Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Interspecific displacement mechanisms by the invasive little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Competition between invasive species and native ones in the new environment was found to be significant and to affect both animal and plant species. Invasive ants are notorious for displacing local ant species through competition. Competitive displacement of native species can occur through interference and or resource competition. However, for invasive ants, little is known about the relative importance of competitive displacement. We studied competitive interactions of the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, one of the most destructive invasive ant species, with two other ant species, Monomorium subopacum and Pheidole teneriffana. We compared the species’ foraging behavior and studied their aggressive interactions around food baits for the short (2 h) and long (21 days) term in the laboratory. Surprisingly we found that in short term experiments W. auropunctata had the poorest foraging abilities of the three species studied: it took the workers the longest to locate the bait and retrieve it; in addition they retrieved the lowest amount of food. When both W. auropunctata and M. subopacum were foraging the same bait, in the short term competition experiment, W. auropunctata workers did not defend the bait, and ceased foraging when encountered with competition. The long-term experiments revealed that W. auropunctata had the advantage in aggressive interactions over time; they eliminated seven of nine M. subopacum’s nests while consuming some of the workers and brood. According to our laboratory studies, W. auropunctata cannot be considered an extirpator species, unless it has a substantial numerical advantage, in contrast with previous assumptions. Otherwise it may behave as an insinuator species, i.e. the workers do not initiate aggression and by staying undetected they can continue foraging adjacent to dominant species.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achury R, Ulloa PC, Arcila AM (2008) Ant composition and competitive interactions with Wasmannia auropunctata in tropical dry forest fragments. Rev Colomb Entomol 34:209–216

    Google Scholar 

  • Armbrecht I, Ulloa-Chacon P (2003) The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (roger) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as a diversity indicator of ants in tropical dry forest fragments of Colombia. Environ Entomol 32:542–547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark DB, Guayasamin C, Pazmino O, Donoso C, YPd Villacis (1982) The tramp ant Wasmannia auropunctata: autecology and effects on ant diversity and distribution on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. Biotropica 14:196–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cole NC, Jones CG, Harris S (2005) The need for enemy-free space: the impact of an invasive gecko on island endemics. Biol Conserv 125:467–474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dame EA, Petren K (2006) Behavioural mechanisms of invasion and displacement in Pacific island geckos (Hemidactylus). Anim Behav 71:1165–1173

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson DW (1998) Resource discovery versus resource domination in ants: a functional mechanism for breaking the trade-off. Ecol Entomol 23:484–490

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dejean A, Moreau CS, Kenne M, Leponce M (2008) The raiding success of Pheidole megacephala on other ants in both its native and introduced ranges. C R Biol 331:631–635

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dickman C (2011) Competition, animal. In: Simbeloff D, Rejmanek M (eds) Encyclopedia of biological invasions. Berkeley, CA, USA, pp 117–122

  • Fellers JH (1987) Interference and exploitation in a guild of woodland ants. Ecology 68:1466–1478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fourcassie V, Deneubourg JL (1994) The dynamics of collective exploration and trail-formation in Monomorium pharaonis—experiments and model. Physiol Entomol 19:291–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gurevitch J (2011) Competition, plant. In: Simbeloff D, Rejmanek M (eds) Encyclopedia of biological invasions. Berkeley, CA, USA, pp 122–125

  • Harris DB, Macdonald DW (2007) Interference competition between introduced black rats and endemic Galapagos rice rats. Ecology 88:2330–2344

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The ants. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA (1998) Factors governing rate of invasion: a natural experiment using Argentine ants. Oecologia 115:206–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA (1999) Competitive mechanisms underlying the displacement of native ants by the invasive Argentine ant. Ecology 80:238–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA, Case TJ (2001) Effects of colony-level variation on competitive ability in the invasive Argentine ant. Anim Behav 61:1181–1192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA, Suarez AV (2004) Colony structure variation and interspecific competitive ability in the invasive Argentine ant. Oecologia 138:216–222

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA, Lach L, Suarez AV, Tsutsui ND, Case TJ (2002) The causes and consequences of ant invasions. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 33:181–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones SR, Phillips SA (1990) Resource collecting abilities of Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) compared with those of 3 sympatric Texas ants. Southwest Nat 35:416–422

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jourdan H, Sadlier RA, Bauer AM (2001) Little fire ant invasion (Wasmannia auropunctata) as a threat to New Caledonian lizards: evidences from a sclerophyll forest (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 38:283–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenis M, Auger-Rozenberg MA, Roques A, Timms L, Pere C, Cock M, Settele J, Augustin S, Lopez-Vaamonde C (2009) Ecological effects of invasive alien insects. Biol Invasions 11:21–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krebs CJ (2001) Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance, 5th edn. HarperCollins College Publishers, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Krushelnycky PD, Holway DA, LeBrun EG, Lach L, Parr CL, Abbott KL (2010) Invasion processes and causes of success. In: Lach L, Parr CL, Abbott K (eds) Ant ecology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 245–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Breton J, Chazeau J, Jourdan H (2003) Immediate impacts of invasion by Wasmannia auropunctata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on native litter ant fauna in a New Caledonian rainforest. Austral Ecol 28:204–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levine JM, Vila M, D’Antonio CM, Dukes JS, Grigulis K, Lavorel S (2003) Mechanisms underlying the impacts of exotic plant invasions. Proc R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 270:775–781

