[ExI] super soldier ants

[Anders Sandberg]

I wonder whether applying methoprene, the analog to juvenile hormone 
used to induce soldiers, works in the field.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0022191083901518
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/ijlink?linkType=ABST&journalCode=sci&resid=213/4505/361
The reason, mentioned on the wiki page,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methoprene
is that it is commonly used as an insecticide - it messes up molting 
from the pupal stage. So dousing your fields with it might get rid of a 
lot of insects, leaving the slugs to reign.

In the experiments the dousing was short-lived, while in the environment 
methoprene tends to remain for a week. So you need to somehow get the 
substance to the larvae at the right instar.

I suspect finding the right slug-loving nematode worms is likely a 
better, if yucky, solution.



-- 
Anders Sandberg
Future of Humanity Institute
Oxford University