Ecological Dominance by Paratrechina longicornis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an Invasive Tramp Ant, in Biosphere 2

Wetterer, James K.; Miller, Scott E.; Wheeler, Diana E.; Olson, Carl A.; Polhemus, Dan A.; Pitts, Mary E.; Ashton, Isabel W.; Himler, Anna G.; Yospin, M. M.; Helms, Ken R.; Harken, E. L.; Gallaher, Jill; Dunning, Connell E; Nelson, Mark D.; Litsinger, J. A.; Southern, Adrian; Burgess, T.

doi:10.2307/3496865

Cited by 53 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Species from these genera are known to be behaviorally and ecologically dominant, with high abundance and resource monopolization, in highly disturbed landscapes. These ants have been recognized as dominant species in many ant communities in disturbed habitats worldwide, where they suppress invertebrate biodiversity via competitive exclusion [49,50,51,52,53]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of remnant forest on insect successional response in tropical fire-impacted peatland: A bi-taxa comparison

et al. 2017

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Fire has become a common feature in tropical drained peatlands, and it may have detrimental impacts on the overall biodiversity of the forest ecosystem. We investigated the effect of fire on termite and ant assemblages and the importance of remnant forest in restoring species diversity in fire-impacted tropical peat swamp forests. The species loss of both termites and ants was as high as 50% in some fire-impacted peats compared to remnant forests, but in most cases the species richness for termites and ants was statistically equal along the land uses surveyed. However, a pronounced difference in functional group composition of termites was detected. In particular, sites close to remnant forests contained two additional termite feeding groups so that they shared a similar composition structure with remnant forests but were significantly different from sites distant from remnant forests. In general, ants were resilient to fire, and the similarity index showed a high degree of similarity among ant communities in all land uses surveyed. The Shannon diversity index for termites and ants decreased with increasing distance from the remnant forests and level of ecological degradation. Peat vegetation variables and ecological degradation were important in shaping termite and ant communities in the tropical peatlands, but their relative importance was not significant in fire-impacted peats regardless of distance from the remnant forests. This study highlights the importance of remnant forests as a biodiversity repository and natural buffer that can enhance species diversity and recolonization of forest-adapted species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of remnant forest on insect successional response in tropical fire-impacted peatland: A bi-taxa comparison

et al. 2017

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“…P. longicornis also invaded the Biosphere 2 Center (Oracle/Arizona) shortly after it was built. It excluded virtually every animal which was not a mutualist, or which was not protected in some way (Wetterer et al 1997;Wetterer et al 1999). Preliminary studies at Biosphere 2 indicated that the predominance of the crazy ant P. longicornis seemed to be related to this ants' excellent exploitative and interference abilities rather than to physical aggressiveness or defensive strategies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Complex chemical communication in the crazy ant Paratrechina longicornis Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

2007

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The formicine ant Paratrechina longicornis is known for its extremely opportunistic foraging behaviour. Only a single trail pheromone source, the rectum, was previously described from this ant. Our detailed examination of this ant's chemical communication system revealed the presence of at least four sources of pheromones. Rectum, poison sac, and Dufour gland contain orientation components with decreasing effectiveness and persistence (in the sequence mentioned) as well as attractants with increasing effectiveness. Furthermore, the mandibular gland contains repellents, and a releaser of defensive behaviour. This set of various signals of different strength and persistence allows an extraordinary degree of flexibility and efficiency in the collective behaviour of P. longicornis, especially food exploitation, and thus may contribute to this insect's overall ecological success.

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“…Several species of the myrmicine genus Cardiocondyla are such stealthy invaders (Passera, 1994). Cardiocondyla are often among the fi rst arthropod pioneers settling in disturbed areas (Hoffmann and Andersen, 2003), including recently formed volcanic islands (Ball and Glucksman, 1975;Edwards and Thornton, 2001), rehabilitated bauxite mines and ash dams (Majer et al, 1984;van Hamburg et al, 2004) and the 1.28 hectare closed greenhouse structure biosphere 2 in Arizona (Wetterer et al, 1999). At least six originally paleotropic species (C. emeryi Forel, 1881;C.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stealthy invaders: the biology of Cardiocondyla tramp ants

et al. 2006

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Many invasive ant species, such as the Argentine ant or the red imported fi re ant, have huge colonies with thousands of mass-foraging workers, which quickly monopolise resources and therefore represent a considerable threat to the native ant fauna. Cardiocondyla obscurior and several other species of this myrmicine genus have similarly been transferred throughout the tropics by human activities. However, because their colonies are tiny and workers forage solitarily, Cardiocondyla are often not recognized as successful invaders. Here, we document that the life history of Cardiocondyla closely resembles that of the more conspicuous tramp species, with polygyny, intranidal mating, budding, worker sterility, low genetic variability, and possibly also unicoloniality. Given that introduced Cardiocondyla may locally reach a very high population density, the effects of these stealthy invaders on the native arthropod fauna should receive more attention.

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Ecological Dominance by Paratrechina longicornis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an Invasive Tramp Ant, in Biosphere 2

Cited by 53 publications

References 12 publications

The effect of remnant forest on insect successional response in tropical fire-impacted peatland: A bi-taxa comparison

The effect of remnant forest on insect successional response in tropical fire-impacted peatland: A bi-taxa comparison

Complex chemical communication in the crazy ant Paratrechina longicornis Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Stealthy invaders: the biology of Cardiocondyla tramp ants

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