Posters and Spotlights
A moisture differential technique for extraction and maintenance of imported fire ant colonies under laboratory conditions
Start Date
30-4-2025 11:30 AM
Document Type
Event
Description
Poster Presenter: Farhan Mahmood Shah
Research Team: Farhan Mahmood Shah, Iklas A. Khan, Abbas Ali
Abstract: Establishing and maintaining colonies of imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the laboratory are crucial for research. Dehydration is one of the major mortality factors in fire ants, and they tend to relocate from dry to moist places. Based on this idea, we developed a moisture differential technique to extract fire ant colonies from mound soil. The shoveled mound soil was dried by spreading in trays at room temperature. Standard glass test tubes half filled with water and plugged with cotton were placed in drying trays to provide a moist habitat. The gradual loss of moisture from drying soil created a differential between the moist cotton in test tubes and drying soil in trays. Once the drying soil became unfavorable, ants moved from trays to moist cotton in the test tubes to avoid dehydration. All stages including the queens were successfully extracted using this technique. In a comparative study, this method recovered 52% more colony mass of hybrid fire ants than the standard water dripping method. Post separation colony survival was also significantly higher in this method when compared to traditional procedure. This moisture-guided behavior may have additional applications, especially in conducting behavioral bioassays. Maintenance of laboratory colonies consisting of all life stages in plastic bottles using this new method mimics the field populations that are required to conduct behavioral bioassays.
Relational Format
poster
Recommended Citation
Shah, Farhan Mahmood, "A moisture differential technique for extraction and maintenance of imported fire ant colonies under laboratory conditions" (2025). Showcase of Research and Scholarly Activity. 52.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/ored_showcase/2025/posters/52
A moisture differential technique for extraction and maintenance of imported fire ant colonies under laboratory conditions
Poster Presenter: Farhan Mahmood Shah
Research Team: Farhan Mahmood Shah, Iklas A. Khan, Abbas Ali
Abstract: Establishing and maintaining colonies of imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the laboratory are crucial for research. Dehydration is one of the major mortality factors in fire ants, and they tend to relocate from dry to moist places. Based on this idea, we developed a moisture differential technique to extract fire ant colonies from mound soil. The shoveled mound soil was dried by spreading in trays at room temperature. Standard glass test tubes half filled with water and plugged with cotton were placed in drying trays to provide a moist habitat. The gradual loss of moisture from drying soil created a differential between the moist cotton in test tubes and drying soil in trays. Once the drying soil became unfavorable, ants moved from trays to moist cotton in the test tubes to avoid dehydration. All stages including the queens were successfully extracted using this technique. In a comparative study, this method recovered 52% more colony mass of hybrid fire ants than the standard water dripping method. Post separation colony survival was also significantly higher in this method when compared to traditional procedure. This moisture-guided behavior may have additional applications, especially in conducting behavioral bioassays. Maintenance of laboratory colonies consisting of all life stages in plastic bottles using this new method mimics the field populations that are required to conduct behavioral bioassays.