Abstract
Liquid nitrogen (LN2) injection was used to against the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) by taking the advantage of rapid killing, no side effects from residuals, and non-dependence on weather conditions of this method. Red imported fire ants workers were placed in glass bottles and treated by sub-zero temperatures for either two or zero minutes after thermo-equilibrium to determine the lethal low temperature. Fire ant nests were then treated by LN2 and the survival of the ants was monitored. Thus-15 °C was shown to cause 100% of mortality of workers at 24 hours post treatment. Large numbers of ant corpses, which included larvae, pupae and queens, were discovered in the nest after LN2 treatment. In a field experiment, 10 nests were treated by LN2, while 9 were left as controls. The number of active nests significantly decreased to just one nest at the 14th day post LN2 application and none was considered to be functional at the 21st day. These results suggest that LN2 freezing is capable of eliminating individual fire ant nests effectively, and that this treatment is useful for areas of high human activity and for agricultural and other areas that have a low tolerance to conventional pesticides.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 871-876 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Florida Entomologist |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2013 Sep 1 |
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All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
- Insect Science
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Use of liquid nitrogen to treat solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) nests. / Lin, Hui Min; Tseng, Yu Chin; Chen, Chih Ting; Lin, Chung Chi; Lee, Yuan Tseh; Chen, Yang Yuan.
In: Florida Entomologist, Vol. 96, No. 3, 01.09.2013, p. 871-876.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Use of liquid nitrogen to treat solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera
T2 - Formicidae) nests
AU - Lin, Hui Min
AU - Tseng, Yu Chin
AU - Chen, Chih Ting
AU - Lin, Chung Chi
AU - Lee, Yuan Tseh
AU - Chen, Yang Yuan
PY - 2013/9/1
Y1 - 2013/9/1
N2 - Liquid nitrogen (LN2) injection was used to against the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) by taking the advantage of rapid killing, no side effects from residuals, and non-dependence on weather conditions of this method. Red imported fire ants workers were placed in glass bottles and treated by sub-zero temperatures for either two or zero minutes after thermo-equilibrium to determine the lethal low temperature. Fire ant nests were then treated by LN2 and the survival of the ants was monitored. Thus-15 °C was shown to cause 100% of mortality of workers at 24 hours post treatment. Large numbers of ant corpses, which included larvae, pupae and queens, were discovered in the nest after LN2 treatment. In a field experiment, 10 nests were treated by LN2, while 9 were left as controls. The number of active nests significantly decreased to just one nest at the 14th day post LN2 application and none was considered to be functional at the 21st day. These results suggest that LN2 freezing is capable of eliminating individual fire ant nests effectively, and that this treatment is useful for areas of high human activity and for agricultural and other areas that have a low tolerance to conventional pesticides.
AB - Liquid nitrogen (LN2) injection was used to against the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) by taking the advantage of rapid killing, no side effects from residuals, and non-dependence on weather conditions of this method. Red imported fire ants workers were placed in glass bottles and treated by sub-zero temperatures for either two or zero minutes after thermo-equilibrium to determine the lethal low temperature. Fire ant nests were then treated by LN2 and the survival of the ants was monitored. Thus-15 °C was shown to cause 100% of mortality of workers at 24 hours post treatment. Large numbers of ant corpses, which included larvae, pupae and queens, were discovered in the nest after LN2 treatment. In a field experiment, 10 nests were treated by LN2, while 9 were left as controls. The number of active nests significantly decreased to just one nest at the 14th day post LN2 application and none was considered to be functional at the 21st day. These results suggest that LN2 freezing is capable of eliminating individual fire ant nests effectively, and that this treatment is useful for areas of high human activity and for agricultural and other areas that have a low tolerance to conventional pesticides.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84887106851&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84887106851&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1653/024.096.0322
DO - 10.1653/024.096.0322
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84887106851
VL - 96
SP - 871
EP - 876
JO - Florida Entomologist
JF - Florida Entomologist
SN - 0015-4040
IS - 3
ER -