Comparison of UAV-based multispectral sensors for detection of Solenopsis invicta Nests

Abstract Background Advances in sequencing and analysis tools have facilitated discovery of many new viruses from invertebrates, including ants. Solenopsis invicta is an invasive ant that has quickly spread worldwide causing significant ecological and economic impacts. Its virome has begun to be characterized pertaining to potential use of viruses as natural enemies. Although the S. invicta virome is the best characterized among ants, most studies have been performed in its native range, with less information from invaded areas. Methods Using a metatranscriptome approach, we further identified and molecularly characterized virus sequences associated with S. invicta, in two introduced areas, U.S and Taiwan. The data set used here was obtained from different stages (larvae, pupa, and adults) of S. invicta life cycle. Publicly available RNA sequences from GenBank’s Sequence Read Archive were downloaded and de novo assembled using CLC Genomics Workbench 20.0.1. Contigs were compared against the non-redundant protein sequences and those showing similarity to viral sequences were further analyzed. Results We characterized five putative new viruses associated with S. invicta transcriptomes. Sequence comparisons revealed extensive divergence across ORFs and genomic regions with most of them sharing less than 40% amino acid identity with those closest homologous sequences previously characterized. The first negative-sense single-stranded RNA virus genomic sequences included in the orders Bunyavirales and Mononegavirales are reported. In addition, two positive single-strand virus genome sequences and one single strand DNA virus genome sequence were also identified. While the presence of a putative tenuivirus associated with S. invicta was previously suggested to be a contamination, here we characterized and present strong evidence that Solenopsis invicta virus 14 (SINV-14) is a tenui-like virus that has a long-term association with the ant. Furthermore, based on virus sequence abundance compared to housekeeping genes, phylogenetic relationships, and completeness of viral coding sequences, our results suggest that four of five virus sequences reported, those being SINV-14, SINV-15, SINV-16 and SINV-17, may be associated to viruses actively replicating in the ant S. invicta. Conclusions The present study expands our knowledge about viral diversity associated with S. invicta in introduced areas with potential to be used as biological control agents, which will require further biological characterization.

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Chemical War Between Fire Ants ( Solenopsis invicta ) and Rasberry Crazy Ants ( Nylanderia fulva )

Invasive Alien Species ◽

10.1002/9781119607045.ch52 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 353-368

Author(s):

Shiyou Li ◽

Wei Yuan ◽

Ping Wang ◽

Zushang Su ◽

David L. Kulhavy ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solenopsis Invicta ◽

Fire Ants ◽

Nylanderia Fulva

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Monitoring the Efficacy of Crested Floatingheart (Nymphoides cristata) Management with Object-Based Image Analysis of UAS Imagery

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13040830 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (4) ◽

pp. 830

Author(s):

Adam R. Benjamin ◽

Amr Abd-Elrahman ◽

Lyn A. Gettys ◽

Hartwig H. Hochmair ◽

Kyle Thayer

Keyword(s):

Image Analysis ◽

Aquatic Vegetation ◽

Accuracy Assessment ◽

Unmanned Aerial Systems ◽

Temporal Area ◽

Object Based Image Analysis ◽

Object Based ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Additional Processing ◽

Multispectral Sensors

This study investigates the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) mapping for monitoring the efficacy of invasive aquatic vegetation (AV) management on a floating-leaved AV species, Nymphoides cristata (CFH). The study site consists of 48 treatment plots (TPs). Based on six unique flights over two days at three different flight altitudes while using both a multispectral and RGB sensor, accuracy assessment of the final object-based image analysis (OBIA)-derived classified images yielded overall accuracies ranging from 89.6% to 95.4%. The multispectral sensor was significantly more accurate than the RGB sensor at measuring CFH areal coverage within each TP only with the highest multispectral, spatial resolution (2.7 cm/pix at 40 m altitude). When measuring response in the AV community area between the day of treatment and two weeks after treatment, there was no significant difference between the temporal area change from the reference datasets and the area changes derived from either the RGB or multispectral sensor. Thus, water resource managers need to weigh small gains in accuracy from using multispectral sensors against other operational considerations such as the additional processing time due to increased file sizes, higher financial costs for equipment procurements, and longer flight durations in the field when operating multispectral sensors.

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Hierarchical Analysis of Genetic Structure in Native Fire Ant Populations: Results From Three Classes of Molecular Markers

Genetics ◽

10.1093/genetics/147.2.643 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 147 (2) ◽

pp. 643-655 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kenneth G Ross ◽

Michael J B Krieger ◽

D DeWayne Shoemaker ◽

Edward L Vargo ◽

Laurent Keller

Keyword(s):

