Sope, S. (2023, January 30). Researchers target sugar-feeding ants. Farm Progress. Retrieved January 30, 2023, from https://www.farmprogress.com/insects/researchers-target-sugar-feeding-ants- 

Sugar feeding ants have recently become a problem, as they protect pests that are harmful to trees and their fruit. The ant population interferes with the natural predation of pest insect species, and allows the pest population to go out of control. Insecticides are the typical standard decision for getting rid of the sugar feeding ants, but they also affect insect populations that are native and beneficial to the area. Chemical engineers from UC Riverside have developed an alternative method to keep the ant population in check: a biodegradable hydrogel baiting system. With this new form of controlling the sugar feeding ants, it will allow beneficial parasitoids and predators to control the population of harmful pests; pests in which the ants protect. One researcher named David Haviland decided to expand the research that was done on the new baiting system. He built on the original use of alginate gels, beads soaked with sugar water. While many natural solid baits have proved successful for ants that feed on primarily protein, control methods for the sugar feeding ants have proved elusive. By using hydrogel, they are turning liquid bait into a solid, making it more effective and commercially adoptable. This has been described as, “cutting-edge research,” as sugar ant populations have slowly  become a universal problem. Sugar-feeding ants interfere with biocontrol and promote disease, as there are more organisms between trees to infect others. If this research is able to be applied to other pest species and other plants, this could be a great benefit to many other areas outside of California. 

This research sounds very promising. David Haviland has been implementing his system with acrylamide gel, similar to the absorbent found in diapers, to soak the sugar water. Unfortunately, this is not organic, but it does make it more accessible commercially. The method just needs to go through pesticide regulations, which takes time. Manufacturers must change their labels to show hydrogel as an approved use for pest bait, and adding new product uses as well as changing labels must make economic sense for the manufacturer. The researchers must be able to show that hydrogel will work on a variety of ant/pest species, in hopes to motivate the manufacturer to update their labels. However, I do wonder why progress has halted just in waiting for the labels to change. You would think that something so beneficial and profound would be a priority to implement. I understand if it wouldn’t make financial sense to the manufacturer, but if this research is truly so crucial I would think that they would have received more funding or support to change product labels. But if implemented, it seems as if this new baiting system will prove significant to the future of pest control.