Sugar is an ant’s best friend? Testing food web theory predictions about trophic position and abundance in an invasive ant (Nylanderia fulva)

Kjeldgaard, MacKenzie; Sword, Gregory A.; Eubanks, Micky D.

doi:10.1007/s10530-021-02627-z

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 73 publications

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“…Elevation had no significant effect on the δ 15 N values of the ants in the current study. Ants are opportunistic scavengers and predators, and are thus highly omnivorous, being able to balance food resources (the proportion of arthropod prey to plant-based foods) (Kjeldgaard et al, 2022). The lack of any significant correlation between elevation and δ 15 N values suggests that both ant species remained highly omnivorous and did not exhibit systematic changes (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Intraspecific functional traits and stable isotope signatures of ground-dwelling ants across an elevational gradient

He,

Liu,

Nakamura

et al. 2024

Soil Ecol. Lett.

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Ant morphological traits (dry mass, head length, body size and leg length) increased with elevation.• Ant δ 13 C increased with elevation, whereas δ 15 N did not.• Ant δ 13 C values correlated positively with soil C:N ratio. Understanding the responses of species to changing climates is becoming increasingly urgent. Investigating the effects of climate change on the functional traits of species at the intraspecific level is particularly important. We used elevation gradients as proxies for climate change to explore the intraspecific responses of two grounddwelling ant species, Ectomomyrmex javanus and Odontoponera transversa, from 100 to 700 m.a.s.l. within a subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest. Our study addressed the specific relationships among environmental factors, trait variations, and trophic levels. Key functional traits such as dry mass, head length, body size, and leg length exhibited a general increase with elevation. Using stable isotope signatures (δ 13 C and δ 15 N), we quantified shifts in diets and trophic positions along the elevation gradients. Notably, our data revealed a significant elevation-related increase in Ant δ 13 C, whereas δ 15 N exhibited no such correlation. Moreover, Ant δ 13 C values of E. javanus demonstrated a negative correlation with mean annual temperature (MAT), and the δ 13 C values of both species correlated positively with soil C:N ratio. Having revealed that the individual traits and δ 13 C signatures of ground-dwelling ants exhibit significant negative correlations with temperature, our findings suggest that climate warming has the potential to cause intraspecific variation in the functional traits and diets of ground-dwelling ants and possibly other insect species.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Intraspecific functional traits and stable isotope signatures of ground-dwelling ants across an elevational gradient

He,

Liu,

Nakamura

et al. 2024

Soil Ecol. Lett.

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Going back to the basics: the use of cricket powder as a protein supplement in artificial ant diets

List,

Lesne,

Behmer

et al. 2024

Insect. Soc.

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The ability to keep stable, healthy colonies in laboratory settings is fundamental for conducting research on ants and particularly important for developing management tools for pest species. An important component for successful ant rearing is a suitable diet and a number of diets for feeding ants have been developed. Calcium caseinate as a protein supplement has been a widely used ingredient in ant diets, but it has become difficult to obtain. Therefore, there is a need to find an alternative protein supplement for rearing ants in captivity. Using the ant Nylanderia fulva as a model, the suitability of four alternative diets was tested against a calcium caseinate containing diet: (1) whey protein isolate fortified with calcium, (2) whey protein isolate, (3) sodium caseinate, and (4) cricket powder. We tested the performance of colony fragments fed on diets by comparing worker and queen mortality, as well as brood production for 6 weeks. Diet containing cricket powder performed better than all other diets, reflected by lower worker mortality and the addition of new workers and brood to the colony fragment, resulting in colony growth. Considering recent developments in the production of cricket powder making it a low cost and readily accessible ingredient, it should prove an effective protein supplement for rearing ants in captivity for other species.

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High-Resolution Population Genetic Structure of Tawny Crazy Ant (Nylanderia fulva Mayr: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Origin in South America and Introduced Regions of the United States

Holt

Lerma

Calcaterra

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Background The tawny crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva Mayr) is native to South America and was first reported in the continental United States (US) in 1938. It was not until the 1990s in Florida and 2000s in Texas that this ant was considered a serious pest in the US. Tawny crazy ant (TCA) is currently considered an invasive pest in six US states and this ant’s invasion success is attributed in part to a unicolonial nature, multiple queens per nest, natural enemies release in the invasive range, and ability to detoxify venom from other competitor ant species. A limited number of low-density molecular markers have previously shown little genetic differentiation among TCA populations across their geographic distribution in the US. Results Using High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) we obtained high-density molecular markers (i.e., SNPs) for TCA samples. With 26,657 SNPs we identified genetic variation among TCA populations in different states across the US (i.e., Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida) and in South America (i.e., Argentina, Colombia, and Peru). Conclusion Our results underscore that for recently introduced invasive species, increasing the number of molecular markers used in population genetic studies can provide greater resolution. High-resolution information on regional genetic differences can help inform pest management strategies.

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Sugar is an ant’s best friend? Testing food web theory predictions about trophic position and abundance in an invasive ant (Nylanderia fulva)

Cited by 4 publications

References 73 publications

Intraspecific functional traits and stable isotope signatures of ground-dwelling ants across an elevational gradient

Intraspecific functional traits and stable isotope signatures of ground-dwelling ants across an elevational gradient

Going back to the basics: the use of cricket powder as a protein supplement in artificial ant diets

High-Resolution Population Genetic Structure of Tawny Crazy Ant (Nylanderia fulva Mayr: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from the Origin in South America and Introduced Regions of the United States

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