Effects of trail pheromone purity, dose, and type of placement on recruiting European fire ants, Myrmica rubra, to food baits
Abstract
Trail pheromones of ants guide nest mates to a food source. Applications of synthetic trail pheromone could guide ants to poisoned food baits, which may expedite the demise of nests and help control invasive ant species. The trail pheromone of the invasive European fire ant (EFA), Myrmica rubra Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), has previously been identified as 3-ethyl-2,5- dimethylpyrazine. To facilitate its development as an operational EFA control tactic, our objectives were to determine the effects of (1) pheromone purity (isometrically pure or isomeric mixture), (2) pheromone dose [2, 20, 200, 2,000 ant equivalents (AEs)], and (3) type of pheromone placement (pheromone encircling a food source rather than leading towards it) on ant recruitment to baits. In laboratory binary choice experiments, isomerically pure and impure trail pheromone prompted similar recruitment responses of ants. The presence of pheromone, irrespective of dose, enhanced the recruitment of ants to food baits, with the dose of 200 AEs eliciting the strongest recruitment responses (2 AEs: 61% of foraging ants; 20 AEs: 57%; 200 AEs: 69%; 2000 AEs: 59%). Pheromone applied in a line leading towards the food bait, but not in a circle surrounding a food bait, was effective in recruiting ants, suggesting that 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine has a guiding but not an attractive function to EFAs.
References
Bierl, B.A., Beroza, M., and Collier, C.W. 1970. Sex attractant of gypsy moth: its isolation, identification, and synthesis. Science, 170: 87–89.
Billen, J. and Morgan, E.D. 1998. Pheromone communication in social insects: sources and secretions. In Pheromone Communication in Social Insects – Ants, Wasps, Bees, and Termites. Edited by R.K. Vander Meer, M.D. Breed, K.E. Espelie, and M.L. Winston. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Pp. 3–33.
Brian, M.V. and Abbott, A. 1977. The control of food flow in a society of the ant Myrmica rubra L. Animal Behaviour, 25: 1047–1055. https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-3472(77)90055-0
Cammaerts-Tricot, M.C. 1973. Piste et phéromone attractive chez la fourmi Myrmica rubra. Journal of Comparative Physiology, 382: 373–382.
Cammaerts-Tricot, M.C. 1978. Recruitment to food in Myrmica rubra L. Biology of Behaviour, 4: 159– 172.
Cammaerts, M.C., Evershed, R.P., and Morgan, E.D. 1981. Comparative study of the dufour gland secretions of workers of four species of Myrmica ants. Journal of Insect Physiology, 27: 59–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-1910(81)90033-0
Chalissery, J.M., Renyard, A., Gries, R., Hoefele, D., Alamsetti, S.K., Gries, G. 2019. Ants sense, and follow, trail pheromones of ant community members. Insects 10:383. https:// doi:10.3390/ insects10110383
Collignon, R.M., Cale, J.A., McElfresh, J.S., and Millar, J.G. 2019. Effects of pheromone dose and conspecific density on the use of aggregation-sex pheromones by the longhorn beetle Phymatodes grandis and sympatric species (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology, 45: 217– 226. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-019-01047-7
Czaczkes, T.J., Grüter, C., and Ratnieks, F.L. W. 2015. Trail pheromones, an integrative view of their role in social insect colony organization. Annual Review of Entomology, 60: 581–599. https://doi.org/ 10.1146/annurev-ento-010814-020627
de Biseau, J.C., Deneubourg, J.L., and Pasteels, J.M. 1991. Collective flexibility during food recruitment in the ant Myrmica sabuleti (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Psyche: A Journal of Entomology, 98: 323–336.
Dussutour, A., Fourcassié, V., Helbing, D., and Deneubourg, J.-L. 2004. Optimal traffic organization in ants under crowded conditions. Nature, 428: 70–73.
Drees, B. and Ellison, S. 2002. Collecting and maintaining colonies of red imported fire ants for study. Fire Ant Plan Fact Sheet #008. Texas A&M Agrilife Exension Service, Texas A&M University System.
Evershed, R.P., Morgan, E.D., and Cammaerts, M.C. 1981. Identification of the trail pheromone of the ant Myrmica rubra L., and related species. Naturwissenschaften, 68: 374–376. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/BF01058029
Evershed, R.P., Morgan, E.D., and Cammaerts, M.C. 1982. 3-Ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, the trail pheromone from the venom gland of the eight species of Myrmica ants. Insect Biochemistry, 12: 383–391.
Fokuhl, G., Heinze, J., and Poschlod, P. 2007. Colony growth in Myrmica rubra with supplementation of myrmecochorous seeds. Ecological Research, 22: 845–847. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s11284-006-0331-2
Garnas, J. 2004. European fire ants of Mount Desert Island, Maine: Population structure, mechanisms of competition, and community impacts of Myrmica rubra L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Thesis, University of Maine. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download? doi=10.1.1.428.1595&rep=rep1&type=pdf [accessed 22 April 2020].
