not control their ant problem?

A: Great question. This year, in particular, because of the drought ants are a big pest problem in almonds. Ants need water. At this time of the year the only water available for ants is in the orchard during irrigation. Ants can consume 1% of your almond yield per day. That’s 20 lbs. of almonds per day on an average yield of 2,000 lbs. The daily financial loss to the grower can be upwards at $40/day/acre. An ant bait that works slow or cannot be used up to day of harvest can actually cost the grower additional losses. Seduce works within hours and is the only ant bait that can be used up to day of harvest. One to two applications of Seduce costs less than the loss to ants, so it makes sense to maximize yields  with  an application of Seduce near harvest time.