Effects of an African Weaver Ant, &lt;I&gt;Oecophylla longinoda&lt;/I&gt;, in Controlling Mango Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Benin

Mele, Paul Van; Vayssières, Jean‐François; Tellingen, Esther Van; Vrolijks, Jan

doi:10.1603/0022-0493(2007)100[695:eoaawa]2.0.co;2

Cited by 84 publications

(13 citation statements)

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“…Among the beneficial insect species which may regulate insect pest populations, we observed a diversity of ant species, some of which have already been reported by many authors in Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania, on cashew trees and other plants ( Van Mele et al. 2007 , Dwomoh et al.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Insect Fauna Associated With Anacardium occidentale (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae) in Benin, West Africa

Agboton

Onzo

Ouessou

et al. 2014

Journal of Insect Science

109

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Cashew, Anacardium occidentale L. (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae), is an important cash crop in Benin. However, its production is threatened by several biotic factors, especially insects. In Benin, very few studies have focused on insects and just listed species commonly found on cashew worldwide. The present investigation fills this gap by presenting an exhaustive inventory of insect species associated with this crop in the country. The survey was carried out from September 2009 to August 2010 in 22 cashew orchards (5 young and 17 mature) distributed over three major agroecological zones where cashew is most produced in the country. Insects were collected using chemical knock-down technique and visual observation followed by capture with sweep net. In addition, infested plant organs were sampled and incubated to collect emerging insects. In total, 262 insect species were recorded and identified. Among them, the wood borer Apate terebrans Pallas, the leafminer Eteoryctis gemoniella Stainton, and the mirid bugs Helopeltis schoutedeni Reuter., and Helopeltis anacardii Miller., appeared as the most important insect species attacking cashew in Benin. Beneficial insects encountered included some predators, parasitoids, and pollinators. Few vertebrate predators were also recorded on the trees. Differences in agroecological conditions or in field cleanliness did not affect the number of insect species encountered in the cashew orchards. The results of this study represent an important baseline data for the design and implementation of strategies for cashew protection in Benin.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 64%

Insect Fauna Associated With Anacardium occidentale (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae) in Benin, West Africa

Agboton

Onzo

Ouessou

et al. 2014

Journal of Insect Science

109

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“…In particular studies, the presence of ants significantly reduced pest densities of leaf-footed bugs (Coreidae; Peng et al, 1999;Dwomoh et al, 2009), mirid bugs (Miridae; Peng et al, 1999;Ayenor et al, 2007;Dwomoh et al, 2009;Forbes and Northfield, 2017a), stink bugs (Pentatomidae; Peng et al, 1999;Hosetti and Rudresh, 2012) and fruit flies (Tephritidae;Van Mele et al, 2007;Adandonon et al, 2009;Migani et al, 2017) (Figure 4A). Particular studies reported reduced pest damage from weevils (Curculionidae; (Peng and Christian, 2007;Peng et al, 2014;Abdulla et al, 2016)), fruit flies (Peng and Christian, 2006;Diame et al, 2015;Abdulla et al, 2017), and mirid bugs (Peng et al, 1995(Peng et al, , 2014Peng and Christian, 2008;Olotu et al, 2013;Abdulla et al, 2015) in the presence of ants ( Figure 4C).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Ant treatments had significantly fewer pests and less pest damage than treatments without ants. Outliers are shown as white dots, while the solid black line indicates the median and the box shows the distribution of the dataset compiled from 25 studies (Peng et al, 1995(Peng et al, , 1999(Peng et al, , 2011(Peng et al, , 2012(Peng et al, , 2013(Peng et al, , 2014Sporleder and Rapp, 1998;Peng and Christian, 2004, 2005b, 2008Ayenor et al, 2007;Van Mele et al, 2007;Adandonon et al, 2009;Dwomoh et al, 2009;Hosetti and Rudresh, 2012;Olotu et al, 2013;Pierre and Idris, 2013;Abdulla et al, 2015Abdulla et al, , 2016Abdulla et al, , 2017Anato et al, 2015;Diame et al, 2015;Forbes and Northfield, 2017a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some honeydew producers can be vectors for plant viruses or other pathogens (e.g., Parrella et al, 2003;Dzahini-Obiatey et al, 2006;Tsai et al, 2010), with the potential to yield infections that harm plants. Because weaver ants tend a wide diversity of potential pathogen vectors this indirect facilitation of plant diseases could be widespread if overlooked; for example, a survey of O. smaragdina in tropical northern Australia revealed that ants were engaged in tropobiotic relationships (Peng et al, 1995(Peng et al, , 2011(Peng et al, , 2012(Peng et al, , 2014Sporleder and Rapp, 1998;Peng and Christian, 2006, 2008Ayenor et al, 2007;Van Mele et al, 2007;Adandonon et al, 2009;Dwomoh et al, 2009;Abdulla et al, 2015Abdulla et al, , 2016Abdulla et al, , 2017Anato et al, 2015;Diame et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Weaver Ants Provide Ecosystem Services to Tropical Tree Crops

