scholarly journals Biology of Pseudacteon Decapitating Flies (Diptera: Phoridae) That Parasitize Ants of the Solenopsis saevissima Complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in South America

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Chen ◽  
Sanford D. Porter
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
South America ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
South American ◽  
Active Time ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Phorid Flies ◽  
Imported Fire Ants

Pseudacteon flies (Diptera: Phoridae) parasitize individual ant workers, causing decapitation of the host during pupariation. Phorid flies that attack South American fire ants in the Solenopsis saevissima (Smith) complex are distributed across a wide range of habitats and climates associated with the geographical range of their hosts. Sympatric species sharing the same hosts often partition niche resources by season, active time of day, host size, and/or different host activities. They have the potential of being used for biological control of the imported fire ants in North America, Australia, and Asia.

scholarly journals Biological Control of Imported Fire Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

2003 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 150-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
David F. Williams ◽  
David H. Oi ◽  
Sanford D. Porter ◽  
Roberto M. Pereira ◽  
Juan A. Briano
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Imported Fire Ants

Biological Control of Imported Fire Ants: A Review of Current Knowledge

1981 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Jouvenaz ◽  
C. S. Lofgren ◽  
W. A. Banks
Keyword(s):  
Biological Control ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Imported Fire Ants

scholarly journals Electrophysiological Responses of Eighteen Species of Insects to Fire Ant Alarm Pheromone

Insects ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuzhe Du ◽  
Michael J. Grodowitz ◽  
Jian Chen
Keyword(s):  
Water Hyacinth ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Insect Species ◽  
Small Hive Beetle ◽  
Alarm Pheromones ◽  
Southern Green Stink Bug ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Imported Fire Ants

Olfaction plays a dominant role in insect communication. Alarm pheromones, which alert other insects of the same species of impending danger, are a major class of releaser pheromones. The major components of alarm pheromones in red imported fire ants, honeybees and aphids have been identified as 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (2E-3,6-DP), isopentyl acetate (IPA), and E-β-farnesene (EβF), respectively. In this study, electroantennography (EAG) responses to EDP (a mixture of 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine and 2-ethyl-3,5-dimethylpyrazine), IPA and EβF were investigated in a wide range of insect species. Beside imported fire ants, the EDP (2-ethyl-3,6(5)-dimethylpyrazine) elicited significant EAG response from all other tested insects, including six ant species and one hybrid ant, honeybee, bagrada bug, lady beetle, housefly, small hive beetle, yellow fever mosquito, termite, bedbug, water hyacinth weevil, southern green stink bug and two aphid species. In contrast, IPA elicited significant EAG response only in the honeybee, red imported fire ant, an Aphaenogaster ant, and the water hyacinth weevil. The EβF only elicited EAG responses in two aphids, small hive beetle and housefly. The results clearly indicate that EDP can be detected by widespread insect species that did not coevolve with S. invicta and further suggested alkylpyrazine may activate multiple generally tuned olfactory receptors (ORs) across a wide number of insect species.

Mitochondrial DNA suggests cryptic speciation in Prodiplosis longifila Gagné (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) associated with geographic distance and host specialization

2018 ◽  
Vol 108 (6) ◽  
pp. 739-749 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.N. Duque-Gamboa ◽  
M.F. Castillo-Cárdenas ◽  
L.M. Hernández ◽  
Y.C. Guzmán ◽  
M.R. Manzano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South America ◽  
Genetic Differentiation ◽  
North American ◽  
Population Analysis ◽  
Geographic Distance ◽  
Sweet Pepper ◽  
Host Specialization ◽  
South American ◽  
The North ◽  
Wide Range

AbstractProdiplosis longifila is reported as a pest of a wide range of species cultivated in America, including citrus, solanaceous species and asparagus. This species has different behavioural traits that are primarily centred on the oviposition habit and the feeding of larvae, which can change depending on the host. However, scarce information is available on population studies and the natural history of this insect, and uncertainty exists about the taxonomic identity and the geographic distribution of this species. The main objective was to perform a phylogenetic and genetic study of P. longifila populations and to define whether the North American and South American populations belong to the same species or whether a differentiation process had occurred due to geographic distance. A second objective was to determine whether this species showed genetic differentiation by host specialization in South America. The phylogenetic and population analyses based on DNA barcodes (cytochrome oxidase I gene) and a region of the ribosomal DNA (ITS2) revealed divergent clades attributable to geographic distance and host specificity. The North American and South American P. longifila insects were confirmed to be genetically distinct, and the genetic distances exceeded the values expected for intraspecific variation. In South America, the population analysis of P. longifila from tomato, sweet pepper (Solanaceae), Tahiti lime and key lime (Rutaceae) hosts evidenced high genetic differentiation between populations associated with different hosts and an absence of gene flow between these groups, suggesting the corresponding formation of cryptic species.

scholarly journals Fire Ants (Solenopsisspp.) and Their Natural Enemies in Southern South America

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Briano ◽  
Luis Calcaterra ◽  
Laura Varone
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Biological Control ◽  
South America ◽  
Natural Enemies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Fire Ants ◽  
Fire Ant ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
Southern South America ◽  
Field Release

We review the fire ant research conducted by the ARS-South American Biological Control Laboratory (SABCL) since 1987 to find a complex of natural enemies in southern South America and evaluate their specificity and suitability for field release as self-sustaining biological control agents. We also include those studies conducted by the ARS-Center for Medical, Agriculture, and Veterinary Entomology in the United States with the SABCL collaboration. Ecological and biological information is reported on local fire ants and their microsporidia, nematodes, viruses, phorid flies, eucharitid wasps, strepsiptera, and parasitic ants. Their biology, abundance, distribution, detrimental effect, field persistence, specificity, and phenology are discussed. We conclude that the objectives of the ARS program in South America are being achieved and that the pioneering studies have served to encourage further investigations in the United States and other countries and advanced the implementation of biological control programs to decrease imported fire ant densities and damage. Still, several promising organisms should be further investigated for eventual field release in the near future.

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