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- Title
Solenopsis invicta Suppress Native Ant by Excluding Mutual Exploitation from the Invasive Mealybug, Phenacoccus solenopsis.
- Authors
Ai Ming Zhou; Guang Wen Liang; Ling Zeng; Yong Yue Lu; Yi Juan Xu
- Abstract
Mutualistic interaction between invasive ants and honeydew-producing hemipterans has been extensively examined in many studies. Laboratory experiments showed that invasive ant Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) suppress ghost ants Tapinoma melanocephalum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) through interference competition. However, relatively less testing have been done to evaluate the competition for mutual exploitation between the two ant species in the field. Here, we investigated the interference of the fire ant S. invicta on the interactions between the ghost ant T. melanocephalum and the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) in the field. The results showed that fire ant invasion significantly suppressed honeydew exploitation by ghost ant. Fire ant suppression markedly increased the ghost ant foraging activity both on plants and the ground. Ant diversity in fire ant-infested plots was significantly reduced compared with in fire ant-free plots. Compared with in the no-ant plots, the colony growth rate of mealybug significantly increased, and the parasitism of mealybug was obviously decreased, both in fire ant-infested plots and in fire ant-free plots. Colony growth rate of mealybug in fire antinfested plots was greater than fire ant-free plots. These results suggest that S. invicta suppresses the exploitation of honeydewproducing hemipterans by ghost ant and occupies most of the honeydew resource.
- Subjects
SOLENOPSIS invicta; MEALYBUGS; ANTS; ANT behavior; HONEYDEW
- Publication
Pakistan Journal of Zoology, 2017, Vol 49, Issue 1, p133
- ISSN
0030-9923
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.17582/journal.pjz/2017.49.1.133.141