What they do is coat termites with an insecticide that obviously doesn’t harm termites, but devastates ant colonies, and turns them loose like secret agent walking time bombs.
And the thing is, it is highly successful!
Fascinating research from Purdue University Dept of Entomology.
The (Argentine) ants not only outcompete native ants, but they eat secretions from crop insects, such as aphids, and repay those pests with protection from natural predators, allowing their populations to grow. But the Argentine ants’ dominance is what makes Buczkowski’s method effective. “Argentine ants are highly aggressive and…that works against them. When you put out termites, Argentine ants are the first to find them. They take these termites back to the nest and poison the whole colony.”
