Development of RNA interference-based product for Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) control.

Fire ants cause about $7 billion dollars of damage in the United States annually. Fire ants infest some 367 million acres in the United States and their range expands every year. Since the geographical range offire ant infestationis limited by temperature and rainfall, the rising global temperatureisforecasted to lead tosignificant range expansion.Fire ants cause damage to electrical equipment, devastate infant wildlife and impact various aspects of production agriculture, both cropping and animal husbandry.Allergic reaction to fire ant stings can be fatal and it is not always clear who is susceptible particularly in young populations of kindergarteners and preschoolers. Chemical pesticides employed to control fire ants have largely been ineffective in limiting their spread. Hence, there is a need to develop a fire ant specific product that is not harmful to non-target species, is environmentally friendly, and can control fire ants at colony scale to prevent their spread into new areas.The proposed research will evaluate whether inhibition of genes important for fire ant survival can be used as a strategy to control fire ants. The results of proposed research are expected to demonstrate that fire ants can be controlled with non-toxic environmentally benign sustainable RNAi technologies.APSE anticipates broad scale use of this technology (RNAi) to manage fire ants and to provide peace of mind to those charged with protecting people and things susceptible to fire ant harm. This technology has potential to be effective, economical, easy to use and sustainable into the future.