Acoustic irradiation produced by flying moths (Lepidoptera,Noctuidae)

Characteristics of acoustic waves accompanying the flight of noctuid moths (Noctuidae) were measured. The low-frequency part of the spectrum is formed of a series of up to 17 harmonics of the wingbeat frequency (30–50 Hz) with a general tendency toward the decrease in the spectral density and the increase in the sound frequency. The root-mean-square level of the sound pressure from flapping wings was found to be 70–78 dB SPL. Besides low-frequency components, the flight of moths was accompanied by short ultrasonic pulses, which appeared with every wingbeat. Most of the spectral energy was concentrated within a range of 7–150 kHz with the main peaks at 60–110 kHz. The short-term pulses were divided into two or more subpulses with different spectra. The high-frequency pulses were produced at two phases of the wingbeat cycle: during the pronation of the wings at the highest point and at the beginning of their upward movement from the lowest point. In most of the specimens tested, the peak amplitude of sounds varied from 55 to 65 dB SPL at a distance of 6 cm from the insect body. However, in nine noctuid species, no high-frequency acoustic components were recorded. In these experiments, the acoustic flow from the flying moth within a frequency range of 2 to 20 kHz did not exceed the self-noise level of the microphone amplifier (RMS 18 dB SPL). Probable mechanisms of the high frequency acoustic emission during flight, the effect of these sounds on the auditory sensitivity of moths, and the possibility of their self-revealing to insectivorous bats are discussed. In addition, spectral characteristics of the moth echolocation clicks were more precisely determined within the higher frequency range (>100 kHz).     

Does Mutualism Drive the Invasion of Two Alien Species? The Case of Solenopsis invicta and Phenacoccus solenopsis

Although mutualism between ants and honeydew-producing hemipterans has been extensively recognized in ecosystem biology, however few attempts to test the hypothesis that mutualism between two alien species leads to the facilitation of the invasion process. To address this problem, we focus on the conditional mutualism between S. invicta and P. solenopsis by field investigations and indoor experiments. In the laboratory, ant colony growth increased significantly when ants had access to P. solenopsis and animal-based food. Honeydew produced by P. solenopsis also improved the survival of ant workers. In the field, colony density of P. solenopsis was significantly greater on plots with ants than on plots without ants. The number of mealybug mummies on plants without fire ants was almost three times that of plants with fire ants, indicating a strong effect of fire ants on mealybug survival. In addition, the presence of S. invicta successfully contributed to the spread of P. solenopsis. The quantity of honeydew consumption by S. invicta was significantly greater than that of a presumptive native ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum. When compared with the case without ant tending, mealybugs tended by ants matured earlier and their lifespan and reproduction increased. T. melanocephalum workers arrived at honeydew more quickly than S. invicta workers, while the number of foraging S. invicta workers on plants steadily increased, eventually exceeding that number of T. melanocephalum foragers. Overall, these results suggest that the conditional mutualism between S. invicta and P. solenopsis facilitates population growth and fitness of both species. S. invicta tends to acquire much more honeydew and drive away native ants, promoting their predominance. These results suggest that the higher foraging tempo of S. invicta may provide more effective protection of P. solenopsis than native ants. Thus mutualism between these two alien species may facilitate the invasion success of both species.     

STRIDULATORY ORGAN AND ULTRASONIC EMISSION IN CERTAIN SPECIES OF PONERINE ANTS (GENUS: ECTATOMMA AND PACHYCONDYLA,HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE)

ABSTRACT

Five species of neotropical Ponerinae ants, Ectatomma permagnum Forel, E. quadridens Fabr., E. ruidum Roger, E. tuberculatum Olivier and Pachycondyla apicalis Latreille, were studied. The genus Ectatomma, consisting of 14 species in the tropical forests of Central and South America, has been studied previously in relation to the stridulatory organ only. Stridulations were heard, in the four species considered in this paper, during artificial disturbance of individuals or of the whole colony; so the role of sound production during normal life is still uncertain. Pachycondyla apicalis, belonging to Central American forests, is occasionally present in cocoa and coffee plantations.

