Ask Dr. Bug - Whitmire Micro-Gen Products

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I am a Florida Certified Pest Control Operator working in Bermuda. I have a few questions regarding the various abamectin baits on the market today. I have always been impressed with Avert and now am impressed with Advance 375A. I have noticed that the Avert Gel I am using for cockroach control attracts certain species of ants. Will that formulation kill ants? I have noticed cockroaches are attracted to Advance 375A. Will that formulation kill cockroaches? Will Advance 375A eventually be available in a gel formulation for ant control? (Abamectin Gel- not 388B)

You ask some very good questions. While the active ingredients are the same for each product, Avert Cockroach Bait & Advance Ant Bait, the levels of active ingredient are different. Avert contains 0.05% abamectin while Advance contains 0.011% abamectin. The level of active ingredient and bait matrix were specifically developed for optimal feeding and effect on the target pest.

While you may notice ants feeding on Avert and cockroaches feeding on Advance, we found that feeding was not consistent. Higher amounts of abamectin could be repellent for ants and lower amounts of abamectin for cockroaches means you will use 5 times the amount of bait that needs to be consumed for control.

Ants and cockroaches will die if they eat an adequate amount of abamectin, but it is our recommendation to use the abamectin formulation designed for the target pest listed to best control the pest problem.

As for gel baits, our research showed that a borax based ant gel bait provided a more consistent acceptance and control for a variety of ant species than an abamectin based gel bait. So at this time, Whitmire Micro-Gen will not be producing an abamectin gel ant bait.