Ant Management Workshop
For Citrus, Avocado, Cherimoya, Passion fruit, Dragon fruit Growers
21 September 2023
8:30 – 3, Thursday
Cooperative Extension Ventura County Office
669 County Square Drive, California Room
Ventura, CA 93003-5401
Workshop Overview: Ants, especially the invasive Argentine ant and the native grey field ant, are serious agricultural pests because they protect sap sucking insects infesting citrus, cherimoyas, grapes, and other perennial tree and vine crops, from their natural enemies. In return for protection, hemipteran pests like Asian citrus psyllid, mealybugs, soft scales, aphids, and whiteflies reward ants with honeydew, a sticky sugar-rich waste product that ants drink and return to nests to feed nest mates. This is an example of a food-for-protection mutualism that is highly disruptive to biological control and IPM programs. This workshop will cover the latest developments in ant monitoring and management and will provide overviews on the benefits of ant control and how reductions in ant densities results in very high levels of biological control of important hemipteran pests.
4.5 "other" DPR CEUs have been applied for.
Workshop Agenda:
|
Time |
Presenter |
Topic |
|
8:30am |
|
Registration |
|
9:00am |
Mark Hoddle, UC Riverside |
Overview of the Asian citrus psyllid biological control program and the need to control pest ants |
|
9:30am |
Ivan Milosavljevi? CRB (or Mark Hoddle, UC Riverside) |
Use of biodegradable hydrogel beads and bait stations for controlling pest ants in citrus |
|
10:00am |
Mike Lewis, UC Riverside |
Infrared sensors and the Internet of Things to automate ant counts in orchards |
|
10:30am |
|
Coffee Break |
|
10:45am |
David Haviland, UCCE Farm Advisor, Kern County |
Ant management research and applications in the San Joaquin Valley |
|
11:15am |
Soon Il Kwon, UC Riverside |
Cultural control of ants in orchards |
|
11:45am |
Nicola Irvin, UC Riverside |
Flowering cover crops to promote natural enemy ecosystem services |
|
12:15pm |
|
Lunch |
|
1:00pm |
Hamutahl Cohen, Entomology Advisor, UCCE Ventura |
Overview on red scale and broad mite control in citrus |
|
1:30pm |
All presenters |
Table visits and posters to observe technologies that were discussed and to interact with presenters and ask questions |
|
2:00pm |
David Haviland/Hoddle Lab |
Field demonstration of hydrogel applications for ant control |
|
3:00m |
|
Workshop Ends |
Contacts: Ben Faber @ bafaber@ucanr.edu or Hamutahl Cohen @ hcohen@ucanr.edu
