Asian weaver ants,Oecophylla smaragdina,and their repelling of pollinators

Abstract

The Asian weaver ant, Oecophylla smaragdina, is known to have outstanding predatory power. This ant can protect the host plants from attacks of phytophagous insects and therefore has been used for biological control in the tropics. We present evidence for a possible negative effect of Oecophylla on the performance of host plants. Our observation in a fruit orchard of rambutan in Sumatra suggested that the presence of Oecohylla nests on the trees statistically significantly lowered the flower-visiting rate of flying insects, involving the major pollinator Trigona minangkabau. The visiting rate of Oecophylla workers to each flower shoot of rambutan significantly negatively correlated with the visiting rate of flying insects. Empirical evidence of such an inhibitory effect on flower-visiting of pollinators cased by aggressive ants has been scarce so far.

Host plants and associated trophobionts of the weaver ants Oecophylla spp. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).

“…Nevertheless, control measures were often advocated to prevent the homopterans from being spread by their custodians [47,66,72,73]. In addition to being a nuisance pest, O. smaragdina was found to deter insect pollinators of Nephelium lappaceum L. (Sapindaceae) but no apparent reduction in fruit yield was observed [65]. The ant also preys on honeybees (Apis mellifera L., Hymenoptera) [4].…”

Contribution of Diurnal and Nocturnal Insects to the Pollination of Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) in Southwestern China

“…Insects are known to use a variety of sensory modalities in foraging, and visual, olfactory, and gustatory cues are usually involved in their orientation to and finding of food sources (Barth et al 1985;Willmer & Stone 1997;Kats & Dill 1998;Dicke & Grostal 2001;Tsuji et al 2004;. In butterfly species, attraction to flowers is modulated by olfaction of floral scents (Honda et al 1998;Andersson 2003;Tasin et al 2010), and ant visitation to plants has been shown to hinder pollinators (Blancafort & Gómez 2005).…”

African weaver ant-produced semiochemicals impact on foraging behaviour and parasitism by the Opiine parasitoid, Fopius arisanus on Bactrocera invadens (Diptera: Tephritidae)

“…ant nests on trees significantly reduced the flower visitation rate of the major pollinator Trigona minangkabau L. while other arboreal Crematogaster spp. ants had no effect on flower visitation (Tsuji et al, 2004). The authors attributed this to characteristic strong territorial defences and aggression towards other organisms in O. smaragdina (Hölldobler, 1983;Hölldobler and Wilson, 1990).…”