REVIEW: Ants as tools in sustainable agriculture

Abstract

Summary1. With an expanding human population placing increasing pressure on the environment, agriculture needs sustainable production that can match conventional methods. Integrated pest management (IPM) is more sustainable, but not necessarily as efficient as conventional non-sustainable measures. 2. Being predatory and organized as superorganisms, ants possess traits making them suitable agents in IPM. Recent works on weaver ants Oecophylla spp. showcase ants as highly efficient pest controllers. A synthesis shows that weaver ants can reduce pest numbers and their damage and increase yields in multiple crops. Their efficiency is comparable to chemical pesticides or higher, while at lower costs. They provide a rare example of documented efficient conservation biological control. 3. Weaver ants share beneficial traits with almost 13 000 other ant species and are unlikely to be unique in their properties as control agents. A synthesis of applied work on other ant species illustrates potentials for control of arthropod pests, weeds and plant diseases in orchards, forestry and arable crops. 4. Synthesis and applications. By showing that ant biocontrol can match synthetic pesticides in a wide setting of agricultural systems, this review emphasizes the potential of managing ants to achieve sustainable pest management solutions. The synthesis suggests future directions and may catalyse a research agenda on the utilization of ants, not only against arthropod pests, but also against weeds and plant diseases. Lastly, it may stimulate implementation of already proven ant-based integrated pest management techniques.

Farmers perception of a biological control agent, Oecophylla longinoda Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and its effects on the quality of citrus fruits in Ghana

“…Weaver ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) are arboreal and build woven leaf nests in canopies of trees and shrubs (Offenberg, 2015;Crozier et al, 2010). Only two species are currently known and these are Oecophylla longinoda Latreille, 1802 and O. smaragdina Fabricius, 1775 (Bolton et al, 2007).…”

Quantification of Ant Manure Deposition in a Tropical Agroecosystem: Implications for Host Plant Nitrogen Acquisition

“…Oecophylla smaragdina is presently being used as bio-control agents in orchards (Offenberg 2015;Offenberg and others 2013;Van Mele 2008), and an additional benefit, besides the reduction of arthropod pests, may be the fertilizing effect of ant manure. According to Huett and Dirou (2000), the yearly nitrogen removal from a 10 t ha -1 production of mango crop is 11 kg ha -1 .…”

Grower Perception of the Significance of Weaver Ants as a Fruit Fly Deterrent in Tanzanian Smallholder Mango Production

“…If their perceptions were positive it might also be expected that these growers would be open to the improved development of weaver ant systems to protect them from fruit fly-related crop losses, as the ants are naturally-occuring and this type of biological control adds very little in terms of environmental or health risk (Offenberg, 2015;Van Mele et al, 2007). A challenge for the Tanzanian, small-scale growers is that, typically, they trade in a low-income led market, selling directly to low-income, retail customers or to intermediary traders (Kirkegaard, Offenberg, Msogoya & Grout, 2016;AMAGRO, 2011).…”