SUMITOMO ANT BAITS – TRUSTED BY GOVERNMENTS

Sumitomo Chemical’s range of ant baits has been formulated for use against the most challenging ant species, in the toughest environments. 

Sumitomo Chemical has been a proud partner to Government ant eradication and control programs since 2001 when RIFA was first detected in Australia. Baits produced by Sumitomo Chemical based on insect growth regulator (IGR) technology are the mainstay of the RIFA program in Brisbane and the electric ant program in Cairns. Special novel baits have been used under permit in the efforts against trailing ant in Perth, Darwin and Brisbane, yellow crazy ant in Lismore and Tahiti, and black crazy ant on off shore islands in Queensland.

As a result of these programs, two products, Distance Plus and Synergy Pro, have been registered and are available to professional pest managers. Both products are registered for use on a wide range of ants, not just fire ants.

Distance Plus is an enhanced version of the product used by Biosecurity Queensland for RIFA control. The added food-grade protein and carbohydrate ingredients make it more attractive to a wider range of ant species, and not just invasive ants but also nuisance ants such as greenhead ants, black ants and pavement ants. The active ingredient in Distance Plus, pyriproxyfen, is an IGR mimicking the juvenile hormone in ants, an important hormone controlling a range of physiological functions including reproduction and moulting. Pyriproxyfen is slow acting, which is important in the control of ants because it gets around their natural defences that would normally detect toxins in their food. With its classification as an unscheduled poison, Distance Plus is ideal for use in sensitive accounts such as schools and hospitals and therefore has an important place in the pest manager’s toolkit for ant control.

Distance Plus
Distance Plus

The slow action of Distance Plus, while a technically perfect solution for invasive ant control, does not satisfy the need for instant gratification for the consumers that pest managers regularly deal with. Synergy Pro was developed as a result of the need for a multipurpose bait that achieved control but also gave customer satisfaction – as a result, it contains two active ingredients and two granule matrices. Synergy Pro combines the effects of the faster acting ATP inhibitor hydramethylnon with the IGR pyriproxyfen.

Synergy Pro
Synergy Pro

Synergy Pro also contains two different granule types based on corn and protein. The two-active system provides the benefit of relatively quick control of visible worker ants with the underlying sterilisation of the reproductive castes. The inclusion of two granule types expands the reach of the product to those species that normally focus on protein-based foods such as yellow crazy ant, Argentine ant and black crazy ant.

So for pest managers aiming to help customers deal with their own invasive ant problems, they can rely on the heritage and trusted performance of Distance Plus and Synergy Pro.

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