The Efficacy of Ant Prevention Herbal Chalks

Abstract

     The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of herbal chalk formulas, the optimal distance of herbal chalk lines, and the optimal time of application of herbal chalks on ant prevention. The prevention of fire ant (Solenopsis geminate) was investigated using herbal chalk formulas including chicken’s eggshells, chicken’s eggshells with kaffir lime, chicken’s eggshells with chili, and compare with the control. The optimal distance and efficiency time of herbal chalk line was evaluated by drawing from the center point of the food source at 5 to 30 centimeters for 15 - 60 minutes. The result showed that all chalk formulas had prevented fire ants in range of 88.9 - 98.7 percent. The chicken’s eggshells with chili (radius of 5 centimeters) was the highest fire ant prevention with 98.7 percent for 60 minutes.