I-Corps: Control of invasive ants using an environmentally friendly bait approach

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响和商业潜力是开发一种生态友好的诱饵来控制入侵蚂蚁。商业毒饵是目前控制入侵蚂蚁最有效的方法，但由于缺乏特异性，这些毒饵对本地生物多样性产生了负面影响。这反过来又促进了入侵蚂蚁的快速重新定居，因为没有竞争对手可以限制它们的传播。此外，商业饵料与潮湿或阳光充足的气象条件不相容，因为这些天气条件会使饵料的活性成分失效，大多数商业饵料主要在春季和夏季对蚂蚁有吸引力。提出的技术通过提供一种蚂蚁诱饵配方和输送系统来解决这些问题，该系统1)不受水分和阳光的影响，2)全年具有吸引力，3)专门针对入侵和有害的蚂蚁种群。拟议中的技术可以让害虫防治公司在一天或一年中的任何时间为公园和院子提供服务，院子的主人可以减少每年的杀虫剂使用量，通过重新定居原生无脊椎动物种群来恢复生态系统。这个I-Corps项目的基础是开发一种环保蚂蚁诱饵的配方和一种输送系统。通过对红火蚁（Solenopsis invicta，以下简称“红火蚁”）在一年中不同时期所需的关键常量营养素的特征分析，提高了饵料的吸引力。对各种蛋白质、脂类和碳水化合物进行单独或组合测试，以在野外条件下制作对RIFA种群极具吸引力的诱饵。精选的配方结合了每个季节对蚂蚁最重要的常量营养素，确保诱饵在一年中的任何时候都保持很高的吸引力。与目前可用的产品不同，这种诱饵不是在受感染区域广播，而是放置在一个打开的，小的，可生物降解的瓶子的底部。将诱饵放入小瓶中限制觅食蚂蚁竞争诱饵，被动地选择最丰富和最具竞争力的物种：入侵蚂蚁。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of an eco-friendly bait for the control of invasive ants. Commercial toxic baits are currently the most efficient way to control invasive ants, but these baits negatively impact native biodiversity due to their lack of specificity. This, in turn, facilitates quick recolonization by invasive ants because no competitors are left to limit their spread. In addition, commercially available baits are incompatible with wet or sunny meteorological conditions as these events deactivate the bait’s active ingredient, and most commercial baits are attractive to ants mainly in spring and summer. The proposed technology provides a solution to these issues by delivering an ant bait formulation and delivery system that is 1) protected from moisture and sun, 2) attractive year-round, and 3) specifically targets invasive and pest ant populations. The proposed technology may allow pest-control companies to service parks and yards at any time of the day or year, yard owners to reduce the amount of insecticide applications per year, and ecosystems to recover through the recolonization of native invertebrate populations.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a formulation for an eco-friendly ant bait and a system to deliver it. The attractiveness of the bait was improved by the characterization of the key macronutrients required by Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta, hereafter RIFA) at different times of the year. Various proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates were tested, alone or in combination to create a bait that is highly attractive to RIFA populations in field conditions. The selected formulation combines the macronutrients that are the most important to the ants during each season, which ensures the attractiveness of the bait remains high at any time during the year. Unlike currently available products, this bait is not broadcasted over the infested area but is placed at the bottom of an opened, small, and biodegradable vial. The delivery of the bait into vials constrains foraging ants to compete for the access to the bait, passively selecting for the most abundant and competitive species: invasive ants.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.