2019

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Generalist predators bring a complex mix of beneficial and harmful effects to agroecosystems. When these predators feed on herbivorous pests, biological control is improved with the potential to increase crop yield. However, generalists often feed on predators, pollinators, and plants, which might worsen pest outbreaks and reduce fruit set. For example, weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina) are major predators of several key, economically-damaging pest insects of tropical fruit and nut crops. Yet the ants also attack other predatory arthropods and important pollinators, while tending trophobiont honeydew producers like mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) that are themselves pests. Finally, ants will supplement their diet with sugars from floral and extrafloral nectaries, a form of plant feeding that presumably carries a physiological cost to the plant. Here, across previously-published experimental studies that compared treatments where ants were present vs. excluded, we summarize the effects of weaver ants on beneficial and pest insects and tree-crop productivity. Our quantitative review revealed nearly ubiquitous benefits of Oecophylla ants for tropical agriculture. Treatments with ants present generally showed lower pest densities and damage from pest insects in the families Coreidae, Miridae, Pentatomidae, and Tephritidae. Pest reduction was seen on cacao (Theobroma cacao), cashew (Anacardium occidentale), and mango (Mangifera indica) trees. The single exception to these pest reductions occurred when ants facilitated the population growth of mealybugs and other honeydew producers. In general, we found that Oecophylla ants provided the valuable ecosystem service of natural pest control to a diversity of tropical tree crops. Despite the potential for the ants to harm other predators or pollinators, evidence for these ecosystem disservices was rare and other beneficial insects co-exist well with this group of ants. Our findings bolster the general finding that ant species that tend herbivores who are not themselves pests can provide broad-reaching benefits to plant productivity. More generally, our findings are consistent with the many cases where non-pest prey bolster densities of polyphagous predators with benefits for biological control despite some degree of plant feeding by the predators.

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“…Weaver ants ( Oecophylla spp.) are utilized for biological control of insect pests in a number of tropical tree crops (Peng et al 2004 , 2010 ; Van Mele et al 2007 ) and are in this way known to improve fruit quality (Sinzogan et al 2008 ; Peng et al 2004 ). They are therefore increasingly being utilized as a substitute for synthetic chemical pesticides (Dwomoh et al 2009 ; Offenberg et al 2013 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Founding weaver ant queens (Oecophylla longinoda) increase production and nanitic worker size when adopting non-nestmate pupae

et al. 2015

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Weaver ants (Oecophylla longinoda Latreille) are used commercially to control pest insects and for protein production. In this respect fast colony growth is desirable for managed colonies. Transplantation of non-nestmate pupae to incipient colonies has been shown to boost colony growth. Our objectives were to find the maximum number of pupae a founding queen can handle, and to measure the associated colony growth. Secondly, we tested if transplantation of pupae led to production of larger nanitic workers (defined as unusually small worker ants produced by founding queens in their first batch of offspring). Forty-five fertilized queens were divided into three treatments: 0 (control), 100 or 300 non-nestmate pupae transplanted to each colony. Pupae transplantation resulted in highly increased growth rates, as pupae were readily adopted by the queens and showed high proportions of surviving (mean = 76%). However, survival was significantly higher when 100 pupae were transplanted compared to transplantation of 300 pupae, indicating that queens were unable to handle 300 pupae adequately and that pupae require some amount of nursing. Nevertheless, within the 60-day experiment the transplantation of 300 pupae increased total colony size more than 10-fold whereas 100 pupae increased the size 5.6 fold, compared to control. This increase was due not only to the individuals added in the form of pupae but also to an increased per capita brood production by the resident queen, triggered by the adopted pupae. The size of hatching pupae produced by the resident queen also increased with the number of pupae transplanted, leading to larger nanitic workers in colonies adopting pupae. In conclusion, pupae transplantation may be used to produce larger colonies with larger worker ants and may thus reduce the time to produce weaver ant colonies for commercial purposes. This in turn may facilitate the implementation of the use of weaver ants.

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Effects of an African Weaver Ant, <I>Oecophylla longinoda</I>, in Controlling Mango Fruit Flies (Diptera: Tephritidae) in Benin

Cited by 84 publications

References 1 publication

Insect Fauna Associated With Anacardium occidentale (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae) in Benin, West Africa

Insect Fauna Associated With Anacardium occidentale (Sapindales: Anacardiaceae) in Benin, West Africa

Weaver Ants Provide Ecosystem Services to Tropical Tree Crops

Founding weaver ant queens (Oecophylla longinoda) increase production and nanitic worker size when adopting non-nestmate pupae

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