http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Mt2E1M6dU

Fire Ant Biocontrol Becky Haddad Goodness! Gracious! Great Bugs of Fire! Fire Ant Biocontrol Becky Haddad

Introduction Becky Haddad Agricultural Education Biotech Sports, Music and Scrapbooking

So Why Fire Ants? Mississippi USDA-ARS Biocontrol Other uses for controls Image courtesy of PetFoto.com

What are fire ants anyway? Solenopsis invicta Invasive species Identified in Alabama by Ed Wilson Red Imported Fire ants (solenopsis invicta) were introduced accidentally to the United States via shipping from South America in the 1930s. There are over 280 species world wide. They were first identified in the United States by 13 year old Ed Wilson of Alabama. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Benefits Feed on insects, larvae and other pests Reduce the need for insecticides Image courtesy of Flickr

What’s the problem? Sting Colonies Extremely Resilient Global issue Environmental Fire ants release a small molecule venom in their sting that is toxic to humans. In fact, 1% of the population world wide is extremely allergic. #1 pest in the world. Ants operate in a complex social structure that makes penetration into the colonies difficult. They operate with workers, soldiers, queens… RIFA are extremely resilient against drought and flooding. They are also extremely strong with workers able to lift 10 times more than their body weight. The red imported fire ant specifically affects 14 of our United States as well as various countries around the world including Taiwan, China, New Zealand and Australia as well as Puerto Rico. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The attack Pheromones Senses Bite Sting Ant pheremones serve a variety of purposes, but when it comes to the attack, the venom released attracts other ants to the enemy, and since ants can’t see or hear very well they rely on pheremone trails for information regarding their path. RIFA bite with their pincers and then sink a stinger into the skin of whatever they are attacking that releases the venom, causing not only a painful burning sting, but generally causing swelling and redness as well. Images courtesy of White Knight Pest Control and IPM World Textbook

Control Methods Bait Synthetic Toxins Environmental Friendliness Biocontrol Images courtesy of Amdro

Product Development Know Very Specialized Source (Both of toxin and bait) Attract Good Toxin (bait source) Attractive to ants Carry Water resistant carrier Easily spread to colony Spread Workers carry to the colony Days to get to the queen

Challenges Attractive bait Water resistance Binding material Granules Specialization Slow acting toxin Natural chemicals

Control Sources Other insects Synthetics Future Population maintenance Competition chemicals Phorid flies Synthetics Future Plants Insects Bacteria Population maintenance Phorid flies Images courtesy of Southern IPM Center

Benefits to Biocontrols Ecofriendly control Aid in other systems Little effect on human health “Fewer” risks --no granules for kids or other animals to get in to. Images courtesy of Multimania

Future Developments Other toxin sources Biofuel development Images courtesy of USDA-ARS

Conclusion Century of problems Challenges Biocontrol lends effective control with a future Images courtesy of Alex Wild Photography

Resources Chen, Jian. Telephone Interview by Becky Haddad. 17.Feb 2011. 17 Feb 2011. Wilson, Ed, Perf. Lord of the Ants. Dir. NOVA." PBS.org: 2008, YouTube. Oi, D.H., Valles, S.M. 2008. Fire ant control with Entomopathogens in the USA. Book Chapter. In: Hajek A.E., Glare, T.R., O'Callaghan M. editors. Use of Microbes for control and eradication of invasive arthropods. p.237-257. University of Arkansas Divisions of Agriculture, . "Conference Proceedings." 2010 Imported Fire Ant Conference Proceedings. John D. Hopkins: Little Rock, AR, 2011 eXtension. 2010. 162. PDF. <http://www.extension.org/mediawiki/files/c/c4/2010_Annual_IFA_Conference.pdf> Various. “Putting out the Fire."USDA Agricultural Research Service. USDA, 05 Mar 2008. Web. 19 Feb 2011. <http://www.ars.usda.gov/Research/Research.htm?modecode=66- 15-10-15>. Texas A&M University, . "History, Managing Fire Ants, Research and Informational Materials." Texas Imported Fire Ant Management Project. Texas A&M University Department of Entomology, n.d. Web. 17 Feb 2011. <http://fireant.tamu.edu/antfacts/cfm>. Sternberg, Troy, Gad Perry, and Carlton Britton. "Grass Repellency to the Red Fire Ant."Rangeland, Ecology and Management 59.3 (2006): 330-333. Web. 17 Feb 2011. <http://www.jstor.org/pss/ Whole Gecko eaten by ants. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Mt2E1M6dU