Defensive chemicals of tawny crazy ants, Nylanderia fulva (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and their toxicity to red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Chen, Jian; Rashid, Tahir; Feng, Guang-Da; Zhao, Liming; Oi, David H.; Drees, Bastiaan “Bart” M.

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2013.09.018

Cited by 20 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Nylanderia fulva outcompetes other invasive ants including Atta spp. and S. invicta [3,8,25,26,27], and the impact of N. fulva is greater on smaller ant species than larger ones [28,29]. In Colombia, 9 out of 14 native species were displaced following establishment of N. fulva [29].…”

Section: Ecological Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Tawny Crazy Ant, Nylanderia fulva, an Emergent Ant Invader in the Southern United States: Is Biological Control a Feasible Management Option?

Wang

Moshman

Kraus

et al. 2016

Insects

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The tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), has invaded states of the U.S. including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Native to South America, N. fulva is considered a pest in the U.S. capable of annoying homeowners and farmers, as well as displacing native ant species. As it continues to expand its range, there is a growing need to develop novel management techniques to control the pest and prevent further spread. Current management efforts rely heavily on chemical control, but these methods have not been successful. A review of the biology, taxonomy, ecology, and distribution of N. fulva, including discussion of ecological and economic consequences of this invasive species, is presented. Options for future management are suggested focusing on biological control, including parasitoid flies in the genus Pseudacteon, the microsporidian parasite Myrmecomorba nylanderiae, and a novel polynucleotide virus as potential biological control agents. We suggest further investigation of natural enemies present in the adventive range, as well as foreign exploration undertaken in the native range including Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. We conclude that N. fulva may be a suitable candidate for biological control.

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Section: Ecological Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of the Tawny Crazy Ant, Nylanderia fulva, an Emergent Ant Invader in the Southern United States: Is Biological Control a Feasible Management Option?

Wang

Moshman

Kraus

et al. 2016

Insects

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“…The action of oxalate decarboxylase on its only described substrate, oxalate (Brenda database (Schomburg, )), could produce a significant amount of formate when B. pumilus 15.1 is bioassayed and this could explain the toxicity of the strain towards C. capitata larvae. Formate is well known for being a compound toxic for insects and other arthropods and higher organisms (Elzen et al ., ; Chaskopoulou et al ., ; Underwood and Currie, ; Chen et al ., , ), and we have shown it to have a particularly detrimental effect on C. capitata larvae development. The origin of the oxalate substrate for the enzyme to produce formate in the environment is not known.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

The parasporal crystals of Bacillus pumilus strain 15.1: a potential virulence factor?

Garcia-Ramon

Berry

Tse

et al. 2017

Microbial Biotechnology

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Summary Bacillus pumilus strain 15.1 was previously found to cause larval mortality in the Med‐fly Ceratitis capitata and was shown to produce crystals in association with the spore. As parasporal crystals are well‐known as invertebrate‐active toxins in entomopathogenic bacteria such as Bacillus thuringiensis (Cry and Cyt toxins) and Lysinibacillus sphaericus (Bin and Cry toxins), the B. pumilus crystals were characterized. The crystals were composed of a 45 kDa protein that was identified as an oxalate decarboxylase by peptide mass fingerprinting, N‐terminal sequencing and by comparison with the genome sequence of strain 15.1. Synthesis of crystals by a plasmid‐cured derivative of strain 15.1 (produced using a novel curing strategy), demonstrated that the oxalate decarboxylase was encoded chromosomally. Crystals spontaneously solubilized when kept at low temperatures, and the protein produced was resistant to trypsin treatment. The insoluble crystals produced by B. pumilus 15.1 did not show significant toxicity when bioassayed against C. capitata larvae, but once the OxdD protein was solubilized, an increase of toxicity was observed. We also demonstrate that the OxdD present in the crystals has oxalate decarboxylate activity as the formation of formate was detected, which suggests a possible mechanism for B. pumilus 15.1 activity. To our knowledge, the characterization of the B. pumilus crystals as oxalate decarboxylase is the first report of the natural production of parasporal inclusions of an enzyme.

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“…It has also been found in tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva 34. Tawny crazy ant is the only ant that is found in the field to be able to displace S. invicta 35.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Esterase in Imported Fire Ants, Solenopsis invicta and S. richteri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Activity, Kinetics and Variation

Chen

Rashid

Feng

2014

Sci Rep

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Solenopsis invicta and Solenopsis richteri are two closely related invasive ants native to South America. Despite their similarity in biology and behavior, S. invicta is a more successful invasive species. Toxic tolerance has been found to be important to the success of some invasive species. Esterases play a crucial role in toxic tolerance of insects. Hence, we hypothesized that the more invasive S. invicta would have a higher esterase activity than S. richteri. Esterase activities were measured for workers and male and female alates of both ant species using α-naphthyl acetate and β-naphthyl acetate as substrates. Esterase activities in S. invicta were always significantly higher than those in S. richteri supporting our hypothesis. In S. invicta, male alates had the highest esterase activities followed by workers then female alates for both substrates. In S. richetri, for α-naphthyl acetate, male alates had the highest activity followed by female alates then workers, while for β-naphthyl acetate, female alates had the highest activity followed by male alates then workers. For workers, S. richteri showed significantly higher levels of variation about the mean esterase activity than S. invicta. However, S. invicta showed significantly higher levels of variation in both female and male alates.

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Defensive chemicals of tawny crazy ants, Nylanderia fulva (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and their toxicity to red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 20 publications

References 26 publications

A Review of the Tawny Crazy Ant, Nylanderia fulva, an Emergent Ant Invader in the Southern United States: Is Biological Control a Feasible Management Option?

A Review of the Tawny Crazy Ant, Nylanderia fulva, an Emergent Ant Invader in the Southern United States: Is Biological Control a Feasible Management Option?

The parasporal crystals of Bacillus pumilus strain 15.1: a potential virulence factor?

Esterase in Imported Fire Ants, Solenopsis invicta and S. richteri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Activity, Kinetics and Variation

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