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Sugar is an ant’s best friend? Testing food web theory predictions about trophic position and abundance in an invasive ant (Nylanderia fulva). Biol Invasions 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-021-02627-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Du Y, Grodowitz MJ, Chen J. Electrophysiological Responses of Eighteen Species of Insects to Fire Ant Alarm Pheromone. INSECTS 2019; 10:insects10110403. [PMID: 31739452 PMCID: PMC6920760 DOI: 10.3390/insects10110403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Olfaction plays a dominant role in insect communication. Alarm pheromones, which alert other insects of the same species of impending danger, are a major class of releaser pheromones. The major components of alarm pheromones in red imported fire ants, honeybees and aphids have been identified as 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (2E-3,6-DP), isopentyl acetate (IPA), and E-β-farnesene (EβF), respectively. In this study, electroantennography (EAG) responses to EDP (a mixture of 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine), IPA and EβF were investigated in a wide range of insect species. Beside imported fire ants, the EDP (2-ethyl-3,6(5)-dimethylpyrazine) elicited significant EAG response from all other tested insects, including six ant species and one hybrid ant, honeybee, bagrada bug, lady beetle, housefly, small hive beetle, yellow fever mosquito, termite, bedbug, water hyacinth weevil, southern green stink bug and two aphid species. In contrast, IPA elicited significant EAG response only in the honeybee, red imported fire ant, an Aphaenogaster ant, and the water hyacinth weevil. The EβF only elicited EAG responses in two aphids, small hive beetle and housefly. The results clearly indicate that EDP can be detected by widespread insect species that did not coevolve with S. invicta and further suggested alkylpyrazine may activate multiple generally tuned olfactory receptors (ORs) across a wide number of insect species.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jian Chen
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +662-686-3066
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Kjeldgaard MK, Takano OM, Bockoven AA, Teel PD, Light JE, Hamer SA, Hamer GL, Eubanks MD. Red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) aggression influences the behavior of three hard tick species. EXPERIMENTAL & APPLIED ACAROLOGY 2019; 79:87-97. [PMID: 31552562 DOI: 10.1007/s10493-019-00419-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 09/13/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Few studies have documented the indirect effects of predators on tick behavior. We conducted behavioral assays in the laboratory to quantify the effects of a highly abundant predator, the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), on three species of ticks endemic to the southern USA: the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum), the Gulf Coast tick (A. maculatum), and the Cayenne tick (A. mixtum). We documented ant aggression toward ticks (biting, carrying, and stinging) and determined the effects of ants on tick activity. Ticks were significantly less active in the presence of fire ants, and tick activity was negatively associated with ant aggression, but in many cases the effects of fire ants on ticks varied by tick species, stage, and engorgement status. For example, fire ants took half as long (~ 62 s) to become aggressive toward unfed A. americanum adults compared with unfed A. maculatum, and only ~ 8 s to become aggressive toward engorged A. maculatum nymphs. Correspondingly, the activity of unfed A. americanum adults and engorged A. maculatum nymphs was reduced by 67 and 93%, respectively, in the presence of fire ants. This reduction in tick activity translated to less questing by unfed ticks and less time spent walking by engorged nymphs. Our results suggest that fire ants may have important non-consumptive effects on ticks and demonstrate the importance of measuring the indirect effects of predators on tick behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- MacKenzie K Kjeldgaard
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
| | - Oona M Takano
- Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 2258 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
- Department of Biology and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, MSC03 2020, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, USA
| | - Alison A Bockoven
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Pete D Teel
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Jessica E Light
- Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences, Texas A&M University, 2258 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Sarah A Hamer
- Department of Veterinary Integrative Biosciences, Texas A&M University, 402 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Gabriel L Hamer
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Micky D Eubanks
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2475 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
