It’s that time again, Argentine ant work takes off once more this month on Aotea. This project has been ongoing since 2006 and has seen a high level of success.

Intense monitoring and control have enabled the eradication of four sites covering over 55 ha, including Mulberry Grove, one of the largest areas successfully eradicated of Argentine ants in New Zealand.

This achievement has only been possible with the collaboration and willingness of the community, so a big thank you to residents in the work areas for enabling this mahi to be carried out on their properties for the duration of the programme.

In line with previous years, operational work will start in October. Firstly, targeting the warmer/dryer east coast sites and progressively moving across the motu to include all known sites. You may have seen that as part of the programme, we now have an island based Argentine ant dog and handler team carrying out surveillance work. This capability enables a greater number of sites to be quickly checked for the presence/absence of Argentine ants.

Argentine ant. Photo Credit: Richard Toft 1Argentine worker ants are 2-3mm long, wingless and light brown. They move in long continuous defined trails.

This is a timely reminder that to eradicate Argentine & Darwin’s ants from Aotea, the support and participation of all island residents and visitors is crucial. The risk of new incursions of ants into the areas eradicated still exists so to safeguard against re-establishment we will be conducting periodic surveillance.

Please be careful not to transport ants to new sites.

Argentine and Darwin’s ant queens do not fly, so transferal and establishment at new sites occurs by moving materials that contain at least one queen ant and several workers. In relation to public roads where Argentine ants are being managed, signs have been positioned at either end of the infestation to alert everyone that there are Argentine ants present.

Argentine ants can be transferred to new sites in car wrecks, garden waste, potted plants, topsoil, firewood, mulch and building materials. Please double check all goods you are moving from your property and if you do identify ants or require assistance with inspecting equipment or materials, please contact us.

For more information: https://www.tiakitamakimakaurau.nz/protect-and-restore-our-environment/pests-in-auckland/pest-search/linhum/