fairfolio
Saved Projects

The Effect of the Type of Ground Covering on the Amount of Linepithema humile

CSEF · 2013 Zoology

Jacqueline M. Ahrens · Ridgecrest Intermediate School, Rancho Palos Verdes, Los Angeles County

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective was to determine the effectiveness of different landscape ground coverings to deter Argentine ants (Linepithema Humile). Methods/Materials Standard ground coverings was ranked to determine which was the most effective barrier in preventing Argentine ants. This test was conducted using a food source on plates each containing a different ground covering. The five ground coverings tested were: sand, concrete, pebbles, bark, and dirt. The number of ants was counted every 30 minutes. Results On average, 16.25 ants ate from the sand, 10.75 ate from the concrete sample, 10 ants ate from the dirt sample, 3 ants ate from the bark, and .25 of an ant ate from the pebbles. Conclusions/Discussion Ants# concentration was greatest with sand and lowest with pebbles. It was found that Argentine ants tend to eat from smooth surfaces because it is easier for them to walk on. After two trials, it was concluded that a ground covering of pebbles would be best to deter ants.

Summary statement

The project was about how to deter Argentine ants naturally using ground coverings (dirt, sand, pebbles, etc.)

Help received

Father helped locate large ant colonies

Competition history

  • CSEF 2013 Zoology · Entry J2201

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google