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Inyang EI, Hix RL, Tsolova V, Rohde BB, Dosunmu O, Mankin RW. Subterranean Acoustic Activity Patterns of Vitacea polistiformis (Lepidoptera: Sesiidae) in Relation to Abiotic and Biotic Factors. INSECTS 2019; 10:insects10090267. [PMID: 31443578 PMCID: PMC6780318 DOI: 10.3390/insects10090267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Revised: 08/17/2019] [Accepted: 08/20/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Grape root borer (GRB), Vitacea polistiformis, is a root-feeding pest of grapevines in the US southeast that causes underground damage well before vines show visible symptoms. A 269-d study was conducted at 31 sites in a Florida vineyard to record short bursts of insect movement and feeding vibrations in grapevine root systems and provide information that can improve timing and targeting of GRB management efforts. Characteristic spectral and temporal patterns in the subterranean vibrations facilitated discrimination of GRB from background noise and non-targeted arthropods. Infestation likelihood of GRB at each site was estimated from previous studies relating infestation to burst rate. In all, 39% of recordings indicated low infestation likelihood. Sites with medium or high infestation likelihood were confined to a small region of the vineyard where a vine with larval feeding damage was confirmed. The restricted area suggests that the biological control or chemical treatments could be reduced elsewhere. Acoustic activity was significantly greater in fall and winter than in spring, and greater in evening than afternoon; fall evenings seemed best for GRB acoustic surveys. The GRB seasonal and circadian acoustic variation reflected phenological variation in grape root growth and nutrients and was not significantly correlated with temperature.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edidiong I Inyang
- Center for Biological Control, Florida A&M University (FAMU), Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
| | - Raymond L Hix
- Center for Biological Control, Florida A&M University (FAMU), Tallahassee, FL 32307, USA
| | | | - Barukh B Rohde
- Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Omotola Dosunmu
- Entomology and Nematology Department, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Richard W Mankin
- US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Center for Medical, Agricultural and Veterinary Entomology, Gainesville, FL 32608, USA.
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Lenoir A, Devers S, Touchard A, Dejean A. The Guianese population of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima is unicolonial. INSECT SCIENCE 2016; 23:739-745. [PMID: 25953710 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
In this study, conducted in French Guiana, a part of the native range of the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima, we compared the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of media workers with previous results based on intraspecific aggressiveness tests. We noted a strong congruence between the two studies permitting us to delimit 2 supercolonies extending over large distances (up to 54 km), a phenomenon known as unicoloniality. Solenopsis geminata workers, taken as an out-group for cluster analyses, have a very different cuticular hydrocarbon profile. Because S. saevissima has been reported outside its native range, our conclusion is that this species has the potential to become invasive because unicoloniality (i.e., the main attribute for ants to become invasive) was shown at least for the Guianese population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alain Lenoir
- IRBI, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR CNRS 7261, Université François Rabelais, 37200, Tours, France.
| | - Séverine Devers
- IRBI, Institut de Recherche sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, UMR CNRS 7261, Université François Rabelais, 37200, Tours, France
| | - Axel Touchard
- CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR CNRS 8172), Campus agronomique, BP 316, 97379, Kourou cedex, France
| | - Alain Dejean
- CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR CNRS 8172), Campus agronomique, BP 316, 97379, Kourou cedex, France
- Université de Toulouse, UPS, INP, Ecolab, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse and CNRS, Ecolab (UMR-CNRS 5245), 31062, Toulouse, France
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Dejean A, Corbara B, Céréghino R, Leponce M, Roux O, Rossi V, Delabie JHC, Compin A. Traits allowing some ant species to nest syntopically with the fire ant Solenopsis saevissima in its native range. INSECT SCIENCE 2015; 22:289-294. [PMID: 25813245 DOI: 10.1111/1744-7917.12078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/29/2013] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Supercolonies of the red fire ant Solenopsis saevissima (Smith) develop in disturbed environments and likely alter the ant community in the native range of the species. For example, in French Guiana only 8 ant species were repeatedly noted as nesting in close vicinity to its mounds. Here, we verified if a shared set of biological, ecological, and behavioral traits might explain how these 8 species are able to nest in the presence of S. saevissima. We did not find this to be the case. We did find, however, that all of them are able to live in disturbed habitats. It is likely that over the course of evolution each of these species acquired the capacity to live syntopically with S. saevissima through its own set of traits, where colony size (4 species develop large colonies), cuticular compounds which do not trigger aggressiveness (6 species) and submissive behaviors (4 species) complement each other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alain Dejean
- CNRS, Écologie des Forêts de Guyane (UMR-CNRS 8172), Campus agronomique, BP 316, 97387 Kourou cedex; Université de Toulouse; UPS, INP, Ecolab, 118 route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse
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