Identification01
Workable field characters: size, color, petiole nodes, antennal segments and club, thorax profile, spines, sting, and odor on crushing. Color alone is unreliable.
INTRO
── Preface / § 00
How to read
this manual.
Twenty-one species, four functional groups, one operating premise: the species drives the program, not the other way around. This page explains the conventions every dossier follows and how to navigate the rest of the portfolio without wasting field time.
Section A
Suggested reading order
- STEP·01/groups
Groups
Start with the four functional groupings to orient by context: structural, outdoor turf, invasive tramp, regional specialty.
- STEP·02/species
Species index
The full 21-species index, partitioned by group and ordered by operational frequency in the field.
- STEP·03/identify
Field key
A working dichotomous key for ID at the wall, mound, or trail, no microscope required.
- STEP·04/distinctions
Lookalike keys
The commonly confused pairs and the single character that separates them in the field.
- STEP·05/compounds
Actives
Every toxicant, IGR, non-repellent, and dust referenced across the bait set, indexed to mode of action.
- STEP·06/sources
Sources
Bibliographic backing: USDA APHIS, university extension, and the primary literature each dossier draws from.
Section B
Anatomy of a dossier
Biology02
Colony scale, queen number (monogyne vs. polygyne), reproductive flights, budding behavior, and seasonal patterns that drive treatment timing.
Pest status03
Why the species matters operationally: medical, structural, agricultural, electrical, or ecological consequence, plus any regulatory status.
Control strategy04
The actual program: bait class, timing, what to combine, what to avoid. Written for the technician, not the brochure.
Baits05
Named products with active ingredients, formulation, and use notes. Cross-referenced in the Actives index.
Non-chemical06
Mechanical, cultural, and exclusion tactics that work, plus the ones that do not.
Pitfalls07
The classic ways programs fail: disturbed mounds, repellents on bait zones, wet granulars, single-mound treatments on heavy infestations.
Section C