A Survey for Pathogens of Fire Ants, Solenopsis spp., in the Southeastern United States

Jouvenaz, D. P.; Allen, George E.; Banks, William A.; Wojcik, Daniel P.

doi:10.2307/3493922

Cited by 173 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Polygyne (multiple-queen) colonies of S. invicta were collected from Athens, Georgia, USA in spring 2009 and reared under standard conditions [27] in Lausanne, Switzerland for two to three months. Social form of each colony was inferred from the presence of multiple inseminated queens in a colony and confirmed by the presence/absence of the Gp-9 b allele in workers using a PCR-RFLP assay [28] (colonies with workers bearing the Gp-9 b allele invariably are polygyne).…”

Section: (A) Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of ploidy and sex-locus genotype on gene expression patterns in the fire antSolenopsis invicta

et al. 2014

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Males in many animal species differ greatly from females in morphology, physiology and behaviour. Ants, bees and wasps have a haplodiploid mechanism of sex determination whereby unfertilized eggs become males while fertilized eggs become females. However, many species also have a low frequency of diploid males, which are thought to develop from diploid eggs when individuals are homozygous at one or more sex determination loci. Diploid males are morphologically similar to haploids, though often larger and typically sterile. To determine how ploidy level and sex-locus genotype affect gene expression during development, we compared expression patterns between diploid males, haploid males and females (queens) at three developmental timepoints in Solenopsis invicta. In pupae, gene expression profiles of diploid males were very different from those of haploid males but nearly identical to those of queens. An unexpected shift in expression patterns emerged soon after adult eclosion, with diploid male patterns diverging from those of queens to resemble those of haploid males, a pattern retained in older adults. The finding that ploidy level effects on early gene expression override sex effects (including genes implicated in sperm production and pheromone production/perception) may explain diploid male sterility and lack of worker discrimination against them during development.

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Section: (A) Sample Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of ploidy and sex-locus genotype on gene expression patterns in the fire antSolenopsis invicta

et al. 2014

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“…One colony identified as S. invicta and another as S. saevissima, collected in Anhembi and Sales Oliveira, respectively, were separated from soil particles by flotation (Jouvenaz et al 1977), transferred to white plastic trays (35 x 40 x 10 cm) coated internally with Fluon (ACG Chemicals Americas Incorporation, Bayonne, NJ) and fed with insects, water and sugar water during Brazil the study. These trays of fire ants were used in the host selection assays.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geographical transition zone of Solenopsis fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Pseudacteon fly parasitoids (Diptera: Phoridae) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Pesquero¹,

Penteado-Dias²

2011

Neotrop. entomol.

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Solenopsis saevissima (Smith) and Solenopsis invicta Buren are the most abundant and widely distributed fire ants in Brazil. The occurrence of the two fire ant species and of their parasitoids Pseudacteon spp. is described for a climatic and phytophysiognomic transition area in the state of São Paulo. Both fire ant species have a parapatric distribution, apparently determined by the climate: S. saevissima predominates in the north part of São Paulo (Aw climate), while S. invicta in the south (Cfa climate). A sympatric area is observed between the latitudes 21ºS and 23ºS. Two different communities of parasitic decapitating flies were associated with S. saevissima in the north and with S. invicta in the south, with a sympatric area in the municipality of São Carlos (21º58'S 47º53'W). The possible causes of this biogeographic pattern are discussed. Preference tests with Pseudacteon flies challenge the association of P. litoralis Borgmeier, P. curvatus Borgmeier, P. wasmanni Schmitz, P. pradei Borgmeier and P. obtusus Borgmeier with S. saevissima, and P. dentiger Borgmeier, P. disneyi Pesquero and P. lenkoi Borgmeier & Prado with S. invicta.

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“…Nest collection and colony extraction were performed according to methods found in Jouvenaz et al (1977). Ants were housed in plastic bins for 2-3 months at an ambient room temperature of 23±3°C with a relative humidity of 30±2%, and fed Vespula larvae and supplied with tap water twice a week.…”

Section: Antsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Behavioral and mechanical determinants of collective subsurface nest excavation

Monaenkova

Gravish

Rodriguez

et al. 2015

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Collective construction of topologically complex structures is one of the triumphs of social behavior. For example, many ant species construct underground nests composed of networks of tunnels and chambers. Excavation by these 'superorganisms' depends on the biomechanics of substrate manipulation, the interaction of individuals, and media stability and cohesiveness. To discover principles of robust social excavation, we used X-ray computed tomography to monitor the growth in three dimensions of nests built by groups of fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) in laboratory substrates composed of silica particles, manipulating two substrate properties: particle size and gravimetric moisture content. Ants were capable of nest construction in all substrates tested other than completely dry or fully saturated; for a given particle size, nest volume was relatively insensitive to moisture content. Tunnels were deepest at intermediate moisture content and the maximum tunnel depth correlated with measured yield force on small rod-shaped intruders (a proxy for cohesive strength). This implies that increased cohesive strength allowed creation of tunnels that were resistant to perturbation but did not decrease individual excavation ability. Ants used two distinct behaviors to create pellets composed of wetted particles, depending on substrate composition. However, despite the ability to create larger stable pellets in more cohesive substrates, pellet sizes were similar across all conditions. We posit that this pellet size balances the individual's load-carrying ability with the need to carry this pellet through confined crowded tunnels. We conclude that effective excavation of similarly shaped nests can occur in a diversity of substrates through sophisticated digging behaviors by individuals which accommodate both differing substrate properties and the need to work within the collective.

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A Survey for Pathogens of Fire Ants, Solenopsis spp., in the Southeastern United States

Cited by 173 publications

References 5 publications

Effects of ploidy and sex-locus genotype on gene expression patterns in the fire antSolenopsis invicta

Effects of ploidy and sex-locus genotype on gene expression patterns in the fire antSolenopsis invicta

Geographical transition zone of Solenopsis fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and Pseudacteon fly parasitoids (Diptera: Phoridae) in the state of São Paulo, Brazil

Behavioral and mechanical determinants of collective subsurface nest excavation

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