The recordings made under laboratory conditions revealed the emission of pulse trains with very clear pulses extending in frequency to more than 75 kHz. The sounds recorded from the workers of the genus Ectatomma appeared homogeneous in their acoustic structure. They were typically emitted in long sequences and were made of pulse-trains consisting of two subunits (disyllabic chirps) characterized by pulses with opposite phase, produced by the alternate movement of the simple plectrum against the pars stridens. In sounds recorded from workers of Pachycondyla we found sequences of monosyllabic chirps, made by single trains of pulses. Pictures and measurements on the stridulatory apparatus were made with a scanning electron microscope.     

Probing real sensory worlds of receivers with unsupervised clustering

The task of an organism to extract information about the external environment from sensory signals is based entirely on the analysis of ongoing afferent spike activity provided by the sense organs. We investigate the processing of auditory stimuli by an acoustic interneuron of insects. In contrast to most previous work we do this by using stimuli and neurophysiological recordings directly in the nocturnal tropical rainforest, where the insect communicates. Different from typical recordings in sound proof laboratories, strong environmental noise from multiple sound sources interferes with the perception of acoustic signals in these realistic scenarios. We apply a recently developed unsupervised machine learning algorithm based on probabilistic inference to find frequently occurring firing patterns in the response of the acoustic interneuron. We can thus ask how much information the central nervous system of the receiver can extract from bursts without ever being told which type and which variants of bursts are characteristic for particular stimuli. Our results show that the reliability of burst coding in the time domain is so high that identical stimuli lead to extremely similar spike pattern responses, even for different preparations on different dates, and even if one of the preparations is recorded outdoors and the other one in the sound proof lab. Simultaneous recordings in two preparations exposed to the same acoustic environment reveal that characteristics of burst patterns are largely preserved among individuals of the same species. Our study shows that burst coding can provide a reliable mechanism for acoustic insects to classify and discriminate signals under very noisy real-world conditions. This gives new insights into the neural mechanisms potentially used by bushcrickets to discriminate conspecific songs from sounds of predators in similar carrier frequency bands.     

Plant resources and colony growth in an invasive ant: the importance of honeydew-producing Hemiptera in carbohydrate transfer across trophic levels

Studies have suggested that plant-based nutritional resources are important in promoting high densities of omnivorous and invasive ants, but there have been no direct tests of the effects of these resources on colony productivity. We conducted an experiment designed to determine the relative importance of plants and honeydew-producing insects feeding on plants to the growth of colonies of the invasive ant Solenopsis invicta (Buren). We found that colonies of S. invicta grew substantially when they only had access to unlimited insect prey; however, colonies that also had access to plants colonized by honeydew-producing Hemiptera grew significantly and substantially ( approximately 50%) larger. Our experiment also showed that S. invicta was unable to acquire significant nutritional resources directly from the Hemiptera host plant but acquired them indirectly from honeydew. Honeydew alone is unlikely to be sufficient for colony growth, however, and both carbohydrates abundant in plants and proteins abundant in animals are likely to be necessary for optimal growth. Our experiment provides important insight into the effects of a common tritrophic interaction among an invasive mealybug, Antonina graminis (Maskell), an invasive host grass, Cynodon dactylon L. Pers., and S. invicta in the southeastern United States, suggesting that interactions among these species can be important in promoting extremely high population densities of S. invicta.     

Acoustic signalling in female fish: factors influencing sound characteristics in croaking gouramis

The characteristics of sounds produced by fishes are influenced by several factors such as size. The current study analyses factors affecting structural properties of acoustic signals produced by female croaking gouramis Trichopsis vittata during agonistic interactions. Female sounds (although seldom analysed separately from male sounds) can equally be used to investigate factors affecting the sound characteristics in fish. Sound structure, dominant frequency and sound pressure levels (SPL) were determined and correlated to body size and the order in which sounds were emitted. Croaking sounds consisted of series of single-pulsed or double-pulsed bursts, each burst produced by one pectoral fin. Main energies were concentrated between 1.3 and 1.5 kHz. The dominant frequency decreased with size, as did the percentage of single-pulsed bursts within croaking sounds. The SPL and the number of bursts within a sound were independent of size but decreased significantly with the order of their production. Thus, acoustic signals produced at the beginning of agonistic interactions were louder and consisted of more bursts than subsequent ones. Our data indicate that body size affects the dominant frequency and structure of sounds. The increase in the percentage of double-pulsed bursts with size may be due to stronger pectoral muscles in larger fish. In contrast, ongoing fights apparently result in muscle fatigue and subsequently in a decline in the number of bursts and SPL. The factor ‘order of sound production’ points to an intra-individual variability of sounds and should be considered in future studies.     

