Red Imported Fire Ants Expand Their Range across the West Indies

Davis, Lloyd R.; Meer, Robert K. Van der; Porter, Sanford D.

doi:10.2307/3496416

Cited by 58 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…More recently, S. invicta has been inadvertently introduced to other regions of the world including several western states (e.g., New Mexico, California), the Carribean, Australia, mainland China, and Taiwan (MacKay and Fagerlund, 1997;Buckley, 1999;Davis et al, 2001;Nattrass and Vanderwoude, 2001;McCubbin and Weiner, 2002;Huang et al, 2004;Chen et al, 2006). In all of these areas, S. invicta is considered a significant pest such that its negative agricultural, ecological, and public health impacts can only be expected to intensify in the near future.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population genetic structure of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, in Taiwan

Yang

Shoemaker

et al. 2007

Insect. Soc.

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We generated and analyzed microsatellite genotypic data and mtDNA sequence data from the fire ant Solenopsis invicta collected from two separate infested areas (Taoyuan and Chiayi) in Taiwan to infer the population and colony structure of these recently established populations. These genetic analyses revealed the following patterns: 1) Relatedness among worker nestmates was significantly greater than zero for both social forms from both populations; 2) No significant isolation by distance was found among nests within each social form from either population; 3) Significant mtDNA but no nuclear differentiation occurs between sympatric social forms in Taoyuan; 4) Molecular signatures of genetic bottlenecks associated with recent introductions are evident in both populations; and 5) The two sampled populations, Taoyuan and Chiayi, are highly genetically differentiated at both the nuclear or mtDNA genomes and most likely derive from two separate introductions into Taiwan. While results from these analyses generally were consistent with predictions based on the known biology of these ants and similar studies of S. invicta in the U.S.A. and South America, some patterns likely reflect the recent introduction and human-mediated inadvertent transport of ants in Taiwan. This is the first study to investigate the population and colony structure of fire ants in Taiwan and results from our study represent an important contribution to the ongoing efforts aimed at eradicating this invasive pest in Taiwan.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population genetic structure of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, in Taiwan

Yang

Shoemaker

et al. 2007

Insect. Soc.

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“…Since its introduction into Mobile, Alabama from South America in the 1930s, S. invicta has spread across the southern United States (Callcott and Collins, 1996) and the Caribbean (Davis et al, 2001). This pest has recently turned up in Australia (Nattrass and Vanderwoude, 2001) and New Zealand (Harris, 2001), and could potentially invade many regions around the globe .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenology and parasitism rates in introduced populations of Pseudacteon tricuspis, a parasitoid of Solenopsis invicta

Morrison

Porter

2005

Biocontrol

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Abstract. We documented patterns of seasonal abundance and rates of parasitism in introduced populations of Pseudacteon tricuspis Borgmeier, a phorid parasitoid of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Adult P. tricuspis populations were censused at monthly intervals for 1 year at three sites in northern Florida. Censuses were conducted by aspirating phorids attracted to disturbed S. invicta mounds. Pseudacteon tricuspis adults were present in every month at all sites, although abundances varied greatly among sites and over time. The highest densities of flies (up to 453 censused at 10 disturbed S. invicta mounds in 30 min) were observed in November, and changes in abundance over time were positively correlated among sites. Sex ratios were usually male biased. Parasitism rates were evaluated by collecting workers from field colonies and monitoring them in the laboratory for evidence of parasitism. Parasitism rates were very low -always less than 1%. The average parasitism rate per colony over 16 colonies and 2 years was 0.058%. No pupariation occurred within the first 8 days of collection, suggesting parasitism by P. tricuspis induced behavioral changes in parasitized workers that precluded such workers from our collections. If so, true field parasitism rates may be several times higher than measured here, yet still low in an absolute sense. These low parasitism rates can be reconciled with observed adult phorid densities by considering the large number of host ants present at the study sites.

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“…It is potentially useful in integrated pest management, for example in combination with poison baits, possibly before baiting treatment to improve bait removal to the nest after starvation, or after insect densities have been lowered by baiting. Trail disruption could prove to be useful in the event of detection of new incursions of this species, for example to island nations (Davis et al 2001;Henshaw et al 2005;Chen et al 2006;Christian 2009), where the prospects of eradication may be greater.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The affected economic sectors are broad ranging and include households, electric service and communications, agriculture, schools, and recreation areas (Lard et al 2006). In the last decade, S. invicta has changed from an invasive pest ant in the United States to a global problem, with infestations occurring in New Zealand (now eradicated, Christian 2009), Australia (Henshaw et al 2005), Mexico (Sánchez-Peña et al 2005), Taiwan (Chen et al 2006), China (Zhang et al 2007), and many Caribbean Island countries (Davis et al 2001). The monogyne social form of S. invicta in the USA has population densities up to 100 colonies/ha and, at 250 thousand workers per colony, the resource demands are great.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Trail Pheromone Disruption of Red Imported Fire Ant

et al. 2010

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The fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), is considered one of the most aggressive and invasive species in the world. Toxic bait systems are used widely for control, but they also affect non-target ant species and cannot be used in sensitive ecosystems such as organic farms and national parks. The fire ant uses recruitment pheromones to organize the retrieval of large food resources back to the colony, with Z,E-alpha-farnesene responsible for the orientation of workers along trails. We prepared Z,E-alpha-farnesene, (91% purity) from extracted E,E-alpha-farnesene and demonstrated disruption of worker trail orientation after presentation of an oversupply of this compound from filter paper point sources (30 microg). Trails were established between queen-right colony cells and food sources in plastic tubs. Trail-following behavior was recorded by overhead webcam, and ants were digitized before and after presentation of the treatment, using two software approaches. The linear regression statistic, r(2) was calculated. Ants initially showed high linear trail integrity (r(2) = 0.75). Within seconds of presentation of the Z,E-alpha-farnesene treatment, the trailing ants showed little or no further evidence of trail following behavior in the vicinity of the pheromone source. These results show that trailing fire ants become disorientated in the presence of large amounts of Z,E-alpha-farnesene. Disrupting fire ant recruitment to resources may have a negative effect on colony size or other effects yet to be determined. This phenomenon was demonstrated recently for the Argentine ant, where trails were disrupted for two weeks by using their formulated trail pheromone, Z-9-hexadecenal. Further research is needed to establish the long term effects and control potential for trail disruption in S. invicta.

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Red Imported Fire Ants Expand Their Range across the West Indies

Cited by 58 publications

References 7 publications

Population genetic structure of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, in Taiwan

Population genetic structure of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, in Taiwan

Phenology and parasitism rates in introduced populations of Pseudacteon tricuspis, a parasitoid of Solenopsis invicta

Trail Pheromone Disruption of Red Imported Fire Ant

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