Abstract
Repellants can be very useful in managing red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren, particularly in some scenarios where application of synthetic insecticides is not appropriate. Our previous study showed that fire ants cannot transport food on surfaces treated with eugenol, and the repelling effect lasted for > 24 h, which motivated us to extend our research on eugenol derivatives. Herein, the electrophysiological effect, toxicity and repellency of five eugenol derivatives (methyl isoeugenol, eugenol acetate, isoeugenol, methyl eugenol, and isoeugenyl acetate) were evaluated against S. invicta workers. All eugenol derivatives triggered significantly higher EAG responses than the hexane blanks and had concentration-dependent toxicity against S. invicta workers. All tested eugenol derivatives except isoeugenyl acetate showed strong repellency by significantly decreasing the number of defending (aggression mode) and foraging (non-aggression mode) ants in the tested arenas. Unexpectedly, methyl isoeugenol almost repelled all defending fire ants from disturbed mounds. This compound also repelled foraging ants significantly longer than eugenol. At the concentration of 50 mg/kg in sand, methyl isoeugenol was the only tested compound that completely suppressed the digging behavior of S. invicta workers. In addition, fire ants exhibited low levels of nesting behaviors in flowerpots containing sand treated with each eugenol derivative (500 mg/kg). Surprisingly, the repellency of methyl isoeugenol in flowerpots containing treated sand could last for almost one month. Our study may bring an opportunity to develop strong and long-lasting fire ant repellant products against foraging, defending, and nesting fire ants.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Jian Chen in USDA-ARS, Biological Control of Pests Research Unit, Stoneville, Mississippi for reviewing the early version of this manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (3200197), and Pearl River S&T Nova Program of Guangzhou (201806010182).
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Ethical review and approval were not required because the animals used in this study were red imported fire ants, a very significant pest.
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He, Y., Zhang, J., Shen, L. et al. Eugenol derivatives: strong and long-lasting repellents against both undisturbed and disturbed red imported fire ants. J Pest Sci 96, 327–344 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-022-01501-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10340-022-01501-8