Impact of the Red Imported Fire Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on Epigeic Arthropods of Cotton Agroecosystems

Abstract

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), has been studied extensively in its role in aboveground food webs of agroecosystems of the southern United States. There is also a limited body of evidence suggesting that S. invicta may significantly influence the soil fauna. This study examined the influence of fire ants on the arthropod communities at the soil surface of cotton, Gossypium hirsutum L., fields at two field sites operated by the University of Georgia in Athens and Tifton, GA (1 yr at each location). Fire ant abundance was suppressed in large plots with ant-specific hydramethylnon-based bait, and arthropods were collected from treatment and control plots by using pitfall traps during multiple week-long sample periods to measure the abundance of epigeic arthropods. Sampling was conducted from June through September 2006 in Athens and from July through September 2007 in Tifton. Although fire ant suppression decreased the abundance of erythraeid mites and nitidulid beetles at both sites, the majority of effects were site-specific. Other taxa positively associated with fire ants included oribatid mites and gnaphosid and linyphiid spiders. In contrast, the abundance of springtails, earwigs, endomychid beetles, and thrips increased with fire ant suppression. This study demonstrates that S. invicta can significantly influence both pest and beneficial epigeic arthropods and that although fire ants exert clear effects on specific taxa, their effects are not uniform within a given trophic group as members from the same guild were differentially impacted.

Can the absence of ants interfere in the arthropods abundance on corn plants (Zea mays L. - Poaceae)?

“…In Europe, some studies have been made in order to assess the potential of ants as agents for biological control in pinus (Neuvonen et al, 2012) and olive orchards (Paredes et al, 2013) reforestation areas. Similar studies have been made in cotton (Kaplan & Eubanks, 2005;Wickings & Ruberson, 2011), corn (Knutson & Campos, 2008), cocoa (Philpott & Armbrecht, 2006;Tadu et al, 2014), sugar cane (Souza et al, 2010) and orchards (Fernandes et al, 2012) in North and South America.…”

“…However, due to its aggressive behavior, ants can prey or repel other natural enemies of herbivorous and it causes negative indirect impact on plants protection against herbivorous (Kaplan & Eubanks, 2005;Powell & Silverman, 2010;Wickings & Ruberson, 2011). Therefore, results from these interactions do not always bring benefits to the involved plants and it shows limitations to the ant-plant interaction (Alves-Silva & Del-Claro 2016; Lange & Del-Claro, 2014).…”

The Study on the Roles of Predators on Asian Corn Stem Borer, <i>Ostrinia furnacalis</i> Guenee (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

“…is a popular soil-dwelling ant that had been reported by some authors in their roles for a potential biological control of wide range of such herbivores of various agricultural plants as coffee berry borer (Armbrecht and Gallego, 2007), earworm (Allen and Campos, 2008), brown plant hoper, Nilaparvata lugens on upland rice field (Way et al, 2002), apple snail, Pomacea canaliculata on irrigated paddy fields (Yusa, 2001). S. invicta worker densities was reported to have a negative association with all herbivores on cotton (Eubanks, 2001;Wickings and John, 2011) and with most herbivores on soybean plants (Eubanks, 2001). The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis is an important predator of boll weevil (Diaz et al, 2004;Fillman and Sterling, 1983;Sterling et al, 1984;Agnew and Sterling, 1981), beet armyworm (Diaz et al, 2004) and coleopteran and homopteran insect pests attacking sweet potato (Rashid et al, 2013).…”

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, modifies predation at the soil surface and in cotton foliage

“…Predators were identified to species in the field where possible and were recorded either preying upon or simply occupying egg masses. Pitfall traps were also employed in all plots during each month of a concurrent experiment to assess the impact of fire ants on predator density/activity (see Wickings & Ruberson for full details).…”

“…Due to their engineering of the soil environment, fire ants alter soil physical, chemical and microbial traits (Zettler et al , ; Lafleur et al , ; DeFauw et al , ). Yet, only a handful of studies have investigated the effects of fire ants on predator composition and function at or below the soil surface, and the results of these studies are mixed ( Vinson, ; Nuessly & Sterling, ; Lee et al , ; Hill & Hoy, ; Wickings & Ruberson, ; Cao et al , ). Members of virtually every order of terrestrial arthropod, including many important agricultural pests, complete at least one life stage in soil (Triplehorn & Johnson, ).…”