Olfactory behavior and response of household ants (Hymenoptera) to different types of coffee odor: A coffee-based bait development prospect

Abdul Hafiz Ab Majid,Hamady Dieng,Siti Salbiah Ellias,Siti Salbiah Ellias,Abd Hafis Abd Rahim,Tomomitsu Satho 한국응용곤충학회 2018 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.21 No.1

Odor sensation is a sensory modality of considerable significance in the foraging behavior and interactionalorganization of ants. In the food bait technology, smell is the basis of attraction, which, in turn, is the line of baituse and a key parameter for judging efficacy. Yet, the currently available baits possess low attractiveness tomany ant pests. Hence, strategies to produce ant bait with increased attractiveness are needed. Despite evidencethat coffee has a diverse aroma complex that affects the behavior of honey bees and ants, its attraction to houseinvadingants has yet to be investigated. In a series of Y-tube olfactometer bioassays, we examined the behavioralresponses of Tapinoma indicum (TI), Monomorium pharaonis (MP) and Solenopsis geminata (SG) to various coffeeinducedodor stimuli, comprised of extracts from Arabica, Robusta and Liberica. All coffee extracts showed aninfluence on the behavior of TI, MP and SG workers, with Arabica showed the most significant influence to thetested ants. The workers of TI, MP and SG were more attracted to the odor of 0.01% Arabica extract (ONE), incomparison with 0.05% Arabica extract (TWO) or 0.10% Arabica extract (THREE). Arabica extract mixed withsugar (S) elicited a significant attraction from workers of all three species in a balanced competition with eitherunsweetened Arabica extract or water. These results indicated that coffee, particularly Arabica, was attractive tothe foragers of TI, MP and SG, thus, the use of coffee as a novel stimulus agent seems plausible in ant baitdevelopment.

16S rDNA metabarcoding of the bacterial community associated with workers of Pheidole rugaticeps Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Ashigar Mohammed Ahmed,Ab Majid Abdul Hafiz 한국응용곤충학회 2021 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.24 No.1

Insect microbiota are receiving increasing attention from researchers, particularly with the continued advances in next generation sequencing (NGS) techniques. However, there is a paucity of data on the microbiota of ants that scavenge around human settlements. In this study, we characterized the bacterial communities of Pheidole rugaticeps Emery that were collected scavenging on other household insects using Illumina MiSeq highthroughput sequencing of the bacterial 16S ribosomal DNA gene. P. rugaticeps DNA was extracted from the in sect samples using a HiYield™ Genomic DNA isolation kit according to the manufacturer’s protocols and amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The PCR products were sequenced with the Illumina MiSeq platform according to the standard protocols to amplify the V3–V4 of the 16S rDNA gene. The results for the 16S rDNA genes were analysed using QIIME 2 Core − 2020.6, and a 16S rDNA metabarcoding dataset was presented. A total of 46,651 reads were obtained from three genomic samples. A total of 368 amplicon sequence variants (ASV) comprising 165 genera were revealed and classified into 17 phyla. Proteobacteria (57.47%) and Firmicutes (33.14%) were the most abundant taxa, while Acinetobacter (37.10%) was the most abundant genus in all three sampling groups. Pathogenic bacteria species, such as Acinetobacter baumannii (15%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2.92%), were identified from P. rugaticeps samples collected from a hospital environment. However, this study recommends more studies on the microbiota of Pheidole ants with different feeding habits and habitats to establish their core microbiome.

Ecological factors affecting host plant and shelter preferences of Tetraponera rufonigra (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in urban ecosystem

Faezah Syukriah Sabtu,Abdul Hafiz Ab Majid 한국응용곤충학회 2018 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.21 No.3

Host-plant preferences of Tetraponera rufonigra Jerdon (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) were assessed by field measurement in relation to the types of trash found in the surrounding tree perimeters. The correlations between the density of T. rufonigra and the plants (types of trash and levels of infestation) were determined based on the data gathered at 34 study sites in the Eastern part of the Penang Island to clarify the density differences of T. rufonigra among the sites. A simple linear regression analysis was also employed to assess the effects of environmental parameters i.e. UV light, temperature and humidity on the density of T. rufonigra. No significant difference was found between the infestation level at each site and the types of trash. Six species were identified as host-plant preferences of T. rufonigra i.e. Cassia fistula L., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Mimusops elengi L., Delonix regia (Hook), Cerberra odollam Gaertn and Tabebuia rosea (Bertol.). These tree species were recorded for the first time as the most preferred host trees by T. rufonigra in Malaysia. The results also identified that T. rufonigra preferred the trees with high humidity level, suitable surrounding temperature and UV light as their habitats

