Distribution, behavioral dominance and potential impacts on endemic fauna of tropical fire ant<i>Solenopsis geminata</i>(Fabricius, 1804) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in the Galápagos archipelago

Wauters, Nina; Dekoninck, Wouter; Herrera, Henri W.; Fournier, Denis

doi:10.3956/2014-90.4.205

Cited by 20 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Camponotus rufipes itself, a typical nectar-feeding ant (Schilman & Roces, 2003), is very aggressive in defending resources, being highly efficient in locating and removing threats from their patrolled plants (Fagundes et al, 2017). Likewise, the seed harvester (Carroll & Risch, 1984) fire ant Solenopsis geminata also found in the termitaria here inspected, is notorious by its aggressive behavior (Wauters, Dekoninck, Herrera, & Fournier, 2014), preying upon vertebrates such as turtles (Wetterer & Lombard, 2010), birds hatchlings and chicks (Wetterer, 2011), and rats (Pimentel, 1955), being also able to reduce the diversity of arthropods in areas to which it has been introduced (Wetterer, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Disturbance‐modulated symbioses in termitophily

Monteiro

Viana‐Júnior

Solar

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Symbiosis, the living‐together of unlike organisms, underlies every major transition in evolution and pervades most ecological dynamics. Among examples of symbioses, the simultaneous occupation of a termite nest by its builder termites and intruding invertebrate species (so‐called termitophily) provides suitable macroscopic scenarios for the study of species coexistence in confined environments. Current evidence on termitophily abounds for dynamics occurring at the interindividual level within the termitarium, but is insufficient for broader scales such as the community and the landscape. Here, we inspect the effects of abiotic disturbance on termitophile presence and function in termitaria at these broader scales. To do so, we censused the termitophile communities inhabiting 30 termitaria of distinct volumes which had been exposed to increasing degrees of fire‐induced disturbance in a savanna‐like ecosystem in southeastern Brazil. We provide evidence that such an abiotic disturbance can ease the living‐together of termitophiles and termites. Putative processes facilitating these symbioses, however, varied according to the invader. For nonsocial invaders, disturbance seemed to boost coexistence with termites via the habitat amelioration that termitaria provided under wildfire, as suggested by the positive correlation between disturbance degree and termitophile abundance and richness. As for social invaders (ants), disturbance seemed to enhance associational defenses with termites, as suggested by the negative correlation between the presence of ant colonies and the richness and abundance of other termitarium‐cohabiting termitophiles. It is then apparent that disturbance‐modulated distinct symbioses in these termite nests.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

Disturbance‐modulated symbioses in termitophily

Monteiro

Viana‐Júnior

Solar

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Ants were collected during three sampling missions (February-April 2010, in the rainy season. We collected samples at 21 sites covering all the major vegetation zones and all types of anthropogenic disturbed areas (Wauters et al, 2014). At each sampling site, a transect of eight pitfall traps (PF) was set up, each trap being separated by 2 m, yielding a total of 168 samples.…”

Section: Ant Sampling and Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Habitat association and coexistence of endemic and introduced ant species in the Galápagos Islands

Wauters

Dekoninck

Hendrickx

et al. 2015

Ecological Entomology

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1. We investigated ant communities in all main vegetation zones of the model island of Santa Cruz in the Galápagos archipelago (155 collection points, spread over 21 sites; 28 ant species collected), and evaluated the distribution, coexistence, and effect of environmental factors in a community composed of endemic, probably endemic, and introduced ants of the New World and exotic origin. 2. Introduced species were the most frequent, occurring in 98% of the samples, yet endemic and probably endemic species still occurred in 54% of the samples, and constituted one of three most common species. The present study revealed that the habitat type along with altitude and the tree cover are the primary factors shaping ant community composition. Little evidence was found for a competitively structured assemblage of ant species. 3. The present study confirmed the predominance of two dominant invasive species, Solenopsis geminata Fabricius and Wasmannia auropunctata Roger, whose abundances are negatively correlated. The abundance of S. geminata is positively correlated with the overall species richness, and with the proportion of other introduced species. The presence of both invasive ants is associated with a low evenness of ant communities. 4. The present study (i) stresses the dominance of introduced species and the relative resistance of endemic species, (ii) highlights the on‐going processes of species introductions and (iii) points out the need for adequate monitoring and conservation of the pristine and threatened environments that constitute the Galápagos Islands.

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“…in other regions of the world and is able to monopolize resources in both disturbed and natural areas with respect to other ant species (Herrera & cauSton 2008;wetterer 2011;wauterS et al 2014). Also among the introduced and potentially invasive ant species most frequently encountered there were Trichomyrmex destructor, Pheidole megacephala and Tetramorium simillimum, which are abundant and widely distributed in all ecoregion.…”

Section: Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Invasive ants cause ecological and economic damage. They are responsible for the loss of diversity of ants, other arthropods and even vertebrates in many invaded regions (Holway et al 2002;SiMberloFF et al 2013;wauterS et al 2014). Yet, studies on the status of ant invasion in Africa are lacking (Suarez et al 2010), particularly in West Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, where all existing studies on ants to date have been conducted in natural habitats and agricultural ecosystems (leVieux 1971;DioManDé 1981;yeo 2006;yeo et al 2011;Koné 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diversity and distribution of introduced and potentially invasive ant species from the three main ecoregions of Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa)

et al. 2018

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ABSTRACT. An important issue in biodiversity conservation is the early detection of introduced and invasive organisms and identification of regions that may either be points of introduction or be particularly prone to invasion. Among insects, ants are easily transported worldwide by humans, and several species, such as Solenopsis geminata or Pheidole megacephala, can be highly invasive. To establish an initial baseline for urban ant monitoring in Côte d'Ivoire (Western Africa), fifteen cities -equally distributed over the three main ecoregions of the country -were surveyed using tuna baits as sampling method. A total of 103 ant species from 22 genera and 5 subfamilies were collected. We identified 10 potentially invasive species, amongst them two new species for the country: Solenopsis geminata and Solenopsis globularia. Another highly invasive species, Paratrechina longicornis, was the most abundant species collected throughout the country. Potentially invasive ant species co-occurred with non-invasive species, and contributed importantly to the structure of ant assemblages of all sampled urban habitats. The present study provides evidence that introduced and invasive ant species are established in cities of Côte d'Ivoire, often in high numbers and are occurring over large areas of invasion.

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Distribution, behavioral dominance and potential impacts on endemic fauna of tropical fire antSolenopsis geminata(Fabricius, 1804) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae) in the Galápagos archipelago

Cited by 20 publications

References 41 publications

Disturbance‐modulated symbioses in termitophily

Disturbance‐modulated symbioses in termitophily

Habitat association and coexistence of endemic and introduced ant species in the Galápagos Islands

Diversity and distribution of introduced and potentially invasive ant species from the three main ecoregions of Côte d’Ivoire (West Africa)

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