Essential Balm: A Strong Repellent Against Foraging and Defending Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Wen, Yuzhen; Ma, Tao; Chen, Xuan; Liu, Zhitao; Zhu, Chengqi; Zhang, Yuanyuan; Strecker, Rachel M.; Henderson, Gregg; Hooper‐Bùi, Linda M.; Sun, Zhuo; Wen, Xiaobo; Wang, Cai

doi:10.1093/jee/tow130

Cited by 18 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…In an earlier study essential balm repelled foraging S. invicta for 24 h in the laboratory 23 . In the present study, however, ants transported food away from seven of the eight squares smeared with essential balm at 24 h (Table S3).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

“…For example, Liu et al 22 reported that the fumigation treatment of essential balm can cause high mortality of storage pests such as Rhizopertha dominica (Fabricius), Cryptolestes pusillus (Schonherr), and Sitophilus zeamais (Motschulsky). Our earlier study showed that essential balm completely inhibited foraging behavior of five of six S. invicta colonies for 24 h. 23 This is the longest duration of repellency against S. invicta foragers reported. However, that was a laboratory study, and repellency has not been confirmed in the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

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Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to an essential balm and its components

Wen

Chen

et al. 2020

Pest Management Science

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BACKGROUND An over‐the‐counter medicine product of China known as essential balm effectively repelled red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren. However, it was not clear which chemical component(s) accounted for the repellency, and whether they would effectively repel S. invicta in the field. RESULTS Five components, eucalyptol, camphor, menthol, methyl salicylate, and eugenol, were identified in essential balm using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). Each component elicited concentration‐dependent electroantennography (EAG) response. Under field conditions, all components showed repellency against foraging ants. Interestingly, foraging ants managed to access the food items placed on a surface smeared with eucalyptol, camphor, menthol, or methyl salicylate by depositing soil particles on the surface and then walking on soil particles. However, they failed to do so when the surface was smeared with eugenol. Repellency of eugenol lasted for > 24 h, which was much longer than that of the other four components of essential balm and is comparable to that of N,N‐diethyl‐m‐toluamide (DEET), the standard for insect repellants. CONCLUSION Olfactory response of S. invicta to all five components of the essential balm was confirmed. Each component showed repellency against S. invicta workers in the field. However, only eugenol significantly suppressed both foraging and particle‐covering behavior within 24 h. The repellent effect of eugenol lasted much longer than the other four components. Particle‐covering behavior has been largely ignored in studying fire ant repellants. Our study demonstrated that it is necessary to consider such behaviors in ant repellent bioassays in the future. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 52%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to an essential balm and its components

Wen

Chen

et al. 2020

Pest Management Science

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“…Wang et al (2012) found that 1000 μl/mL of Capsicum annuum (sweet pepper) oil showed >90% repellent activity against S. invicta workers under laboratory conditions. Essential balm strongly repelled S. invicta workers even at the concentration of 0.5μL/cm 2 (Wen et al 2016). The repellence effect of two food additives, ethyl anthranilate and butyl anthranilate, were even better than diethyltoluamide (DEET) against S. invicta (Chen et al 2019b).…”

Section: Exploration For Control Methods Of S Invictamentioning

confidence: 98%

Prevalence and management of Solenopsis invicta in China

Wang¹,

Ling²,

Xu³

et al. 2020

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Red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, was first found in Taiwan province of China in 2003. To prevent transboundary expansion, the Chinese government has formulated various control strategies in the last 15 years to slow down the spread of S. invicta. Despite all efforts, S. invicta invasion has reached more than 390 counties of 13 provinces and two special administrative regions in China; at present, S. invicta remains at the stage of rapid expansion. The transnational entry of S. invicta is linked to imported logs and wastepaper coming mostly from the United States. In domestic settings, long-distance expansion of S. invicta relied on potted plant and turf transportation. Both monogyne and polygyne social forms of S. invicta were present in China with polygyne colonies as the dominant one. Data on population and breeding dynamics of S. invicta reveal the presence of two peaks annually with nuptial flights occurring throughout the year. Arthropods, plant seeds, and honeydew are important food sources of S. invicta, thereby causing negative impacts on the abundance, diversity, and richness of native arthropod communities. Fire ants are threats not only to agriculture and power facilities, but also to human health, with more than 30% of people having suffered from the sting and 10% having experienced an allergic reaction. To address the expansion of S. invicta, the National Fire Ant Detection and Management Union was established and the formulation and implementation of management policies were drawn. Plant quarantine becomes an essential step in fire ant management, whereas the two-step method of combing toxic baits and contact dust emerges as the forefront method crucial in managing S. invicta. The experience and lessons learned from fire ant management in China could benefit other countries when facing similar challenges.

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“…Using soil particles has been previously reported to be associated with foraging in S. invicta (Barber et al ., ; Hölldobler & Wilson, ; Weeks et al ., ; Xu et al ., ; Wang & Henderson, ; Wen et al ., ). The function of particle transport might vary with foraging conditions and food types.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…For example, Wen et al . () reported that S. invicta workers relocated a large number of soil particles on the substance treated with a repellent (essential balm). These particles, placed surrounding the food item, were used as bridges so that ants were able to reduce the contact with repellent chemicals and access the food.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do groups of red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) feed on a droplet of sugar water?

et al. 2017

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Many previous studies have focused on the foraging behaviors and strategies of the red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren on solid food or granular bait; little attention has been paid to how liquid sugar is fed upon. In the present study, behavioral responses of S. invicta to 25% sucrose water droplets were observed. Five foraging patterns were identified in S. invicta colonies under laboratory conditions: (i) no feeding, no sucrose water feeding was observed; (ii) surround feeding, ants surrounded and fed along the edge of the sucrose droplet; (iii) stacked feeding, ants stacked and fed along the edge of the sucrose droplet; (iv) droplet-break feeding, ants broke the liquid droplet and sucked sucrose water that spread on surface of the substance or soil particles previously transported by ants; and (v) cover feeding, whole surface of the sucrose droplet was covered by layers of feeding ants. This is the first time cover feeding in S. invicta has been reported, which obviously requires more ants compared to the other patterns. In addition, individual ants were tracked in videos under laboratory conditions, and behavioral repertoires that led to stacking, covering and droplet-breaking were identified and described. The field investigation showed that surround feeding was most frequently performed by S. invicta foragers; however, cover feeding was not observed under field conditions during this study. Both laboratory and field studies showed colony-level variations in sugar-water feeding.

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Essential Balm: A Strong Repellent Against Foraging and Defending Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Cited by 18 publications

References 21 publications

Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to an essential balm and its components

Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to an essential balm and its components

Prevalence and management of Solenopsis invicta in China

How do groups of red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) feed on a droplet of sugar water?

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