红火蚁Serpin家族基因鉴定及其在绿僵菌侵染下的表达模式分析

丝氨酸蛋白酶抑制剂（Serine protease inhibitor, Serpin）在昆虫Toll通路和PPO级联反应的防御机制中起着至关重要的作用。本研究利用现代生物信息学工具预测和分析了红火蚁Solenopsis invicta中Serpin家族的结构和功能多样性。染色体定位表明,红火蚁基因组中7个Serpin基因家族成员不均匀的分布在4条染色体上。结构域分析表明,SiSerpin蛋白具有Serpin基因的保守结构,即典型的反应中心环（Reactive central loop, RCL）结构与Serpin结构域,不同成员蛋白拥有多样化的基序。系统进化分析表明,红火蚁Serpin蛋白与其他的昆虫Serpin蛋白有较高亲缘关系,SiSerpin7与烟草天蛾Manduca sexta的Serpin3a亲缘关系最近,SiSerpin12与黄粉虫Tenebrio molitor Serpin55亲缘关系最近,SiSerpin13与烟草天蛾Serpin6亲缘关系最近,SiSerpin4与家蚕Serpin27亲缘关系最近。为了进一步明确红火蚁Serpin家族在绿僵菌Metarhizium侵染后的表达模式,用绿僵菌侵染不同体型的工蚁,荧光定量PCR（RT-qPCR）分析表明,红火蚁Serpin基因家族成员能在早期响应绿僵菌的侵染;除SiSerpin7基因外,大型和小型两种工蚁的表达模式存在较大的差异。结果表明红火蚁Serpin家族作为免疫调控蛋白,能够响应绿僵菌的侵染,且在红火蚁不同体型工蚁之间存在着不同的免疫调控模式。这些发现不仅为Serpins的功能分析提供了理论基础,而且有可能有助于绿僵菌作为一种有效的生防剂的开发。     

Transmission of Vairimorpha invictae (Microsporidia: Burenellidae) infections between red imported fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) colonies

Red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, colonies were successfully infected with the microsporidium Vairimorpha invictae by introducing live larvae, pupae, or dead adults from V. invictae-infected field colonies collected in Argentina. Introductions with 4th instar larvae or non-melanized pupae obtained from infected field colonies, resulted in infection of 40% of the inoculated colonies. Introductions of 4th instars or melanized pupae produced from colonies that were initially infected in the laboratory, resulted in infections of 83% of the colonies, thus perpetuating the infection in other colonies. Infection was detected in 2 of 6 colonies after introducing adult worker caste ants that had died with V. invictae. The average number of adults and the volume of immature ants per colony were significantly lower in the infected than in the control colonies. Infected colonies had 86% fewer adults per colony and 82% less immature ants than the controls. A portion of the 16S rRNA gene of the V. invictae identified from these studies was amplified, cloned, and sequenced; the 1251 nucleotide amplicon was 100% identical to the 16S rRNA gene sequence recorded previously in the GenBank database, thus verifying the species as V. invictae. This is the first report of the artificial transmission of this pathogen to uninfected ant colonies, and demonstration of its ability to hinder growth in individual colonies.     

Native ant responses to Solenopsis invicta buren reduction using broadcast baits

A pilot study was conducted to investigate the impact of Solenopsis invicta management with an insect growth regulator bait (s-methoprene) on native ant species and to determine the responses of these species to S. invicta reduction. This invasive species alters the diversity and structure of different trophic levels of arthropod assemblages. Despite advances in S. invicta management using biological control agents, poison baits remain as the primary tool for effective fire ant management. However, the effect of these products on native ants is relatively unknown. Understanding these effects is critical to the development of S. invicta management strategies that include conservation of native ants. Native ants compete with S. invicta to some degree and can bolster efforts to release and establish exotic biological control agents to more effectively manage S. invicta. The study was carried out in Mumford, TX. Two treatments were used: a bait treatment that reduced S. invicta densities and a control. The treatments were randomly assigned to 1.33-ha blocks, replicated four times, and periodically inspected using complementary sampling techniques (pitfall traps, baited vials, manual collections, and nest surveys). Sixteen ant species were found among the two treatments. After S. invicta reduction, significant increases in densities of several other ant species were observed. Species within the assemblage shifted from the dominance by S. invicta to the dominance of the native pyramid ant, Dorymyrmex flavus McCook, which showed the most significant increase in bait treated blocks and was found to persist at densities significantly higher than the control for >2 yr after the last bait treatment. A temporary change in diversity was observed, indicating that use of a poison bait for S. invicta management benefited numerous resident species in the ant assemblage.     

