Composition of harvested seeds and seed selection by the invasive tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Taiwan

Lai, Li-Chuan; Chiu, Ming‐Chung; Tsai, Chih‐Wei; Wu, Wen‐Jer

doi:10.1007/s11829-018-9611-3

Cited by 6 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…However, given the high functional diversity of synzoochorous dispersers, many of which act as secondary dispersers, we should expect more than one optimum in seed size. For example, ants and other insects tend to disperse very small seeds (Kaspari, ; Lai et al ., ): the average size of seeds dispersed by insects in our database was 3.6 ± 0.4 mg ( N = 311 species). Similarly, many rodents inhabiting arid environments hoard seeds of grasses (McAdoo et al ., ; McMurray, Jenkins & Longland, ; Borchert ; Sivy et al ., ).…”

Section: The Consequences Of the Dual Role Of Synzoochorous Dispersersmentioning

confidence: 95%

Synzoochory: the ecological and evolutionary relevance of a dual interaction

2018

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Synzoochory is the dispersal of seeds by seed-caching animals. The animal partner in this interaction plays a dual role, acting both as seed disperser and seed predator. We propose that this duality gives to synzoochory two distinctive features that have crucial ecological and evolutionary consequences. First, because plants attract animals that have not only positive (seed dispersal) but also negative (seed predation) impacts on their fitness, the evolution of adaptations to synzoochory is strongly constrained. Consequently, it is not easy to identify traits that define a synzoochorous dispersal syndrome. The absence of clear adaptations entails the extra difficulty of identifying synzoochorous plants by relying on dispersal traits, limiting our ability to explore the full geographic, taxonomic and phylogenetic extent of synzoochory. Second, the positive and negative outcomes of interactions with synzoochorous animals are expressed simultaneously. Consequently, synzoochorous interactions are not exclusively mutualistic or antagonistic, but are located at some point along a mutualism-antagonism continuum. What makes synzoochory interesting and unique is that the position of each partner along the continuum can be evaluated for every plant-animal interaction, and thus the continuum can be precisely described by assessing the relative frequency of positive and negative interaction events in each pairwise interaction. Herein we explore these two main features of synzoochory with a comprehensive quantitative survey of published studies on synzoochory. Synzoochory has been recorded for at least 1339 plant species differing in life forms, from annual and short-lived herbs to long-lived trees, belonging to 641 genera and 157 families widely distributed across the globe and across the seed plant phylogeny. Over 30 animal families belonging to five disparate taxonomic groups (rodents, marsupials, birds, insects, and land crabs) potentially act as synzoochorous dispersers. Although synzoochory appears to be fundamentally a secondary dispersal mode, many abundant and dominant trees are primarily synzoochorous. In addition, we found evidence of the existence of diplosynzoochory (caching animals acting both as primary and secondary dispersers of the same individual seed), mostly in nut-bearing trees. Finally, we found that synzoochorous interactions are widely spread across the mutualism-antagonism continuum. Nevertheless, there were some differences among disperser species and functional groups. Corvids and some rodents (cricetids, nesomyids, sciurids) were located in the positive-effects region of the continuum and presumably behave mostly as dispersers, whereas land crabs and insects were located in the negative-effects extreme and behave mostly as seed predators. Our review demonstrates that synzoochory is not an anecdotal ecological interaction. Rather, it is pivotal to the functioning of many ecosystems where the natural regeneration of keystone plant species depends on the activity of granivorous animals that play a du...

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Section: The Consequences Of the Dual Role Of Synzoochorous Dispersersmentioning

confidence: 95%

Synzoochory: the ecological and evolutionary relevance of a dual interaction

2018

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“…This further implicates the importance of plant-based resources in the growth of the colony (Wills et al ., 2015). In our previous study, seeds of Gramineae plants comprise more than 50% of all seeds in the seed caches of S. geminata nests (Lai et al ., 2018). Vegetation that is mainly composed of Gramineae plants provides a vast quantity of plant seeds that are rich in carbohydrates and lipids, which support colony development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…equisetifolia was found in the seed caches of S . geminata colonies (Lai et al ., 2018). The speed of seed delivery was determined by measuring the amount of time a worker ant spent passing through a 10-cm bridge while carrying a seed (fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Three colonies collected in 2017 were used in this experiment. In the behavioural experiments, Casuarina equisetifolia seeds were used on the basis of the previous study which revealed that a great quantity of C. equisetifolia was found in the seed caches of S. geminata colonies (Lai et al, 2018). The speed of seed delivery was determined by measuring the amount of time a worker ant spent passing through a 10-cm bridge while carrying a seed ( fig.…”

Section: Speed Of Seed Deliverymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is widely distributed in agricultural fields and weedy habitats (Lai et al, 2009). With small invertebrates and plant seeds as its main food sources, tropical fire ants significantly affect the local ecosystem by reducing the prey population and promoting seed dispersal at the same time (Taber, 2000;Lai et al, 2018). Previously, we have observed divergence of foraging behaviour in S. geminata when handling different prey species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carriers and cutters: size-dependent caste polyethism in the tropical fire ant (Solenopsis geminata)

Chiu

Lai

2019

Bull. Entomol. Res.

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Body size is an important life-history trait in eusocial insects which plays a key role in colony fitness. The division of labour, represented by caste polyethism, correlates with divergent morphological traits. Size polymorphism has been noted in the tropical fire ant, Solenopsis geminata; however, little is known regarding the differences in the size distributions of workers performing foraging tasks. In the present study, task partitioning was observed in the foraging activities of S. geminata. Two subgroups among foraging workers of S. geminata were discovered using the Gaussian mixture model: a large worker group (head width ≥ 0.924 mm) and a small worker group (head width < 0.924 mm). The foraging worker population comprised two distinct groups – 25.64% were large workers and 74.36% were small workers. Larger workers delivered heavier seeds faster than smaller workers, but this difference became less apparent when lighter seeds were being carried. When large prey such as crickets was encountered during foraging, S. geminata partitioned their tasks into cutting and transportation. The large workers were observed to cut cricket prey into fragments with their longer mandibles, and the small workers then transported these fragments back to the nest. These results present evidence of task partitioning among tropical fire ants, with different tasks being performed by ants of different castes.

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