Genetic variation and population structure of the arboreal bicolored ant Tetraponera rufonigra Jerdon from selected urban locations in eastern Penang Island, Malaysia

Faezah Syukriah Sabtu,Abdul Hafiz Ab Majid 한국응용곤충학회 2017 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.20 No.4

Tetraponera rufonigra, commonly known as the arboreal bicolored ant has gained its notoriety as one of the medically-important pest insects in Malaysia. T. rufonigra is recognizable by its excruciating sting, causing a severe anaphylaxis especially to those with the history of allergy. In this study, genetic diversity and population structure of T. rufonigra populations were examined based on a 503 base pair fragment of the mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene. Specimens were collected from six different localities in urban areas in the eastern part of Penang Island. The six populations exhibited high pairwise genetic differentiation (FST), ranging from 0.42 to 1.00 and low gene flow (Nm), ranging from 0.00 to 0.69, except for populations of CSA and CH (FST =0.0, Nm =−1813.68). From AMOVA analysis, a high genetic variation was observed among populations i.e. 99.58% (FST =0.996 p=0.000 ± 0.000). These results provided the basic information for entomologists to better understand the difference of genetic structure of T. rufonigra at a population level and can be further utilized to estimate the contributing factors in the genetic differentiation of this species in urban areas. Our results suggested that the population structure and the gene flow of T. rufonigra in some studied areas might have been affected by the dispersal ability of the insect, environmental conditions, and/or human-mediated dispersal, while, populations of other areas retained their gene flow. These findings might provide useful baseline information for the implementation of area-wide pest management as well as for further characterization of genetic variation and population structure of this medically-important pest.

Characterization of gut bacterial community associated with worker and soldier castes of Globitermes sulphureus Haviland (Blattodea: Termitidae) using 16S rRNA metagenomic

Nurul Akmar Hussin,Kamarul Zaman Zarkasi,Abdul Hafiz Ab Majid 한국응용곤충학회 2018 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.21 No.4

Globitermes sulphureus is a major pest in coconut plantations and also a secondary pest in the urban, suburban and rural areas of building structures, as well as in tropical agriculture areas. Although the literature revealed microbiome in termite guts, the bacterial community in G. sulphureus intestinal tracts remain largely unidentified. Here, we aimed to characterize the bacterial community associated with the worker and soldier castes of G. sulphureus using 16S metagenomic. The Illumina HiSeq 2500 sequencing machine was used to amplify the V3 and V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene. The sequencing output was analyzed using Qiime pipeline v1.9.1. The result of the analysis showed that Spirochaetes, Fibrobacteres, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Bacteroidetes were the dominant phyla that reside in the guts of the worker and soldier castes. We found that the worker and soldier castes shared similar bacterial phyla in their guts but different bacterial genera. Our findings provided a baseline information on microbial community inhabiting G. sulphureus guts up to the genus level for some phyla.

Changes in the biting activity of a dengue vector relative to larval and adult nutritional histories: Implications for preventive measures

Hamady Dieng,Ooi Seow Hui,Ahmad Abu Hassan,Fatimah Abang,Idris Abd Ghani,Tomomitsu Satho,Fumio Miake,Hamdan Ahmad,Yuki Fukumitsu,Wan Fatma Zuharah,Abdul Hafiz Ab Majid,Nur Faeza Abu Kassim,Nur Aida Ha 한국응용곤충학회 2015 Journal of Asia-Pacific Entomology Vol.18 No.3

Themagnitude of dengue transmission depends largely on the level of human–vector contact. Therefore, knowledge regarding the biting periodicity ofmosquitoes is crucial to determine transmission periods' risk, and in planning personal protection measures. Dengue vectors are day-active and endure transitory periods of starvation overnight. However, it is unclear howtheir blood feeding activity pattern is related to body sizewhen temporarily deprived of their main source of energy — sugar. We examined the changes in Aedes albopictus diurnal biting activity, taking into account larval nutritional history and adult starvation. Overall, large body size and nonstarvation conditions were associated with better blood feeding success, but these parameters did not significantly modify the timing of first blood feeding attempt. Females of both sizes showed significant temporal variations in their blood feeding activities. Under conditions of starvation, blood meal uptake was much greater in large females from morning to evening. Similar variations of feeding activity were observed in small females, except in the morning. Under non-starvation conditions, the blood feeding activity of small mosquitoes tended to decrease over time, whereas blood meal uptake activity was high and remained almost constant from morning to evening for larger mosquitoes. Thiswork emphasizes the importance of body size and hunger on the dynamics of vector–host interaction and has important implications for the development of novel strategies for the prevention of disease transmission. Knowingwhen dengue vectors actively bite during the day can help in timing effective personal protective measures.