September 20, 2006

Formulas of Doom


My ant poisons have been about 40% borax or boric acid (I'm moving to boric acid now), and 60% bait.

It looks like 10% boric acid is fine. Here is the formula from Patent 5939061:

2% to 5% Pectin by weight (to make this a gel)
.01% to 0.5% calcium salt (e.g. calcium carbonate, calcium chloride)
.001% to 10% toxicant (e.g. boric acid)

Dry attractant (20% to 40%) consisting of:

0.01% to 10% cellulose
1% to 10% sugar
0.5% to 5% plant starch (e.g. corn starch)
30% to 60% instant nonfat dry milk
20% to 60% dried egg yolk (where do I get THAT?)
0.0001% to 0.010% sterol compound
0.1% to 1% uric acid (makes ants think it is safe)
2% to 15% vegetable oil

Ultimately, about 20-40% protein, 20-40% fat, and 20-40% carb, with water to round it out (40% to 70%)

Personally, I think his use of percentages is totally wacky... but whatever makes him happy.

Apparently, different ants like different foods at different times of year, switching between carbs and proteins.

Posted by Edwin at September 20, 2006 04:57 PM
Comments