Abstract
The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, is a significant urban and agricultural pest with a global distribution. However, the food transport patterns of S. invicta are poorly understood. In the present study, food of different sizes were provided to S. invicta colonies and transport for a short distance was observed under laboratory conditions. Individual transport of small food (1 × 1 mm deli meat) and cooperative transport of food of larger sizes (2 × 2 mm, 4 × 4 mm, and 8 × 8 mm deli meat) was observed. The majority of transporters were small workers. During cooperative transport, ants were either around or on the food, pulling/pushing the food item in multiple directions, leading to a slow process with frequent deadlocks. Individual transport required significantly shorter time in the preparation and transportation stages, but food transport was more likely to deviate from the nest. This observation suggests that the cooperative transport of S. invicta is closer to uncoordinated.
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Acknowledgments
We sincerely thank Mr. Alexander Sabo for valuable help in collecting S. invicta colonies. Cai Wang was supported by Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry funds while working on this project. This study was funded by grant rebate funds (grant number 940-26-9144) to LMHB.
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Cai Wang and Xuan Chen contributed equally to this work.
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Fig. S1
Transport of food item (10 × 10 mm deli meat) in the field with slow progress and long deadlocks. (a) Location of food after placement, and (b) location of food 50 min after food was presented. (PDF 312 kb)
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Wang, C., Chen, X., Strecker, R. et al. Individual and Cooperative Food Transport of the Red Imported Fire Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Laboratory Observations. J Insect Behav 29, 99–107 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-016-9546-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10905-016-9546-4