Gene Flow ◽

Genetic Structure ◽

Solenopsis Invicta ◽

Large Scale ◽

Fire Ant ◽

Nuclear Markers ◽

Social Forms ◽

Native Populations ◽

Nest Level ◽

Nuclear Differentiation

We describe genetic structure at various scales in native populations of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta using two classes of nuclear markers, allozymes and microsatellites, and markers of the mitochondrial genome. Strong structure was found at the nest level in both the monogyne (single queen) and polygyne (multiple queen) social forms using allozymes. Weak but significant microgeographic structure was detected above the nest level in polygyne populations but not in monogyne populations using both classes of nuclear markers. Pronounced mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) differentiation was evident also at this level in the polygyne form only. These microgeographic patterns are expected because polygyny in ants is associated with restricted local gene flow due mainly to limited vagility of queens. Weak but significant nuclear differentiation was detected between sympatric social forms, and strong mtDNA differentiation also was found at this level. Thus, queens of each form seem unable to establish themselves in nests of the alternate type, and some degree of assortative mating by form may exist as well. Strong differentiation was found between the two study regions usinga all three sets of markers. Phylogeographic analyses of the mtDNA suggest that recent limitations on gene flow rather than longstanding barriers to dispersal are responsible for this large-scale structure.

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Acute toxicity of typical ant control agents to the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Applied Entomology and Zoology ◽

10.1007/s13355-021-00728-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 56 (2) ◽

pp. 217-224

Author(s):

Hironori Sakamoto ◽

Koichi Goka

Keyword(s):

Acute Toxicity ◽

Chemical Control ◽

Solenopsis Invicta ◽

Fire Ant ◽

Red Imported Fire Ant ◽

The Pacific ◽

New Type ◽

Ant Control ◽

Abnormal Behaviors ◽

Imported Fire Ant

AbstractThe red imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), is a serious invasive alien ant around the world and has expanded its invasive range to the Pacific Rim since the early 2000s. It was first reported in Japan in 2017, and its entry through cargo has been reported numerous times in many ports. Colonies have been found in Tokyo Port since 2019, and now it is an urgent issue to prevent further invasion and establishment. Chemical control is the best tested method of insect control, but we have little information on the efficacy of insecticides against S. invicta in Japan. Here, we conducted acute toxicity assays of six quick-acting pyrethroids (transfluthrin, prallethrin, phenothrin, permethrin, metofluthrin, and pyrethrin) for killing adults and five new-type insecticides (fipronil, thiamethoxam, indoxacarb, imidacloprid, and hydramethylnon) for controlling colonies with toxic baits. We found that the LD50 from six pyrethroids were comparable to each other. The ED50 causing abnormal behaviors were smaller than LD50, but some ants recovered from paralysis within 12 h. Fipronil showed the lowest LD50 suggesting this chemical is the most promising agent for controlling S. invicta. Our results promise to develop a method for the chemical control of S. invicta.

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Interactions Between Solenopsis invicta (Buren) and Monomorium minimum (Buckley) under Varying Distance and Feeding Status

Southwestern Entomologist ◽

10.3958/0147-1724-32.2.111 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 111-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Asha Rao ◽

S. Bradleigh Vinson

Keyword(s):

Solenopsis Invicta ◽

Solenopsis Invicta Buren

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Olfactory and behavioral responses of red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta, to ylang ylang oil and its components

Journal of Pest Science ◽

10.1007/s10340-020-01312-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Yuzhe Du ◽

Aiming Zhou ◽

Jian Chen

Keyword(s):

Solenopsis Invicta ◽

Behavioral Responses ◽

Fire Ants ◽

Imported Fire Ants ◽

Red Imported Fire Ants

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Comparison of gene expression in the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) under different temperature conditions

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-95779-w ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mohammad Vatanparast ◽

Robert T. Puckett ◽

Deuk-Soo Choi ◽

Youngjin Park

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Gene Ontology ◽

High Temperature ◽

Temperature Stress ◽

Solenopsis Invicta ◽

Expression Profiles ◽

Fire Ant ◽

Molecular Response ◽

Red Imported Fire Ant ◽

Imported Fire Ant

AbstractThe red imported fire ant (RIFA), Solenopsis invicta Buren is native to South America and is known as a global problematic invasive species. This study focused on the molecular response of RIFA by comparing gene expression profiles after exposing ants to low (10 °C) and high (40 °C) temperature stress and comparing them to untreated controls (30 °C). A total of 99,085 unigenes (the clustered non-redundant transcripts that are filtered from the longest assembled contigs) were obtained, of which 19,154 were annotated with gene descriptions, gene ontology terms, and metabolic pathways. 86 gene ontology (GO) functional sub-groups and 23 EggNOG terms resulted. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with log2FC ≥ 10 were screened and were compared at different temperatures. We found 203, 48, and 66 specific DEGs co-regulated at 10, 20, and 40 °C. Comparing transcriptome profiles for differential gene expression resulted in various DE genes, including cytochrome P450, NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1, cuticle protein and heat shock protein (HSP), which have previously been reported to be involved in cold and high temperature resistance. GO analysis revealed that antioxidant activity is up-regulated under high temperature stress. We verified the RNA-seq data by qPCR on 20 up- and down-regulated DEGs. These findings provide a basis for future understanding of the adaptation mechanisms of RIFA and the molecular mechanisms underlying the response to low and high temperatures.

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