Acoustic signals of a solitary subterranean rodent Ctenomys talarum (Rodentia: Ctenomyidae): physical characteristics and behavioural correlates

The purpose of this study was to analyse and describe vocalizations of a solitary subterranean rodent, Ctenomys talarum. In adult C. talarum five different sounds (four true vocalizations and one mechanical sound) were recorded during different behavioural contexts. Using data from the laboratory and literature, we classified these vocalizations as territorial, distress, and mating calls. We found that the vocalization range in C. talarum is shifted towards low frequencies, which transmit better in underground burrows and match well the hearing range described for other species of subterranean rodents. These low-frequency vocalizations, also found in other non-related subterranean rodents, may reflect an adaptation to the acoustic conditions of the habitat. Electronic Publication     

Pyrokinin β-neuropeptide affects necrophoretic behavior in fire ants (S. invicta), and expression of β-NP in a mycoinsecticide increases its virulence

Fire ants are one of the world's most damaging invasive pests, with few means for their effective control. Although ecologically friendly alternatives to chemical pesticides such as the insecticidal fungus Beauveria bassiana have been suggested for the control of fire ant populations, their use has been limited due to the low virulence of the fungus and the length of time it takes to kill its target. We present a means of increasing the virulence of the fungal agent by expressing a fire ant neuropeptide. Expression of the fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) pyrokinin β-neuropeptide (β-NP) by B. bassiana increased fungal virulence six-fold towards fire ants, decreased the LT(50), but did not affect virulence towards the lepidopteran, Galleria mellonella. Intriguingly, ants killed by the β-NP expressing fungus were disrupted in the removal of dead colony members, i.e. necrophoretic behavior. Furthermore, synthetic C-terminal amidated β-NP but not the non-amidated peptide had a dramatic effect on necrophoretic behavior. These data link chemical sensing of a specific peptide to a complex social behavior. Our results also confirm a new approach to insect control in which expression of host molecules in an insect pathogen can by exploited for target specific augmentation of virulence. The minimization of the development of potential insect resistance by our approach is discussed.     

Aggressive interactions between Solenopsis invicta and Linepithema humile (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) under laboratory conditions

The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), and the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, are natural agonists in their country of origin. Since the first report of L. humile in California in 1907 its range expanded statewide, displacing native ant species wherever it spread. Since the discovery of established populations of S. invicta in southern California in 1998, it has been restricted to discrete areas of southern California. However, as these discrete populations expand, they are encountering large populations of L. humile, which are effective competitors for available resources and are particularly aggressive in their encounters with other ant species such as S. invicta. Most Dolichoderine ants such as L. humile do not prefer to forage on baits made with defatted corn grit and soybean oil typically used in red imported fire ant control programs. Applications of these baits in areas where distributions of these species overlap might selectively affect populations of S. invicta and give L. humile a competitive advantage. Three laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the competitive outcomes between S. invicta pitted against L. humile: 1) agonistic behavior of workers in small arenas, 2) colony interactions with different population ratios, and 3) the effects of pyriproxyfen on the competitiveness of S. invicta against L. humile. Populations of S. invicta consisting of major workers killed more L. humile than did minors or a mixture of majors and minors. When paired against L. humile colonies consisting of 1,100 workers, colonies consisting of 38 S. invicta workers were easily defeated by L. humile. Colonies consisting of 450 S. invicta workers plugged their nest entrances, but they were ultimately defeated by L. humile after 13 d. The S. invicta colonies consisting of 1,100 workers took control of the bridge connecting the colonies, invaded the L. humile colony, killed the Argentine ant queens, and removed their brood. Pyriproxyfen-treated fire ant workers took significantly longer to chase the Argentine ants from a connecting bridge than did untreated fire ants. Thus, fire ant baits may have long-term effects on intercolonial aggression between S. invicta and L. humile, especially when Argentine ant populations are high in the summer.     

