ABUNDANCE OF THE PARASITIC ANT SOLENOPSIS-DAGUERREI (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) IN SOUTH-AMERICA, A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR THE BIOLOGICAL-CONTROL OF THE RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT IN THE UNITED-STATES
Ja. Briano et al., ABUNDANCE OF THE PARASITIC ANT SOLENOPSIS-DAGUERREI (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) IN SOUTH-AMERICA, A POTENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR THE BIOLOGICAL-CONTROL OF THE RED IMPORTED FIRE ANT IN THE UNITED-STATES, Environmental entomology, 26(5), 1997, pp. 1143-1148
Abundance of the workerless parasitic ant Solenopsis daguerrei (Santsc
hi) in fire ant populations was surveyed in southern and southwestern
Brazil, eastern, central, and northern Argentina, western and northern
Uruguay, central Paraguay, and Bolivia from 1974 to 1996. A total of
12,180 fire ant colonies was sampled from 726 collecting sites for the
presence of adults or queens, or both, of the parasitic ant. The pres
ence of the parasite in fire ant colonies within the area surveyed was
very low. In Argentina, S. daguerrei occurred in the provinces of Bue
nos Aires, Santa Fe, and Entre Bios, in 1.4-7.0% of the colonies. In B
razil, the areas of Dourados, Campo Grande, and Rochedo, Mate Grosso d
o Sul contained 1-6.2% of parasitized colonies. In Uruguay, <1% of the
colonies were parasitized. The parasite was not found in Paraguay and
Bolivia. A new host (S. macdonaghi Santschi) is reported for S. dague
rrei. The field site with the highest presence of S. daguerrei (7%) wa
s selected in Buenos Aires province for ecological studies. The low pr
esence in its native areas should not discourage the potential use of
this parasite as a biological control agent of imported fire ants in t
he United States.