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowe S, Browne M, Boudjelas S (2000) 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species. Aliens 12:S1–S12

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowry R (2009) VassarStats: web site for statistical computation. Available on: http://faculty.vassar.edu/lowry/VassarStats.html

  • Lubin YD (1984) Changes in the native fauna of the Galápagos islands following invasion by the little red fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata. Biol J Linn Soc 21:229–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch JF, Balinsky EC, Vail SG (1980) Foraging patterns in 3 sympatric forest ant species, Prenolepis imparis, Paratrechina melanderi and Aphaenogaster rudis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Ecol Entomol 5:353–371

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGlynn TP (1999) The worldwide transfer of ants: geographical distribution and ecological invasions. J Biogeogr 26:535–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier RE (1994) Coexisting patterns and foraging behavior of introduced and native ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in the Galapagos islands (Ecuador). In: Williams DF (ed) Exotic ants: biology, impact and control of introduced species. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 174–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitchell RJ, Flanagan RJ, Brown BJ et al (2009) New frontiers in competition for pollination. Ann Bot London 103:1403–1413

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison LW (1996) Community organization in a recently assembled fauna: The case of Polynesian ants. Oecologia 107:243–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrison LW (2000) Mechanisms of interspecific competition among an invasive and two native fire ants. Oikos 90:238–252

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parr CL, Gibb H (2010) Competition and the role of dominant ants. In: Lach L, Parr CL, Abbott KL (eds) Ant ecology. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 77–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Passera L (1994) Characteristics of tramp species. In: Williams DF (ed) Exotic ants: biology impact and control of introduced species. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 23–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Petren K, Case TJ (1996) An experimental demonstration of exploitation competition in an ongoing invasion. Ecology 77:118–132

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reitz SR, Trumble JT (2002) Competitive displacement among insects and arachnids. Annu Rev Entomol 47:435–465

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rejmánek M, Richardson DM, Higgins SI, Pitcairn MJ, Grotkopp E (2005) Ecology of invasive plants: state of the art. In: Mooney HA, Mack RN, McNeely JA, Neville LE, Schei P, Waage JK (eds) Invasive alien species: a new synthesis. Washington, DC, pp 104–161

  • Romanski A (2001) Introduced species summary project: little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata). Columbia University, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sakai AK, Allendorf FW, Holt JS, Lodge DM, Molofsky J, With KA, Baughman S, Cabin RJ, Cohen JE, Ellstrand NC, Mccauley DE, O’neil P, Parker IM, Thompson JN, Weller SG (2001) The population biology of invasive species. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 32:305–332

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skelly DK (2002) Experimental venue and estimation of interaction strength. Ecology 83:2097–2101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith KG (2005) Effects of nonindigenous tadpoles on native tadpoles in Florida: evidence of competition. Biol Conserv 123:433–441

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry: the principles and practice of statistics in biological research, 2nd edn. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Stokes VL, Banks PB, Pech RP et al (2009) Competition in an invaded rodent community reveals black rats as a threat to native bush rats in littoral rainforest of south-eastern Australia. J Appl Ecol 46:1239–1247

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traniello JFA (1989) Foraging strategies of ants. Annu Rev Entomol 34:191–210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vonshak M, Dayan T, Foucaud J, Estoup A, Hefetz A (2009) The interplay between genetic and environmental effects on colony insularity in the clonal invasive little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63:1667–1677

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vonshak M, Dayan T, Ionescu-Hirsh A, Freidberg A, Hefetz A (2010) The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata: a new invasive species in the Middle East and its impact on the local arthropod fauna. Biol Invasions 12:1825–1837

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters AC, Mackay DA (2005) Importance of large colony size for successful invasion by argentine ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): evidence for biotic resistance by native ants. Austral Ecol 30:395–406

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetterer JK, Porter SD (2003) The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata: distribution, impact, and control. Sociobiology 42:1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Zee J, Holway D (2006) Nest raiding by the invasive Argentine ant on colonies of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex Subnitidus. Insectes Sociaux 53:161–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank Tovit Simon for her help in rearing the ants in the laboratory, Arieh Landsman for administrative help, Ilana Pizer Mason for assisting with laboratory experiments, and Armin Ionescu-Hirsch and Eli Geffen for their help with statistical analyses. This work was supported by the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Merav Vonshak

    Present address: Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305–5020, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, 69978, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Merav Vonshak, Tamar Dayan & Abraham Hefetz

Authors
  1. Merav Vonshak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tamar Dayan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Abraham Hefetz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Merav Vonshak.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 1182 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vonshak, M., Dayan, T. & Hefetz, A. Interspecific displacement mechanisms by the invasive little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata . Biol Invasions 14, 851–861 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-0122-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-0122-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation