Relative Roles of Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and Invasive Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae:Solenopsisspp.) in Carrion Decomposition

Abstract

Fire ants (Solenopsis spp.) have increasingly been reported from carrion in the southeastern United States and are now a part of the normal succession community. There have been previous observations of these ants altering carrion and preying on other carrion-attendant fauna; however, the overall effects of these activities on carrion decomposition rates, community composition, and blow fly larval development are poorly understood. Alteration of these ecological processes by fire ants could affect the forensic interpretation of entomological data. We conducted a study in Mississippi and Florida whereby portions of the succession fauna were excluded from access to pig carrion to study the relative effects of fire ants and blow flies on carrion decomposition and succession: a control with all fauna having access, a second treatment where fire ants and other geophilic taxa were excluded, and a third treatment in which blow flies and other large organisms were excluded. Fire ants inflicted lesions in the carrion, buried portions that touched the ground, and preyed on some members of the succession fauna. Their exclusion did not affect carrion decomposition rates that were measured but slightly affected the overall carrion community, and strongly affected the oviposition and development of blow flies. Despite the presence of fire ants early in the control, blow flies were eventually able to overcome predation of eggs and larvae, continue colonization, and complete development; however, the delay in the colonization of blow flies on carrion could affect the determination of postmortem intervals when development rates of blow flies are considered in the calculation.

Caught in the act: impact of Crematogaster cf. liengmei (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) necrophagous behavior on neonate pigs (Sus scrofa domesticus L.) in the Western Cape Province of South Africa

“…2a), prevented not only the landing, and continuous oviposition/larviposition by flies, but also, the formation of large maggot masses on the carcass. This observation is consistent with the findings of other similar studies [11,16,33]. In the mid-and late autumn trials (May 2021), several individuals of Crematogaster cf.…”

Territorial ants delay carrion decomposition by depressing Diptera larvae in a Tibetan alpine meadow

“…Invertebrates are the determinant group responsible for the decomposition of animal carcasses in many natural ecosystems (Benbow et al, 2019; Johnson, 1975). The ants, the most abundant terrestrial insect group in the world (Davidson, 1997; King et al, 2013), are always observed to visit carrion for food, directly and/or indirectly affecting carrion decomposition (De Jong et al, 2021; Eubanks et al, 2019; Paula et al, 2016). Consistent with our hypothesis, we demonstrated here that C. herculeanus delayed the decomposition of yak carrion by predating on Diptera larvae that were responsible for carrion decomposition.…”

The discrepancy between fire ant recruitment to and performance on rodent carrion

“…Studies directly addressing the influence of ants on vertebrate carrion decomposition are scarce and provide conflicting conclusions. The skin lesions created by ants could potentially accelerate the decomposition process by causing epidermal ripping during the bloating stage, thereby providing quicker access for other insects to the inside of carcasses 17 – 19 . In contrast, the presence of ants could exclude insect decomposers from the carcass or predate larval and adult flies; predation of carrion feeding insects has been shown to decelerate decomposition rates 3 , 20 – 24 .…”

“…In addition, Lindgren et al 23 documented a behavior exhibited by the red imported fire ant ( Solenopsis invicta ) in which nest-like structures were built directly on the surface of the corpse, leading to an eight-day delay of blow fly colonization. Other studies have investigated the effect of fire ants on invertebrate decomposers and found that the presence of fire ants effectively excluded flies and beetles from mouse carcasses 19 , 21 .…”