Problem lawn ants may be protein, oil or omnivorous feeders. Using a dual-action treatment covers all bases.
“A number of my clients see ants in their yard and think they’re going to take over the world. They really want me to do something!” For Michael Snyder of Hornsby and District Pest Services, this is a fairly common reaction from a number of his customers in Sydney.
“I don’t really want to reel out the hose and spray the lawn, it’s not really the way to go or great for the environment. I’m normally pretty skeptical about new products – I’m pretty hard to please – but when I heard about Synergy Pro, it seemed like a good option,” said Mr Snyder.
Synergy Pro is a unique, granular ant bait containing two different food granules (protein and oil), each containing a combination of two different actives, hydramethylnon and pyriproxyfen.
Mr Snyder has over 37 years of pest control experience and he puts at least part of his success down to researching new products before he gives them a go: “I always like to talk to the reps, it’s important that the data supplied by the manufacturers stacks up.”
Mr Snyder has specific programs for certain ant species, such as white-footed house ants and pharaoh ants, but for treatment of ‘lawn ants’, where there could be more than one species, a more general treatment is required.
Typically, ants found in lawn areas tend to be protein feeders such as green-headed ants and tyrant ants (both of which will sting), oil feeders such as the big-headed ant (coastal brown ant), and species with omnivorous feeding habits such as Argentine ants and acrobat ants.
“With its two different food granules, Synergy Pro is designed to appeal to a broad range of ant species and still remain attractive as their food preferences change throughout the year,” commented Charles McClintock, business manager of Sumitomo Professional Products.
“But it’s the inclusion of the two different actives that maximises its impact on the population. Although hydramethylnon is the primary control active, the impact of pyriproxyfen cannot be underestimated. Being active at extremely low doses, even in large multi-nesting species it can impact the ability of the queen to lay viable eggs, leading to colony decline.
“Synergy Pro is gaining a significant following with pest managers looking to control ant pressure outside before they come inside or as a high value add-on service to a general pest treatment to allow their customers to reclaim their lawns from biting ants,” said Mr McClintock.
Mr Snyder recalled, “When I first starting using Synergy Pro, I always told customers that it’s virtually impossible to get 100% control, as ants will always move back in… but let’s try and put a dent in the population and see how we go.
“Well, these are fussy customers and I haven’t had a single callback. Well, I did have one, and that was to tell me it had worked! Happy customers and no callbacks gives me the confidence that the product does the job.”
Synergy Pro is now available in 4kg buckets (4 x 1kg bags, vacuum packed to maintain freshness), as well as 500g jugs.
