3. Discussion 105 from application The battle against the fire ant in Japan involves In 2017, the year that S. invicta was first confirmed in Japan, the first nest was documented at a container yard of Busan’s Gamman Port, where the ants had previously been intercepted at quarantine points (Wylie et al., 2020). This port is the country’s largest hub port for container shipments from China (Ha & Chang, 2008). In response to this detection, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency (APQA), South Korea, have been monitoring for the ants at 35 seaports around the country (Lee, 2017b). Consequently, more than 20 S. invicta invasions have been discovered, with all of them exterminated upon detection. In 2023, the first European establishment of S. invicta was reported, documenting 88 mature nests extending over about 4.7 ha near the container port of in Sicily, Italy (Menchetti et al., 2023). Augusta Considering the number and size of the colonies, combined with information from residents regarding frequent ant stings in the area since at least 2019, it is estimated that the ants invaded the area around 2017. As Italy is on China’s “One Belt, One Road” sea route, the most likely source of the invasion is sea containers from China. Genetic analysis has also shown that the ant in Italy most closely matched population detected populations in China or the United States, the latter being the source of the ants in China. A generally accepted biosecurity principle is that the earlier an invasive species is detected, the greater the chances of its eradication (Xu et al., 2022). This is evident for S. invicta in an empirical case involving an infestation in New Zealand: the ant was successfully eradicated when S. invicta invasions were detected in the early stages (Wylie et al., 2020). Furthermore, after S. invicta becomes established, the cost of eradicating the ants becomes quite high, due to the amount of treatment and labor required for frequent monitoring and application. For example, Australia is currently the only country making a serious attempt to eradicate a large population of S. invicta over an area exceeding 400 square kilometers. As of 2016, a total of AU$330 million had been spent on the program over a 15-year period, and in 2017, a further AU$411 million was committed for an additional 10 years (Wylie et al., 2020). In this context, both Japan and South Korea have successfully managed to prevent the incursion of S. invicta by employing early detection measures and if implementing swift eradication efforts. However, introductions of the ants via sea containers and the nesting in container yards persist, the risk of spread and colonization of inland areas will only continue to grow. To reduce the entry of S. invicta via sea containers in Japan, one possible solution international collaboration to ensure disinfestation of containers at points of departure from S. invicta-infested countries. The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), a multilateral treaty overseen by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and signed by over 180 countries, including China and Japan, has proposed guidelines for keeping containers and cargo clean to minimize the transference of invasive alien species via sea containers (IPPC, 2017). If fully implemented by all contracting parties, the IPPC guidelines are a powerful tool to mitigate risk of S. invicta contamination in sea containers. However, IPPC has not yet achieved its intended goal, due in economic, governmental, cultural and commercial environments among countries. Some countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, have implemented advanced measures for ensuring the cleanliness of import/export sea containers to prevent contamination by alien species (MAF, 2009), but not China (Lu & Zeng, 2015). Therefore, Japan needs to develop its own measures to prevent the entry of S. invicta via containers. Given this situation, Hashimoto et al. (2019, 2020) developed novel, effective methods to prevent S. invicta from entering containerized shipments (see the later sections of their theses for details). The key infiltrating innovation containerized of is microencapsulated allyl isothiocyanate (mAITC) as a repellent. AITC, a chemical compound derived from Wasabi (Eutrema japonicum (Miq.) Koidz.), is known for its repellent and fumigant properties against various pests (Mansour et al., 2012). The conventional application of AITC has been limited by its high volatility and intense pungency. Encapsulating AITC, however, facilitates a controlled, sustained release, mitigating irritancy and enhancing efficacy. Our research demonstrated that mAITC maintains a constant concentration of AITC even within a non-airtight cardboard box (Hashimoto et al., 2022). Subsequently, we confirmed the repellent efficacy of mAITC against S. invicta using actual shipping containers in S. invicta-infested areas and established an effective method for packing mAITC into containerized cargo. Considering that nearly 90 nests of S. invicta have been discovered in surface cracks in container yards, the risk of dispersal by the winged queens into inland areas has become imminent. To prevent its establishment in Japan, the repair and maintenance of container yards is urgent. However, in Japan, container yards at ports that handle high volumes of containers, thus with high potential for S. invicta infestation, typically operate on a 24/7 basis to accommodate the continuous arrival and departure of ships. As a result, halting operations for asphalt surface repair is challenging. In response to this situation, Hashimoto et al. (2024) have developed a low-viscosity silicone-modified resin to repair container yard cracks quickly and easily (Fig. 5). Characterized by extremely high permeability, an accelerated curing process and cost-efficiency, this resin facilitates prompt repairs without necessitating and effective crack to differences to prevent S. cargoes invicta the
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