Detection of Anoplophora glabripennis (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) larvae in different host trees and tissues by automated analyses of sound-impulse frequency and temporal patterns

Anoplophora glabripennis (Motschulsky) (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae), an invasive pest quarantined in the United States, is difficult to detect because the larvae feed unseen inside trees. Acoustic technology has potential for reducing costs and hazards of tree inspection, but development of practical methods for acoustic detection requires the solution of technical problems involving transmission of resonant frequencies in wood and high background noise levels in the urban environments where most infestations have occurred. A study was conducted to characterize sounds from larvae of different ages in cambium, sapwood, and heartwood of bolts from three host tree species. Larval sounds in all of the tested trees and tissues consisted primarily of trains of brief, 3-10-ms impulses. There were no major differences in the spectral or temporal pattern characteristics of signals produced by larvae of different ages in each tissue, but larval sounds in sapwood often had fewer spectral peaks than sounds in cambium and heartwood. A large fraction, but not all background sounds could be discriminated from larval sounds by automated spectral analyses. In 3-min recordings from infested bolts, trains containing impulses in patterns called bursts occurred frequently, featuring 7-49 impulses separated by small intervals. Bursts were rarely detected in uninfested bolts. The occurrence of bursts was found to predict infestations more accurately than previously used automated spectral analyses alone. Bursts and other features of sounds that are identifiable by automated techniques may ultimately lead to improved pest detection applications and new insight into pest behavior.     

Interactional behaviors of the parasitic beetle Paussus favieri with its ant host Pheidole pallidula: the mimetic role of the acoustical signals

The social parasitic beetle Puussus favieri(Coleoptera,Carabidae,Paussini)performs different types of stridulations,which sclectively mimic those emitted by dif-ferent ant castes of its host Pheidole pallidula(Hymenoptera,Formicidae,Myrmicinae).However,the significance of this acoustical mimicry for the success of the parasitic strat-egy and the behaviors elicited in the host ants by stridulations was unknown.We reared Paussus favieri in Pheidole pallidula colonies and filmed their interacting behaviors.We analyzed in slow motion the behavior of ants near a stridulating beetle.We analyzed sep-arately trains of pulse(Pa+Pb,produced by repeated rubbings)and single pulse(Pc,produced by a single rubbing)of stridulations,clearly recognizable from the shaking up and down of the beetle hind legs.and associated them with differcent ant responscs.The full repertoire of sounds produced by P:favieri elicited benevolent responses both in workers and soldiers.We found that different signals elicit different(sometimes multiplc)bchaviors in ants,with different frequency in the two ant castes.However,Pc(alone or in conjunction with other types of pulses)appears to be the type of acoustic signal mostly responsible for all recorded behaviors.These results indicate that the acoustic channel plays a pivotal role in the host-parasite interaction.Finding that a parasite uses the acoustical channel so intensively,and in such a complicated way to trigger ant bchaviors,indicates that acoustic signals may be more important in ant societies than commonly recognized.     

Production of acoustic signals during aggression in Coosa bass, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Micropterus coosae</Emphasis>

Although sound production has been described for sunfishes, it is previously unknown for basses, both groups of fishes in the family Centrarchidae. We document production of acoustic signals during aggressive encounters in Coosa bass, Micropterus coosae. During dyadic encounters, presumptive winners of contests produced sounds associated with a variety of behaviors, including chases, lateral displays, circle swims, nudging, jerking and during post aggression, while fish were stationary. These sounds are low-frequency, non-harmonic and consist of one to 41 separate pulses. In most trials larger fish won contests, regardless of territory ownership (which fish was put into the test tank first) and size difference.     

Evidence of intracolony transmission of Thelohania solenopsae (Microsporidia: Thelohaniidae) in red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) and the first report of spores from pupae.

Red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, colonies were infected horizontally by introducing live brood (mainly larvae and pupae) infected with Thelohania solenopsae. Live, infected brood introduced into uninfected colonies were adopted and raised to adulthood instead of being executed by the recipient colony. Introductions of infected larvae with uninfected pupae, which eclose into adult worker caste fire ants, resulted in an 80% infection rate of the inoculated colonies. Infections from introductions of infected pupae with uninfected larvae resulted in a 37.5% infection of inoculated colonies. Infections were also detected in 11.6 and 3.7% of the adult worker caste ants that eclosed from uninfected large larvae and pupae, respectively, that were held with infected adult workers. Microscopic examination of infected brood revealed sporoblasts and large numbers of spores of T. solenopsae in S. invicta pupae.     

