D3228: A moisture differential technique for the separation and maintenance of the imported fire ant colonies

Techniques for separating and maintaining colonies of imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are crucial to the research. In our natural products screening program, we have developed a moisture differential technique to separate the imported fire ant colonies from soil under standard laboratory conditions. In this technique, the shoveled mound soil with fire ants is dried out at room temperature by placing water-filled test tubes with cotton plugs. To avoid dehydration, imported fire ants tend to shift from dry soil toward moist places. In this method, the gradual loss of soil moisture creates a moisture differential between drying soil and water-filled tubes, which forces the ants to leave the dry soil and enter the test tubes. Ants from moisture tubes can subsequently be released into plastic trays coated with insect a slip. All brood, workers, alates, and queens can be successfully separated from the soil. Application of this new technique can reduce labor costs, and time utilized in separating ant colonies. Additionally, this technique can be successfully used in laboratory bioassays. There can be multiple uses of this technique in fire ant research. The design and the application of this technique will be presented in this poster.