The effects of ants on pest control: a meta-analysis

Anjos, Diego V.; Tena, Alejandro; Viana‐Júnior, Arleu Barbosa; Carvalho, Raquel L.; Torezan‐Silingardi, Helena Maura; Del‐Claro, Kleber; Perfecto, Ivette

doi:10.1098/rspb.2022.1316

Cited by 42 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 79 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…S4). Although monotonic declines may reflect climate (e.g., linear declines in productivity), predatory ants are present in the neotropics (44), and if they were to reduce arthropod populations to a similar extent as Oecophylla, might be expected to lead to midelevation peaks in insectivorous birds. However, ants can be both competitors and facilitators.…”

Section: In (34))mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant impacts on global patterns of bird elevational diversity

Srinivasan

Shanker

Price

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Across the world's mountains, elevation-species richness relationships are highly variable. Here, using data on bird species elevational distributions from all 46 of the world's major mountain ranges, bird species dietary traits, and the distribution of the low-elevation ant genus Oecophylla, we show that global patterns in bird elevational diversity are likely to be affected by competition with ants. Oecophylla is an exceptionally abundant and aggressive predator of invertebrates, which preys on the same species that sympatric invertivorous bird species feed on. In mountain ranges with Oecophylla present in the foothills, maximum species richness of invertivorous birds occurs, on average, at 960m, ~450m higher than in mountain ranges without Oecophylla. Further, in mountain ranges with Oecophylla, species richness of invertivorous birds increases initially with with elevation to produce a mid-elevation peak in invertivore bird species richness. Where Oecophylla is absent, invertivore bird species richness generally shows monotonic declines with increasing elevation. We attribute the pattern to the following mechanism: first, Oecophylla reduces prey density for invertivorous birds; second, low invertebrate prey abundance reduces invertivorous bird density and third, lower bird density is correlated with lower bird species richness. Because invertivores dominate montane bird communities, global elevational bird diversity patterns are also driven by Oecophylla. The findings emphasize how competitive interactions between distantly related taxa set geographical range limits.

show abstract

Section: In (34))mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ant impacts on global patterns of bird elevational diversity

Srinivasan

Shanker

Price

2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Their relationship with plants is of particular interest from both an evolutionary and an applied perspective [ 2 , 3 ]. One of the most important services that ants may provide to plants in these relationships is protection from a range of different herbivore insects that ants may prey upon or at least displace [ 4 , 5 ]. In addition, ants in agriculture may also play important roles in soil enrichment and bioturbation, as well as control of weeds and certain plant pathogens [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, ants in agriculture may also play important roles in soil enrichment and bioturbation, as well as control of weeds and certain plant pathogens [ 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Ants’ ability to protect certain honeydew insect pests must be acknowledged; at the same time, their generalist predatory ability against several phytophagous arthropods promotes their recognition as biological control agents across different agricultural contexts [ 4 , 5 , 9 ]. This is especially well known in the tropics and comparatively less studied in temperate regions [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predatory Abilities of Two Mediterranean Ants on the Eggs and Larvae of the Codling Moth Cydia pomonella

Schifani

Giannetti

Grasso

2023

Insects

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The predatory ability of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) against insect pests can offer an important service to agricultural activities and may sometimes be directly exploited in biological control strategies. The codling moth Cydia pomonella (Lepidoptera, Tortricidae) is a major agricultural pest of fruit orchards, whose biological control is complicated by the fact that the larvae spend most of their life protected within the fruits they damage. In a recent experiment in Europe, pear trees in which ant activity was artificially increased by the addition of sugary liquid dispensers (artificial nectaries) suffered less damage caused by the larvae to their fruits. While some ants were already known to prey upon the mature larvae or pupae of C. pomonella in the soil, prevention of fruit damage would require predation upon eggs or newly hatched larvae, which have not yet excavated into the fruits. We verified whether two different Mediterranean ants frequently observed in fruit orchards, Crematogaster scutellaris and Tapinoma magnum, were able to prey upon C. pomonella eggs and larvae in laboratory conditions. Our experiments demonstrated that both species similarly attacked and killed young C. pomonella larvae. On the other hand, the eggs mostly attracted the attention of T. magnum but were never damaged. Further field assessments are required to understand whether ants may also interfere with oviposition by adults or whether larger ant species, although generally rarer in orchards, may also prey upon eggs.

show abstract

“…Weaver ants, for example, are able to control more than 50 different pest species in tropical plantations 7 and are one of few examples of a biocontrol agent that can be more effective than synthetic insecticides in open systems, and even at lower costs 8 . Similarly, other ant species are beneficial agents against many pests in a variety of other crops (reviewed and meta‐analysed by Way and Khoo, 6 Offenberg, 8 Anjos et al 9 . Diame et al 10 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…5,6 Weaver ants, for example, are able to control more than 50 different pest species in tropical plantations 7 and are one of few examples of a biocontrol agent that can be more effective than synthetic insecticides in open systems, and even at lower costs. 8 Similarly, other ant species are beneficial agents against many pests in a variety of other crops (reviewed and meta-analysed by Way and Khoo, 6 Offenberg, 8 Anjos et al 9 Diame et al 10 and Choate and Drummond 11 ). In Europe, wood ants (Formica rufa group) are promising agents, as they prey on a variety of insect pests, consume high numbers of the prey insects, and are easy to transplant from forests into, for example, plantations, where they thrive well if managed properly.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing wood ants in biocontrol: Suppression of apple scab and reduced aphid tending

Jensen

Hansen

Damgaard

et al. 2023

Pest Management Science

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BACKGROUND Ants can become efficient biocontrol agents in plantation crops as they prey on pest insects and may inhibit plant pathogens by excreting broad‐spectrum antibiotics. However, ants also provide a disservice by augmenting attended honeydew producing homopterans. This disservice may be avoided by offering ants artificial sugar as an alternative to honeydew. Here we tested the effect of artificial sugar feeding on aphid abundance in an apple plot with wood ants (Formica polyctena, Förster), and tested the effect of ant presence on apple scab (Venturia inaequalis, Cooke) disease incidence. RESULTS Over a 2‐year period, sugar feeding eliminated ant‐attended aphid populations on the apple trees. Furthermore, scab symptoms on both leaves and apples were reduced considerably on ant trees compared to control trees without ants. The presence of ants on the trees reduced leaf scab infections by 34%, whereas spot numbers on fruits were reduced by between 53 and 81%, depending on apple variety. In addition, the spots were 56% smaller. CONCLUSION This shows that problems with wood ant‐attended homopterans can be solved and that ants can control both insect pests and plant pathogens. We therefore propose wood ants as a new effective biocontrol agent suitable for implementation in apple orchards and possibly other plantation crops. © 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

show abstract

The effects of ants on pest control: a meta-analysis

Cited by 42 publications

References 79 publications

Ant impacts on global patterns of bird elevational diversity

Ant impacts on global patterns of bird elevational diversity

Predatory Abilities of Two Mediterranean Ants on the Eggs and Larvae of the Codling Moth Cydia pomonella

Implementing wood ants in biocontrol: Suppression of apple scab and reduced aphid tending

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About