An aqueous ant bait consisting of sucrose (4.55% w/v), essential amino acids (EAAs, 1%), and water is known to be highly appealing to multiple ant species throughout the foraging season. Here, we tested whether this bait, combined with boric acid as the lethal agent, has potential for control of pest ants. Specifically, we: (1) assessed bait lethality to diverse species of ants (European fire ants, Myrmica rubra, western carpenter ants, Camponotus modoc, thatching ants, Formica oreas); (2) tested the effect of boric acid concentration on mortality of M. rubra workers and colonies; (3) compared consumption, and demise timeline, of lethal liquid baits and lethal gel baits; and (4) investigated whether lethal liquid baits reduce the size of M. rubra colonies. In laboratory experiments, the bait induced rapid worker mortality (< 22 days) in all three species of ants tested. Increasing the concentration of boric acid from 1% to 5.4% accelerated the demise of only worker ants, but not queen ants, in M. rubra colonies, indicating that 1% boric acid is sufficiently lethal. Worker ants of M. rubra strongly preferred liquid baits to gel baits of identical nutrient composition, with the former bait accelerating worker demise. In a field experiment in a public park heavily infested with M. rubra, the 12 treatment colonies provided with a lethal liquid bait (4.55% sucrose; 1% EAAs; 1% boric acid) over 114 days significantly declined, whereas the 12 control colonies provided with the corresponding non-lethal bait did not. The bait, with appropriately adapted bait deployment protocol, should be tested for control of other pest ants, particularly those that preferentially feed on liquid foods.

已知由蔗糖（4.55% w/v）、必需氨基酸（EAA，1%）和水组成的水性蚂蚁诱饵在整个觅食季节对多种蚂蚁具有高度吸引力。在这里，我们测试了这种诱饵与硼酸作为致死剂相结合是否具有控制害虫蚂蚁的潜力。具体来说，我们：（1）评估了诱饵对不同种类蚂蚁（欧洲火蚁、红蚁、西部木蚁、弓背蚁、茅草蚁、福米卡蚁）的致死率； (2)测试了硼酸浓度对红花工蚁和群体死亡率的影响； (3) 比较致命液体诱饵和致命凝胶诱饵的消耗和消亡时间； (4) 研究致命的液体诱饵是否会减少红色红霉菌落的大小。在实验室实验中，该诱饵导致所有三种受测蚂蚁的工蚁快速死亡（< 22 天）。将硼酸浓度从 1% 增加到 5.4% 会加速红红蚁群中工蚁的死亡，但不会加速蚁后的死亡，这表明 1% 的硼酸足以致死。与营养成分相同的凝胶诱饵相比，红红工蚁更喜欢液体诱饵，而前者会加速工蚁的死亡。在严重感染M. rubra 的公园进行的一项田间实验中，12 个处理群体在 114 天内提供了致命的液体诱饵（4.55% 蔗糖；1% EAA；1% 硼酸），结果显着下降，而 12 个对照群体则显着下降。没有配备相应的非致命诱饵。应该对具有适当调整的诱饵部署方案的诱饵进行测试，以控制其他害虫蚂蚁，特别是那些优先以液体食物为食的蚂蚁。