Area-wide management of the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in northeast Spain

*[One invading population of Lasius neglectus occupies 14 ha, located in northeast Spain has been managed with a large-scale insecticide treatment, with the aim of reducing its damaging effects in houses & on human well-beings. During the spring & summer periods of 2001-2002, 45 households were treated. Some non-urbanized, seminatural infested areas were also treated to avoid the pest expansion. The treatment plan was intended to attack 3 key aspects of the ants as well as directly killing the ants: 1) killing/destroying ant food sources, 2) limiting access to the ant's food sources, & 3) impeding access to the interior of houses. The pest control treatment involved a combination of canopy fogging, tree trunk spraying, a house perimeter injection treatment, & in-house baiting. Reduction of ant trails on trees was 73% (2001) & 68% (2002). Spots with ants at the perimeter of the house were reduced by 47% (2001) & 30% (2002). Both the objective assessment of the treatments & the positive opinion of the inhabitants of the houses confirmed the efficacy of the treatment program.]