Ja. Briano et al., COLONY MOVEMENT OF THE BLACK IMPORTED FIRE ANT (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) IN ARGENTINA, Environmental entomology, 24(5), 1995, pp. 1131-1134
We studied the movement of colonies of the black imported fire ant, So
lenopsis richteri Forel, in its native land, Buenos Aires province, Ar
gentina. We established 6 field plots and monthly monitored the number
of abandoned and new mounds for 2 yr. We compared the movement of all
colonies with the movement of colonies infected with the microsporidi
um Thelohania solenopsae Knell, Alien & Hazard. We estimated the dista
nce of colony movement and recorded the duration of the colonies remai
ning in the same place. S. richteri colonies moved their mounds very o
ften. The mean percentage of abandoned and new mounds per monitoring d
ate was 36 and 30% of all active mounds, respectively. The pathogen I:
solenopsae did not have any effect on colony movement. The mean estim
ated distance of displacement was 3.7 m and the mean duration of the c
olonies in the same place was 3.1 mo. Rainfall stimulated colony movem
ent in Argentina.