Greenberg, L. and Klotz, J.H. 2000. Argentine ant (Hymenoptera) trail pheromone enhances consumption of liquid sucrose solution. Journal of Economic Entomology, 93: 119–122.
Groden, E. and Drummond, F. 2005. Distribution of an invasive ant, Myrmica rubra (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in Maine. Journal of Economic Entomology, 98: 1774–1784.
Higgins, R. 2017. Controlling European fire ants (Myrmica rubra) on residential properties: best approach to date. Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia. Retrieved from: http://faculty.tru.ca/rhiggins/control_of_myrmica_rubra_2.htm [accessed 22 April 2020].
Holway, D. 1999. Competitive mechanisms underlying the displacement of native ants by the invasive Argentine ant. Ecology, 80: 238–251.
Huszár, D.B., Larsen, R.S., Carlsen, S., Boomsma, J.J., and Pedersen, J.S. 2014. Convergent development of ecological, genetic, and morphological traits in native supercolonies of the red ant Myrmica rubra. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 68: 1859–1870.
Jackson, B.D., Keegans, S.J., Morgan, E.D., Cammaerts M.-C., and Cammaerts, R. 1990. Trail pheromone of the ant Tetramorium meridionale. Naturwissenschaften, 77: 294–296.
Kohl, E., Hölldobler, B., and Bestmann, H. J. 2001. Trail and recruitment pheromones in Camponotus socius (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Chemoecology, 11: 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/PL00001834 Kohl, E., Hölldobler, B., and Bestmann, H.J. 2003. Trail pheromones and dufour gland contents in three
Camponotus species (C. castaneus, C. balzani, C. sericeiventris: Formicidae, Hymenoptera).
Chemoecology, 13: 113–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-003-0237-1
Miller, J., Mori, K., and Roelofs, W. 1977. Gypsy moth field trapping and electroantennogram studies
with pheromone enantiomers. Journal of Insect Physiology, 23: 1447–1453.
Möglich, M., Maschwitz, U., and Hölldobler, B. 1974. Tandem calling: A new signal in ant
communication. Science, 186: 1046–1047.
Morgan, E.D.A., Keegans, S.A.J., Tits, J.O., Wenseleers, T.O.M., and Billen, J.O. 2006. Preferences and
differences in the trail pheromone of the leaf cutting ant Atta sexdens sexdens. European Journal of
Entomology, 104: 553–558.
Naumann, K. and Higgins, R.J. 2015. The European fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as an invasive
species: impact on local ant species and other epigaeic arthropods. The Canadian Entomologist, 147: 592–601. https://doi.org/10.4039/tce.2014.69
Renyard, A., Alamsetti, S.K., Gries, R., Munoz, A., Gries G. 2019 Identification of the trail pheromone of the carpenter ant Camponotus modoc. Journal of Chemical Ecology 45: 901–913.
Roelofs, W.L. and Comeau, A. 1971. Sex pheromone perception: Synergists and inhibitors for the red- banded leaf roller attractant. Journal of Insect Physiology, 17: 435–448.
Saltman, J. 2016. B.C.’s first case of anaphylaxis from European fire ant stings confirmed. Vancouver Sun, September 2, 2016. Retrieved from: https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/b-c-s-first- case-of-anaphylaxis-from-european-fire-ant-stings-confirmed [accessed 22 April 2020].
Suckling, D.M., Stringer, L.D., and Corn, J.E. 2011. Argentine ant trail pheromone disruption is mediated by trail concentration. Journal of Chemical Ecology, 37: 1143–1149. https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10886-011-0019-0
Sunamura, E., Suzuki, S., Nishisue, K., Sakamoto, H., Otsuka, M., Utsumi, Y., Mochizuki, F., Fukumoto, T., Ishikawa, Y., Terayama, M., and Tatsuki, S. 2011. Combined use of a synthetic trail pheromone and insecticidal bait provides effective control of an invasive ant. Pest Management Science, 67: 1230–1236. https://doi.org/10.1002/ps.2172
Vander Meer, R.K. and Alonso, L.E. 1998. Pheromone directed behaviour in ants. In Pheromone communication in social insects - Ants, Wasps, Bees, and Termites. Edited by R.K. Vander Meer, M.D. Breed, K.E. Espelie, and M.L. Winston. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. Pp. 159-192.
Vander Meer, R.K., Lofgren, C.S., and Alvarez, F.M. 1990. Orientation inducer pheromone of the fire ant Solenopsis invicta. Physiological Entomology, 15: 483–488.
Welzel, K.F. and Choe, D.-H. 2016. Development of a pheromone-assisted baiting technique for Argentine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Economic Entomology, 109: 1303–1309. https://doi.org/10.1093/jee/tow015
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with the Journal of the Entomological Society of British Columbia agree to the following terms:
-Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
-Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
-Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).
