20 May Gamma radiation and natural compounds for the control of invasive and/or pest ants

Posted at 20:14h in Insects, Investigation by

Gamma radiation and natural compounds for the control of invasive and/or pest ants

 

The use of gamma radiation in ants is currently an alternative that is being used to replace the use of conventional insecticides to control invasive and/or pest ants.

Low doses of ionizing radiation are used as a post-harvest treatment to control quarantine pests, such as invasive ants, in fresh agricultural products. The objectives of this project are (1) to determine the generic dose of radiation to sterilize the queens of the main invasive ants (for example, W. auropunctata, L. humile, S. invicta) that travel as stowaways in export products without affecting their quality and (2) to discover new chemical compounds produced by Poisson and Dufour glands with high repellency and/or toxicity in ants that coexist with invasive species in ant assemblies in southern South America to develop repellents and bioinsecticides against invasive and/or pest ants.

Staff:
Luis Calcaterra

Cooperators:
Peter Follett, ARS-Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, Hilo, Hawaii, EE.UU.
Chen, M. Grodowitz, ARS-BPRU, Stoneville, Mississipi, EE.UU.