Mentor

Deborah Waller, Old Dominion University

Publication Date

2024

Document Type

Paper

DOI

10.25776/34hr-rh54

Pages

1-4 pp.

Abstract

This study assesses asafoetida and star anise as eco-friendly alternatives to chemical ant deterrents. It involved placing replicates of two bait types, a control (granulated sugar) and a treatment (granulated sugar and spice), on yellow paper substrates at five different ant-infested sites. The efficacy of the spice was evaluated by comparing the ant count on each bait every 10, 40, 60, 120, and 180 minutes. Percentage repellency (PR) was calculated for both the spices, and the data was analysed with the sign test. Further tests used only the treatment bait to evaluate the efficacy of the two varieties of asafoetida found in the market. Both the spices demonstrated repellency against ants. However, while star anise exhibited sustained repellent efficacy, the repellency of asafoetida diminished over time.

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