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Title: DIETARY HABITS OF SOLENOPSIS INVICTA BUREN (HYMENOPTERA:FORMICIDAE) IN FOUROKLAHOMA HABITATS

Author
item Vogt, James
item GRANTHAM, R - OKLAHOMA STATE UNIV.
item CORBETT, E - SE OKLAHOMA STATE UNIV.
item RICE, S - SE OKLAHOMA STATE UNIV.
item WRIGHT, RUSSELL - OKLAHOMA STATE UNIV.

Submitted to: Environmental Entomology
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/23/2001
Publication Date: 2/20/2002
Citation: VOGT, J.T., GRANTHAM, R.A., CORBETT, E., RICE, S., WRIGHT, R.E. DIETARY HABITS OF SOLENOPSIS INVICTA BUREN (HYMENOPTERA:FORMICIDAE) IN FOUROKLAHOMA HABITATS. ENVIRONMENTAL ENTOMOLOGY. 2002.

Interpretive Summary: Red imported fire ants feed on a variety of things, including insects and other arthropods, seeds, carrion, fruits and young plants. They also feed on nectar and plant sap, and tend honeydew-producing insects like aphids and treehoppers, feeding on the honeydew they secrete. The bulk of their solid diet appears to be animal in origin (small bits of insects and whole specimens of smaller insects). Prior to this study, no comparative data existed on their dietary habits and foraging dynamics in Oklahoma. We determined that the percentage of solid and liquid food fire ants collect varies according to location and season, and is probably linked to characteristics of the plant community and associated insects. Other researchers will find this information useful for modeling fire ant energetics, an important component of predictive models aimed toward understanding how far north and west the ants are likely to survive. We also discovered that over 50 percent of foraged items in a lakeshore habitat were tiny midges (immature and adult stages) that breed up near the waterline in these habitats, helping to explain why fire ants are so abundant in the land-water interface, where persons picnicking and fishing are likely to encounter them.

Technical Abstract: Dietary habits of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, were investigated in 4 southern Oklahoma habitats: Lakeshore, mixed grassland, wooded roadside, and unimproved pasture. Vegetation characteristics of each site were recorded for spring and late summer, in conjunction with estimates of forager success (the percentage of foragers returning to colonies with solid particles or liquid loads). Foragers collected a wide variety of solid particles, with different arthropod prey dominating samples within different sites. At the lakeshore site (no vegetation), dipteran adults, larvae, and pupae comprised > 58% of foraged particles. Isoptera comprised >21% of foraged particles at the wooded roadside site. At grassland and pasture sites, seeds (17.2 and 15.7%, respectively) were important foraged item. Forager success rates were highest for solids at the lakeshore site (ca. 30% and 16% in spring and late summer, respectively), and highest for liquids at the pasture site (ca. 30% and 22% for spring and late summer, respectively). Possible influence of vegetation on success rates, and implications for estimates of foraging energetics, are discussed.