The introduction of the fire ant parasitoid Pseudacteon nocens in North America: challenges when establishing small populations

Plowes, Robert M.; Folgarait, Patricia J.; Gilbert, Lawrence E.

doi:10.1007/s10526-011-9428-9

Cited by 14 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Some introductions (e.g. Pseudacteon novenas Borgmeier at a site in Texas) were successful despite difficulties in rearing the parasitoid (Plowes et al, 2012). The effectiveness of introduced Pseudacteon spp.…”

Section: Other Dipteran Parasitoidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of Dipteran Parasitoids

Dindo¹,

Grenier²

2014

Mass Production of Beneficial Organisms

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Section: Other Dipteran Parasitoidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of Dipteran Parasitoids

Dindo¹,

Grenier²

2014

Mass Production of Beneficial Organisms

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“…This species attacks small fire ant workers. A fifth species, Pseudacteon nocens Borgmeier was successfully released in Texas beginning in 2006 [27]. A second biotype from Formosa, Argentina, has been established on red fire ants in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas [21][22][23].…”

Section: Fire Ant Decapitating Fliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitigating the allergic effects of fire ant envenomation with biologically based population reduction

Porter

Valles

et al. 2013

Current Opinion in Allergy &Amp; Clinical Immunology

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During separate founding events in the United States, Australia, mainland China, and Taiwan, fire ants native to South America escaped their native pathogens and parasites. Consequently, fire ant populations in these introduced regions pose a serious public health threat to the human populations by envenomation and subsequent allergic reactions. Specific, self-sustaining biological control agents have been discovered, studied, and released into fire ant populations in the United States in an effort to re-establish an ecological/competitive balance, resulting in reduced fire ant densities and human exposure.

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“…Because leafcutter ants are social insects with a huge number of individuals, sophisticated defenses, and one or more protected queens (Hölldobler & Wilson, ), it is likely that multiple biocontrol methods with different natural enemies might be necessary to achieve their control. Biological control of ants with phorids has been applied by introducing the adult flies or their pupae (Plowes et al, , ). One advantage of introducing the pupae, still not tested, is to use them as vectors of the fungi, as has been studied with adult flies transporting microsporidia (Oi et al, ) and virus (Valles & Porter, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…obs.). Phorid flies are currently being used experimentally for biological control of fire ants in the USA (Porter et al, 2003;Vazquez et al, 2006;Plowes et al, 2011Plowes et al, , 2012Porter & Calcaterra, 2013). The natural history of leafcutter ants and their phorids has been summarized by Folgarait (2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Biological control of ants with phorids has been applied by introducing the adult flies or their pupae (Plowes et al, 2011(Plowes et al, , 2012. One advantage of introducing the pupae, still not tested, is to use them as vectors of the fungi, as has been studied with adult flies transporting microsporidia (Oi et al, 2009) and virus (Valles & Porter, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Phorid species from Acromyrmex’s hosts and effect on their survival of two fungi proposed for the control of leafcutter ants

Goffré

Folgarait

2019

Entomologia Exp Applicata

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Phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae, Metopinini) are natural enemies of leafcutter ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Attini), which are among the most important pests in the Neotropical region. These parasitoids lay their eggs inside worker ants, causing the death of the parasitized ants, and the oviposition attacks on foraging workers interfere with the collection of vegetal material used in fungal gardens, thereby affecting the whole colony. However, because of the large number of ants per colony, more than one type of biological control agent is needed to have a significant impact. We collected parasitized leafcutter ants Acromyrmex lundii (Guérin‐Méneville), Acromyrmex heyeri (Forel), and Acromyrmex ambiguus (Emery) from various places in Argentina and reared their parasitoids. We recorded developmental times, host and phorid sizes, and other aspects of the biology of the phorids Apocephalus neivai Borgmeier, Apocephalus noetingerorum Brown & Disney, Myrmosicarius gracilipes Borgmeier, Myrmosicarius catharinensis Borgmeier, Myrmosicarius crudelis Borgmeier, and Myrmosicarius cristobalensis Disney et al. This is the first record of A. ambiguus, an important pest of pine plantations, being a host of phorids. We found the first cases of gregarious parasitoidism of a parasitoid with no‐free pupae: M. catharinensis on A. lundii ants. We also evaluated the effect on pupal survival of two cosmopolitan fungi, Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuill. and Trichoderma lentiforme (Rehm) Chaverri et al., which are also considered as potential biological control agents of leafcutter ants. Suspensions of conidia were tested on Myrmosicarius and Apocephalus parasitoid pupae of different ages. No negative effect on pupal survival was found under either fungal treatment. Therefore, the use of both natural enemies separately but simultaneously, or the introduction of fungi‐inoculated pupae in the pest habitats, seems to be a promising strategy for the multiple biological control of leafcutter ants.

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The introduction of the fire ant parasitoid Pseudacteon nocens in North America: challenges when establishing small populations

Abstract: Several species of parasitoid phorid flies (Pseudacteon spp.

Cited by 14 publications

References 29 publications

Production of Dipteran Parasitoids

Production of Dipteran Parasitoids

Mitigating the allergic effects of fire ant envenomation with biologically based population reduction

Phorid species from Acromyrmex’s hosts and effect on their survival of two fungi proposed for the control of leafcutter ants

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