scholarly journals Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) display an ontogenetic shift in relative consumption of native and invasive prey

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 419-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cameron P. Venable ◽  
Tracy Langkilde
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sceloporus Undulatus ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Ontogenetic Shifts ◽  
Lifetime Experience ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren ◽  
Invasive Prey ◽  
Red Imported Fire Ants

Interactions between invasive prey and native predators can provide an opportunity to better understand predator–prey dynamics and how these may change through ontogeny. Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulatus (Bosc and Daudin in Sonnini and Latreille, 1801)) are ant specialist, particularly as juveniles. Invasive red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren, 1972) pose a lethal risk to S. undulatus that eat them, especially smaller-bodied juveniles. We examine ontogenetic shifts in S. undulatus consumption of toxic invasive fire ants versus palatable native pyramid ants (Dorymyrmex bureni (Trager, 1988)). We predicted that hatchlings should avoid eating fire ants in favor of native ants, whereas less-vulnerable adults should take advantage of both prey sources. However, when given the choice between fire ants and native ants, hatchlings consumed similar numbers of these species, whereas adults consumed nearly three times as many native ants as invasive fire ants. Increased consumption of fire ants in adulthood could be the result of lifetime experience, strategies to safely consume fire ants, ontogenetic shifts in the ability to distinguish between ants, or reduced costs to adults of eating venomous ants. Future research should aim to distinguish these alternative mechanisms and examine the long-term consequences of native species incorporating toxic invasive prey into their diets.

Holding ground in the face of invasion: native fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) do not alter their habitat use in response to introduced fire ants (Solenopsis invicta)

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (7) ◽  
pp. 626-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Langkilde
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
Native Species ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Sceloporus Undulatus ◽  
The Face ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Adaptive Shifts ◽  
The Impact

The introduction of non-native species is becoming increasingly common. Understanding the impact of invaders on native populations is critical for effective management. Red imported fire ants ( Solenopsis invicta Buren, 1972) were introduced to the USA in the 1930s. They will attack, and can kill, native fence lizards ( Sceloporus undulatus (Bosc and Daudin in Sonnini and Latreille, 1801)), which co-occur with these ants across much of their invasive range. I determined whether fence lizards minimize encounters with S. invicta by altering their habitat use following invasion or avoiding cues of the presence of these fire ants. I recorded the habitat use of fence lizards and S. invicta mounds across four sites with different histories of invasion, and quantified lizard avoidance of S. invicta scent. I found that lizards do not alter their habitat use following S. invicta invasion, nor do they spatially avoid their mounds. Fence lizards do avoid S. invicta scent, but this was only evident in naïve or recently invaded populations. The lack of avoidance of S. invicta by fence lizards could be explained by the high prevalence of these fire ants, making them difficult to avoid, and adaptive shifts in the escape behaviour and morphology of these lizards following invasion that permit them to survive fire ant attack.

scholarly journals Evading invaders: the effectiveness of a behavioral response acquired through lifetime exposure

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 659-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. A. Freidenfelds ◽  
T. R. Robbins ◽  
T. Langkilde
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Sceloporus Undulatus ◽  
Heritable Trait ◽  
Lifetime Exposure ◽  
Juvenile Behavior ◽  
Global Threat ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Understanding the mechanisms driving adaptations to survive agonistic interactions, and their function, provides insight into how native species adapt to aggressive invaders, a growing global threat. We staged encounters between native fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) and red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) on and off the ant mound (nest) to examine the effectiveness of lizard antipredator behavior through ontogeny while focusing on the impact of lifetime and evolutionary exposure to this invasive threat. We used field-caught and lab-reared lizards from a fire ant–invaded and an uninvaded site. In ∼90% of cases, fire ants found lizards within 12 min in natural lizard habitat. Lizards that performed rapid twitches of their body and/or fled after initial encounter with a fire ant scout reduced their risk of having additional fire ants recruit to the attack. The majority of lizards that had been exposed to fire ants within their lifetime (field-caught lizards from the invaded site) behaviorally responded to attack, whereas relatively few lizards that were naïve to fire ants (all lab-reared lizards and field-caught lizards from the uninvaded site) responded. Because fewer adult lizards responded to fire ants than juveniles, they were recruited to by additional attacking ants significantly more than were juveniles. Our data suggest that the higher percentage of responsive adults within invaded populations is the result of within-lifetime selection acting against unresponsive adults, and/or lifetime exposure to fire ants triggering the retention of this juvenile behavior into adulthood, rather than selection acting on a heritable trait across generations.

