MSU Extension Entomology Specialist and Professor Available to Discuss Strategies to Control Southeast Invasive Crazy Ants

Mississippi State University

EXPERT PROFILE:

Dr. Blake Layton

MSU Extension Entomology Specialist and Professor available to discuss strategies to control Southeast invasive crazy ants

As crazy ants continue spreading north from the Southeast U.S., homeowners need access to research-based, season-long control recommendations. Thousands and thousands of tawny crazy ants, Nylanderia fulva, invade buildings and may cause malfunctions in electrical equipment. The sheer volume of ants makes them difficult to prevent or control. The Mississippi State University Extension Service works to share crazy-ant control guidelines with homeowners and other building owners.

Dr. Blake Layton, MSU Extension entomology specialist and professor, is a widely respected authority on crazy ants. For 29 years, Dr. Layton has studied household and structural pests, especially ants. His research-based integrated pest-management recommendations have been the cornerstone of reliable insect-management and control recommendations, as well as educational programming for the public to apply those recommendations.

Dr. Layton’s white paper detailing crazy-ant control recommendations is helping clients address the invasion in the three coastal counties in Mississippi where the ants have been identified: Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties. Also, he works with researchers from the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the MSU Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Entomology and Plant Pathology, and universities throughout the Southeast to develop innovative, effective treatment recommendations based on the latest research. Dr. Layton continues to track crazy ants’ erratic behavior and their migration northward. His recommendations to control crazy ants are available at https://extension.msstate.edu/sites/default/files/topic-files/household-insects/tawny_crazy_ant_control_recommendations.pdf.

For questions or additional information, contact Allison Matthews, news editor, at [email protected] or 662-325-7457, or Harriet Laird, associate director of public affairs, at [email protected] or 662-325-7460. The MSU TV Center has high definition television uplink capabilities, suitable for live and live-to-tape two-way interviews or feeds. Contact David Garraway, director, at [email protected] or 662-325-1332 for more information.