Title: | Comparative Quantification of Trail-Following Behavior in Pest Ants |
Author(s): | Vazquez RJ; Koehler PG; Pereira RM; |
Address: | "Bayer Crop Science, Waterman, IL 60556, USA. Department of Entomology & Nematology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA" |
ISSN/ISBN: | 2075-4450 (Print) 2075-4450 (Electronic) 2075-4450 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "A comparison of trail-following movement parameters of six major urban pest ants, Nylanderia fulva (Forel) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Pheidole megacephala, Linepithema humile (Mayr), Solenopsis invicta Buren, Paratrechina longicornis (Forel), and Technomyrmex albipes (Smith) demonstrated several differences in velocity of movement, amplitude of the deviations from a marked trail, percent fidelity to the trail, number of curves per unit of trail, and trail-following accuracy. Paratrechina longicornis and N. fulva had the largest deviations from the marked trails and moved three times faster (25-30 mm/s) along the trail than the slowest ant, S. invicta (< 10 mm/s), with other ants following between these extremes. Species differences in relation to going toward or returning from food were observed in a few cases, especially with Pa. longicornis for which velocity, amplitude, and trail fidelity differed between the foraging and return trails. Quantification of ant trail-following movement parameters can be useful in understanding the mechanics of ant movement and may be important in testing specific strategies and products that disrupt trail-following behavior" |
Keywords: | argentine ant bigheaded ant black crazy ant foraging behavior pheromone red imported fire ant tawny crazy ant white-footed ant; |
Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINEVazquez, Ricardo J Koehler, Philip G Pereira, Roberto M eng Switzerland 2019/12/22 Insects. 2019 Dec 19; 11(1):5. doi: 10.3390/insects11010005" |