Ethyl formate fumigation for the disinfestation of red imported fire ants Solenopsis invicta Buren

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 838-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Byung-Ho Lee ◽  
Chung-Gyoo Park ◽  
Min-Goo Park ◽  
Gwang-Hyun Roh ◽  
Dongbin Kim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
Ethyl Formate ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren ◽  
Imported Fire Ants ◽  
Red Imported Fire Ants

scholarly journals Effects of Red Imported Fire Ants (Solenopsis invicta) on the Species Structure of Ant Communities in South China

Sociobiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong Yue Lu ◽  
Bi-qiu Wu ◽  
Yi-Juan Xu ◽  
Ling Zeng
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
South China ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta ◽  
Dominant Species ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Species Structure ◽  
Ant Communities ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren ◽  
Imported Fire Ants ◽  
Red Imported Fire Ants

We evaluated the effects of invasive red imported fire ants (RIFAs), Solenopsis invicta Buren, on native ant communities at three habitats in South China. By using paired control and treatment plots, the change in diversity and community structure of native ants due to the invasion of red imported fire ants could be observed. Ant species richness was reduced by 46 and 33% at RIFA-infested lawn and pasture habitats, respectively; however, the ant species richness in the lichee orchard was not affected by red imported fire ants. Our results indicated that red imported fire ants became one of several dominant species or the only dominant species in all three habitats in South China.

scholarly journals The Economics of Optimal Foraging by the Red Imported Fire Ant

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl A Roeder ◽  
Rebecca M Prather ◽  
Anna W Paraskevopoulos ◽  
Diane V Roeder
Keyword(s):  
Native Species ◽  
Inflection Point ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Red Imported Fire Ant ◽  
Ant Colonies ◽  
Collective Group ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren ◽  
Discovery Time ◽  
Imported Fire Ant

Abstract For social organisms, foraging is often a complicated behavior where tasks are divided among numerous individuals. Here, we ask how one species, the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), collectively manages this behavior. We tested the Diminishing Returns Hypothesis, which posits that for social insects 1) foraging investment levels increase until diminishing gains result in a decelerating slope of return and 2) the level of investment is a function of the size of the collective group. We compared how different metrics of foraging (e.g., number of foragers, mass of foragers, and body size of foragers) are correlated and how these metrics change over time. We then tested the prediction that as fire ant colonies increase in size, both discovery time and the inflection point (i.e., the time point where colonial investment toward resources slows) should decrease while a colony’s maximum foraging mass should increase. In congruence with our predictions, we found that fire ants recruited en masse toward baits, allocating 486 workers and 148 mg of biomass, on average, after 60 min: amounts that were not different 30 min prior. There was incredible variation across colonies with discovery time, the inflection point, and the maximum biomass of foragers all being significantly correlated with colony size. We suggest that biomass is a solid indicator of how social taxa invest their workforce toward resources and hypothesize ways that invasive fire ants are able to leverage their enormous workforce to dominate novel ecosystems by comparing their foraging and colony mass with co-occurring native species.

Impacts of Red Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on Striped Pine Scale (Homoptera: Coccidae) Populations

1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Clarke ◽  
Gary L. DeBarr
Keyword(s):  
Pinus Taeda ◽  
Scale Insect ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Red Imported Fire Ant ◽  
Loblolly Pines ◽  
Solenopsis Invicta Buren ◽  
Pinus Taeda L ◽  
Imported Fire Ants ◽  
Red Imported Fire Ants ◽  
Imported Fire Ant

Loblolly pines, Pinus taeda L., were banded in three seed orchards in Georgia to prevent the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta (Buren), from tending infestations of striped pine scales, Toumeyella pini (King). Ant activity had no effect on female scale insect survival as numbers per shoot were never significantly different between check and banded trees in any of the orchards. Parasitism of females rarely differed between treatments, with higher rates twice in one orchard on unbanded trees and once in another orchard on banded trees. There also appeared to be no treatment effects on predator numbers. Coincident populations of the mealybug Oracella acuta (Lobdell) and the woolly pine scale, Pseudophilippia quaintancii Cockerell, on the shoots also were unaffected by the presence of fire ants.

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