Effect of Soil Water Content on Toxicity of Fipronil Against Solenopsis invicta

This study evaluated the effect of Fipronil on the survival of fire ant workers with different doses and soil water contents and further examined the persistent effect of the same dose of powder at 10%, 50% and 90% soil water content. The results showed that mortality was positively correlated to the dosage. This result indicated that the survival rates of workers treated  by powder at different RS W (Relative soil water content) were significantly different (P <0.01). At the RS W of 10% and 20%, the survival rates of workers were 40.67 and 49.00 respectively, which showed no obvious difference from other treatments but were lower than the control. The survival rate decreased sharply when the RS W was 90%, and was obviously lower than that of treatments at moderate (30-50%) RS W. The contact powder showed worst persistent effect when the soil water content was 10%, but at the soil water content of 50% and 90%, the lethal effect of the powder was higher and was more persistent

Effects of Honeydew of Phenacoccus solenopsis on Foliar Foraging by Solenopsis invcta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The olfactory response of fire ants to plant leaves, mealybugs and the honeydew excreted by mealybugs was tested with a Y-tube olfactometer. The foraging activities of fire ants on three plants were also measured. Our results showed that plant leaves and mealybugs alone had no significant attraction to the fire ant workers, while fire ants could be obviously attracted by honeydew. The selection rate of fire ants on honeydew of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, cotton (Gossypium spp.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) was 60.22%, 57.45% and 64.29% respectively. When mealybugs were present on plants, fire ant workers foraged more frequently on the plants than controls (P<0.05). As to different plants, fire ants preferred foraging on tomato (66.3 per plant) to Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (50.4 per plant) and cotton (45.1 per plant). However, there was no significant difference in foraging frequency of fire ants on the three kinds of plant, with 24.9, 22.9 and 32.3 ants foraging per five minutes respectively

Effects of Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta) on the Species Structure of Ant Communities in South China

We evaluated the effects of invasive red imported fire ants (RIFAs), Solenopsis invicta Buren, on native ant communities at three habitats in South China. By using paired control and treatment plots, the change in diversity and community structure of native ants due to the invasion of red imported fire ants could be observed. Ant species richness was reduced by 46 and 33% at RIFA-infested lawn and pasture habitats, respectively; however, the ant species richness in the lichee orchard was not affected by red imported fire ants. Our results indicated that red imported fire ants became one of several dominant species or the only dominant species in all three habitats in South China

Effects of honey dressing for the treatment of DFUs: A systematic review

AbstractBackgroundHoney dressing has been applied to clinical practice for many types of disease for centuries. Many researchers have studied the effects of honey dressing for the treatment of DFUs (diabetic foot ulcers), and no systematic review has considered effects of honey dressing on DFUs. A systematic review performed to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of honey dressing in the treatment of DFUs.MethodsWe include all original studies found for the key words honey and diabetic foot ulcers. Mean effect sizes and confidence intervals are pooled from study effect sizes according to standard methods, and these are considered for various common types of honey dressing interventions separately.ResultsA total of 4 RCTs involving 258 participants were included, and 3 trails involving 228 participants met the quantitative analysis and 1 study involving 30 participants met qualitative analysis. Results of meta and descriptive analyses showed that total treatment time, Mean purge time of ulcers, ratio of purging germ, healed area of ulcers in honey dressing group are better than that of control group, respectively, and with statistically significant differences.ConclusionsHoney dressing was superior of traditional dressing for treatment of DFUs. Due to limitations in the quantity of published studies, this conclusion has yet to be carried out in large, multicenter study to validate