1. The fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is a globally distributed invasive ant that is largely restricted to disturbed habitats in its introduced range. For more than half a century, biologists have believed its success results from superior competitive abilities relative to native ant species, as well as an escape from their natural enemies. 2. We used large volumes of hot water to kill fire ant colonies, and only fire ant colonies, on experimental plots in pastures, and found that populations and diversity of co-occurring ants did not subsequently increase. 3. These results are contrary to classical predictions and indicate that S. invicta is not a superior competitor that suppresses native ants, and that the low diversity and abundance of native ants in degraded ecosystems does not result from interaction with fire ants. Instead, other factors such as prior disturbance and recruitment limitation may be the primary limiting factors for native species in these habitats.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2006.01161.x | DOI Listing |
Biomimetics (Basel)
December 2024
Department of Computer Science, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92115, USA.
Porous materials and structures, such as subterranean fire ant nests, are abundant in nature. It is hypothesized that these structures likely have evolved biological adaptations that enhance their collapse resistance. This research aims to elucidate the collapse-resistant mechanisms of pore geometries in fire ant nests.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVet Ophthalmol
December 2024
Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
Purpose: This study describes the ocular findings in dogs and cats diagnosed with Florida spot keratopathy (FSK) at a single institution.
Methods: Affected animals underwent a single comprehensive ophthalmic examination, with no follow-ups conducted. Data on patient demographics and clinical findings were collected and analyzed.
J Econ Entomol
December 2024
USDA, ARS, Southeast Area, Raleigh, NC, USA.
Tawny crazy ants (TCAs), Nylanderia fulva (Mayr) are an invasive species that develops extremely large populations that overrun landscapes. Control measures frequently rely on spraying contact insecticides, which often are inadequate. To provide insights for utilizing baits for their control, TCA foraging behavior was examined on liquid ant bait formulations that contained either fast-acting dinotefuran or slow-acting disodium octaborate tetrahydrate (DOT), and the impacts of these baits were assessed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Evol Biol
December 2024
Department of Genetics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA.
Characterizing molecular underpinnings of plastic traits and balanced polymorphisms represent two important goals of evolutionary biology. Fire ant gynes (pre-reproductive queens) provide an ideal system to study potential links between these phenomena because they exhibit both supergene-mediated polymorphism and nutritional plasticity in weight and colony-founding behavior. Gynes with the inversion supergene haplotype are lightweight and depend on existing workers to initiate reproduction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFG3 (Bethesda)
December 2024
University of Georgia, Department of Entomology, 120 Cedar St, Athens, GA, USA 30602.
Selfish genetic elements subvert the normal rules of inheritance to unfairly propagate themselves, often at the expense of other genomic elements and the fitness of individuals carrying them. Social life provides diverse avenues for the propagation of such elements. In the fire ant Solenopsis invicta, polymorphic social organization is controlled by a social chromosome, one variant of which (Sb) enhances its own transmission in polygyne colonies through effects on caste development and queen acceptance by workers.
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