Effect of Temperature on the Development and Survival of the Argentine Ant,<i>Linepithema humile</i>

Abril, Sílvia; Oliveras, Jordi; Gómez, Crisanto

doi:10.1673/031.010.9701

Cited by 51 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Based on weekly monitoring of an untreated field site, ant activity levels around the study area did not experience any natural decline throughout the entire field study period (J.W.T., unpublished data). Additionally, the average temperature range throughout the study was 20.6–32.2 °C, which is well within the temperature range which would allow normal foraging activity of Argentine ants …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Development of an alginate hydrogel to deliver aqueous bait for pest ant management

Tay

Hoddle

Mulchandani

et al. 2017

Pest Management Science

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Development of an alginate hydrogel to deliver aqueous bait for pest ant management

Tay

Hoddle

Mulchandani

et al. 2017

Pest Management Science

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“…Other experimental studies also had very low brood survival under similar laboratory conditions (e.g., Abril et al 2010). There are several potential causes for this high rate of attrition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Effects of the social environment on the survival and fungal resistance of ant brood

Purcell

Brütsch

Chapuisat

2011

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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The phenotype of social animals can be influenced by genetic, maternal and environmental effects, which include social interactions during development. In social insects, the social environment and genetic origin of brood can each influence a whole suite of traits, from individual size to caste differentiation. Here, we investigate to which degree the social environment during development affects the survival and fungal resistance of ant brood of known maternal origin. We manipulated one component of the social environment, the worker/brood ratio, of brood originating from single queens of Formica selysi. We monitored the survival of brood and measured the head size and ability to resist the entomopathogenic fungus Beauveria bassiana of the resulting callow workers. The worker/brood ratio and origin of eggs affected the survival and maturation time of the brood and the size of the resulting callow workers. The survival of the callow workers varied greatly according to their origin, both in controls and when challenged with B. bassiana. However, there was no interaction between the fungal challenge and either the worker/brood ratio or origin of eggs, suggesting that these factors did not affect parasite resistance in the conditions tested. Overall, the social conditions during brood rearing and the origin of eggs had a strong impact on brood traits that are important for fitness. We detected a surprisingly large amount of variation among queens in the survival of their brood reared in standard queenless conditions, which calls for further studies on genetic, maternal and social effects influencing brood development in the social insects.

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“…Consuming eggs and larvae of defeated enemies can hasten colony recovery, but transforming food into new workers may still take weeks (see Abril et al. ), implying some interval of vulnerability after battles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of worker density in colony‐level aggression, expansion, and survival of the acacia‐ant Crematogaster mimosae

Ruiz-Guajardo

Grossenbacher

Grosberg

et al. 2017

Ecological Monographs

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Experimental studies assessing the impact of demographic changes on aggression and inter‐group competitive outcomes in communities of social species are rare. This gap in our knowledge is important, not only because social species are foundational elements of many terrestrial ecosystems, but because interference competition among social groups often involves decision‐like processes influenced by demographic and environmental contexts. In East Africa, the symbiotic ant Crematogaster mimosae is a co‐dominant competitor that engages in high‐mortality, intra‐ and interspecific battles for sole possession of host trees. We manipulated worker density on C. mimosae Acacia host trees, and the colony's opportunity to expand onto neighboring trees to identify how these factors influenced colony‐level aggression, expansion success, and longer‐term survivorship. Worker density on focal trees was increased through translocation of domatia‐bearing branches, and was decreased using partial tree fumigations. We examined impacts of density manipulations on aggression and immediate expansion success under two different risk scenarios. We tied focal trees to either an experimentally emptied‐tree (low‐risk treatment), or to a C. nigriceps‐occupied tree (high‐risk treatment). Expansion success onto emptied neighbor trees was 100% for controls and increased‐density colonies, but only 50% for decreased‐density colonies, despite the fact that host trees are a limiting resource in this system. Success expanding onto trees occupied by a heterospecific competitor reached 36%, 40%, and 79% in decreased, control, and increased‐density trees, respectively. Our results show that changes in worker density due to disturbances or inter‐group battles have the potential to disrupt competitive hierarchies. Worker density manipulations also affected longer‐term colony persistence. Behavioral and genetic data revealed that 12 months after expansions 100% of the decreased‐density colonies, and 25% of control and increased‐density colonies, had been supplanted by neighboring opportunistic conspecifics. Intraspecific aggression may have lower costs in C. mimosae because aggressive colonies can incorporate workers or queens from defeated competitors. The unexpectedly high frequency of conflicts between conspecific C. mimosae, in combination with behaviors decreasing the cost of intraspecific competition relative to interspecific conflict, may create opportunities for the survival of subordinate competitors in this ant–plant system.

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Effect of Temperature on the Development and Survival of the Argentine Ant,Linepithema humile

Cited by 51 publications

References 36 publications

Development of an alginate hydrogel to deliver aqueous bait for pest ant management

Development of an alginate hydrogel to deliver aqueous bait for pest ant management

Effects of the social environment on the survival and fungal resistance of ant brood

Impacts of worker density in colony‐level aggression, expansion, and survival of the acacia‐ant Crematogaster mimosae

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