Ni Meihong, Yang Xinyi, Zheng Yiran, Wang Yuan, Jiang Mingxing
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Key Laboratory of Agricultural Entomology, Key Laboratory of Biology of Crop Pathogens and Insects of Zhejiang Province, Institute of Insect Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China.
Insects. 2024 Jul 31;15(8):582. doi: 10.3390/insects15080582.
Native ants have long been considered for their potential to suppress the red imported fire ant, Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), a highly invasive and destructive species. However, the knowledge in this field is limited to behavioral observations of a few related native ants. In this study, by setting up a series of ant combinations of three native ants, i.e., Santschi, the robust crazy ant Forel, and Roger, with , we observed the aggression levels and mortality rates. Using baited vials, we also investigated the abundance of native ants in four types of habitats in Eastern China that are preferred by (woodland, green belts on roadsides, grassland, and farmland), as well as their seasonal abundance when co-existing with and their spatial distribution before and after control of . We found that and show a degree of aggression towards and can kill substantial proportions of under laboratory conditions, but does not. Both and can occur in each type of habitat investigated and are more abundant in green belts (particularly lawns with turf) and grasslands relative to other habitats. In grasslands with , maintained a low density before early July; however, its abundance increased thereafter and reached a peak in September. also had a low density early in the season and increased steadily from April. Its abundance began to decrease substantially from November. In grasslands invaded by , both and were restricted to sites close to the margins before was controlled; however, they spread to a larger range within a few weeks after control of . In conclusion, and have the potential to suppress invasion in habitats that are abundant with these two native ants.
本土蚂蚁长期以来因其抑制红火蚁（Buren，膜翅目：蚁科）的潜力而受到关注，红火蚁是一种极具入侵性和破坏性的物种。然而，该领域的知识仅限于对少数相关本土蚂蚁的行为观察。在本研究中，通过设置三种本土蚂蚁，即拟黑多刺蚁（Santschi）、强壮狂蚁（Forel）和双隆骨铺道蚁（Roger）与红火蚁的一系列蚂蚁组合，我们观察了攻击水平和死亡率。使用诱饵小瓶，我们还调查了中国东部四种受红火蚁青睐的栖息地（林地、路边绿化带、草地和农田）中本土蚂蚁的数量，以及它们与红火蚁共存时的季节数量，以及在控制红火蚁前后它们的空间分布。我们发现拟黑多刺蚁和强壮狂蚁对红火蚁表现出一定程度的攻击性，并且在实验室条件下可以杀死相当比例的红火蚁，但双隆骨铺道蚁则不会。拟黑多刺蚁和强壮狂蚁都可以出现在所调查的每种栖息地类型中，并且相对于其他栖息地，它们在绿化带（特别是有草皮的草坪）和草地中更为丰富。在有红火蚁的草地中，红火蚁在7月初之前密度较低；然而，此后其数量增加并在9月达到峰值。双隆骨铺道蚁在季节早期密度也较低，并从4月开始稳步增加。其数量从11月开始大幅下降。在被红火蚁入侵的草地中，在控制红火蚁之前，拟黑多刺蚁和强壮狂蚁都局限于靠近边缘的区域；然而，在控制红火蚁后的几周内，它们扩散到了更大的范围。总之，拟黑多刺蚁和强壮狂蚁有潜力在这两种本土蚂蚁丰富的栖息地中抑制红火蚁的入侵。