Seismic communication in demon African mole rat Tachyoryctes daemon from Tanzania

We describe the production of substrate-borne vibrations in a subterranean mole rat of the genus Tachyoryctes for the first time. These signals with a supposed communication function were recorded using two approaches. Firstly, we recorded the production of spontaneous substrate-borne vibrations of individual test animals in artificial tunnels simulating a mole rat burrow system. Secondly, we recorded substrate-borne vibrations in individuals with interconnected home systems divided by a barrier. We found that Tachyoryctes produces these seismic signals by striking its head against the ceiling of the tunnel. Two types of seismic signals differing in physical parameters were identified. A slow signal (inter-pulse distance 0.12 s, inter-bout distance 3.89 s, number of pulses within each bout 9.53) was produced in both experiments, whereas a fast signal (inter-pulse distance 0.05 s, inter-bout distance 18.44 s, number of pulses within each bout 22.54) was produced mainly in close proximity to another individual. Our results indicate that fast signals are probably individually specific, because the success rate of classification according to discriminant function analysis was 70.4 % for the three tested individuals.     

Ontogenesis of agonistic vocalizations in the cichlid fish Metriaclima zebra

While acoustic communication has been described in adults of various fish species, our knowledge about the ontogeny of fish sound production is limited. In adults, sound signals are known to be involved during aggressive interactions. However, aggressive behaviour may appear early in the life of fishes due to the possible competition for food and space. If acoustic signals are used to send information to competitors, sounds are likely to play a role during interactions between juvenile fish as well. The apparition and evolution of sound production were monitored in a group of juveniles of the cichlid fish Metriaclima zebra from hatching to 4months of age. In addition, the link between vocalizations and agonistic behaviour was studied during dyadic interactions at three different ages. Sounds production appeared to be present early in the development of this fish and increased along with the number of aggressive behaviours. Recorded sounds consisted, in juveniles, in isolated pulses showing a decrease in frequency and duration as the fish grew. In adults, sounds became bursts of pulses but the transition from isolated to repetitive pulses was not observed. These results are compared to the existing literature on sound production ontogeny in fishes.     

Acoustic behavior of the damselfish Dascyllus albisella: behavioral and geographic variation

Behavioral and geographic variation in animal communication has been well-studied in insects, frogs, birds, and mammals, but little is known about variation in fishes. We used underwater audio-video recordings of the behavior and associated sounds produced by the domino damselfish, Dascyllus albisella, at Johnston Atoll and Hawaii, which are separated by 1000 km, to study behavioral and geographic variation in communication sounds. Males produced pulsed sounds during the courtship behavior known as the signal jump, visiting by females (during pseudospawning), mating, aggression to heterospecifics and conspecifics, and nest preparation. Females made only aggressive sounds. The following features of the sounds were measured: number of pulses, pulse rate, pulse duration, inter-pulse interval, dominant frequency, and frequency envelope. The only difference between visiting and mating sounds was a small difference in pulse duration. Two types of aggressive sounds were produced, pops and chirps. Pops contained only one or two pulses and were more commonly made towards heterospecifics than conspecifics. Aggressive chirps had between 3–11 pulses and were made most often towards conspecifics. The pulse rate of aggressive chirps was faster than signal jump sounds. The only difference in signal jump sounds made by males from Johnston Atoll and Hawaii, was a small difference in pulse duration, which was likely due to differences in the depths of the recording environment and not in the sounds produced.     

Phorid flies, Pseudacteon spp. (Diptera: Phoridae), affect forager size ratios of red imported fire ants Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Texas

Multiple species of Pseudacteon phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) are currently being released throughout the southern United States to aid biological control of red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). It is anticipated that these flies will interfere with S. invicta foraging, allowing native ant assemblages to outcompete S. invicta for available resources. Numerous studies have shown a decrease in S. invicta foraging intensity when exposed to phorids. This study documents a behavioral change in phorid-exposed S. invicta colonies at a phorid release site in central Texas. Significant differences in forager size ratios were detected between phorid-exposed and phorid-absent colonies. A similar phenomenon was recently documented in the native range of these insects in South America as well. Experimental manipulation of ratios of S. invicta worker sizes has been shown to have important effects on colony success. This newly documented phorid-mediated S. invicta colony-level effect represents a significant shift in S. invicta foraging dynamics and may provide an additional mechanism by which phorids can influence S. invicta populations in their United States range.