Host Specificity of Four Pseudacteon Spp. (Diptera: Phoridae), Parasitoids of Fire Ants in Argentina (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

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Behavior and Development of <I>Pseudacteon curvatus</I> (Diptera: Phoridae) Varies According to the Social Form of Its Host <I>Solenopsis invicta</I> (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Its Native Range

“…Details of life history (Porter et al 1995b;Morrison et al 1997;Folgarait et al 2002aFolgarait et al , 2005bFolgarait et al , 2006, karyotypes in somatic cells (Chirino et al 2006(Chirino et al , 2007, host speciÞcity (Porter et al 1995a, Folgarait et al 2002b, Vazquez et al 2004, Estrada et al 2006, and oviposition behavior , Wuellner et al 2002 have been documented. Pseudacteon species vary in size, and in host ant workers sizes preferred for oviposition, by attacking a certain size range of host workers (Feener 1987;Morrison et al 1997;Morrison and Gilbert 1998;Folgarait et al 2002aFolgarait et al , 2005bFolgarait et al , 2006.…”

“…Pseudacteon curvatus was released in several states (Porter 2000), and host speciÞcity tests showed that ßies from different Argentinean provinces prefer different Þre ant species (Graham et al 2003, Vazquez et al 2004, Thead et al 2005, Estrada et al 2006. P. curvatus from Buenos Aires province has a strong preference for S. richteri and hybrids S. richteri ϫ S. invicta (Porter and Briano 2000, Graham et al 2003, Thead et al 2005, whereas P. curvatus from Formosa province prefers to attack the red imported Þre ant S. invicta (Vazquez et al 2004).…”

Current Understanding and Future Prospects of Host Selection, Acceptance, Discrimination, and Regulation of Phorid Fly Parasitoids That Attack Ants

“…These cocktails of cues, each of which may vary in degrees of host specificity and timing of detection (sequentially or simultaneously), allow the flies to find suitable hosts in a complex environment. Researchers often study the interactions between phorid flies and their ant hosts in order to address the role of phorid flies as potential biological control agents of ants [30,46,[60][61][62][63][64][65][66]. However, understanding these interactions could potentially shed light on evolutionary and ecological processes as well as provide a better understanding of multimodal communication.…”

Introduction of the fire ant decapitating fly Pseudacteon obtusus in the United States: factors influencing establishment in Texas

“…Host specificity testing of P. obtusus was completed in 2006 (Estrada et al 2006), and the species showed a high degree of host affinity in sequential no-choice tests using invicta-geminata-invicta sequences. Separate specificity testing of the smaller cryptic species ''small obtusus'' was carried out earlier (Morrison and Gilbert 1999) before the issue of large and small was resolved.…”