Molasses provisioning to disrupt the mutualistic association of the biocontrol agent Oecophylla smaragdina weaver ants with honeydew-producing pest insects in mango in Thailand
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101067706. It is funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). DOI 10.3030/101067706 https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101067706 1.10.2022 – 30.9.2025 Oecophylla smaragdina weaver ants are important biocontrol agents of fruit crops in large parts of Asia. They forage on fruit pest insects for protein to raise their larvae. Foraging requires energy for which the ants tend honeydew-producing insects that feed on tree sap, such as aphids, planthoppers, and mealybugs. The ants consume the energy-rich excretions (honeydew) of these insects and protect them from their natural enemies. The worst case scenario is that the protection works so well that honeydew-producing insect populations become very large and destroy all inflorescence. No inflorescence means no fruit. Recent research with other ant species has shown the potential of provisioning sugar dissolved in water to disrupt the association of ants with honeydew-producing insects. The MolassAnt project will use sugarcane molasses which has a higher nutritional value than sugar to also support the productivity of the ant colonies since their large queen-destined larvae and pupae are a culturally valued food. The Molassant project will thus be about an ecologically and economically sustainable multi-production system of tropical fruit tree crops and edible weaver ant larvae and pupae whereby the weaver ants protect the fruit from pest insects and provide a food byproduct. The model tree crop will be mango, Mangifera indica. MolassAnt is a cooperation between KU Leuven, Kasetsart University (Thailand), and Biobest Group NV (Belgium). |