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Sugar is an ant’s best friend? Testing food web theory predictions about trophic position and abundance in an invasive ant (Nylanderia fulva)

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Abstract

Classical food web theory predicts that species at the base of food webs will be more abundant than those at the top. Likewise, it’s hypothesized that feeding at lower trophic positions (e.g., deriving more nitrogen from plant-based resources such as nectar or honeydew) plays an important role in the establishment, spread, and ecological dominance of invasive social insects. We tested the relationship between diet, abundance, and resource dominance using the invasive tawny crazy ant (Nylanderia fulva). We used stable isotope analysis, pitfall sampling, and attraction of ants to baits to investigate tawny crazy ant trophic position, abundance, foraging intensity, and competition with other ant species at sites across Texas, USA. Tawny crazy ant abundance varied from zero to > 1000 ants per pitfall trap depending on site and month. Counter to our predictions, however, there was no significant relationship between tawny crazy ant abundance and trophic position. Moreover, tawny crazy ant foraging activity and numerical dominance at baits were significantly higher when ants occupied a higher trophic position. Tawny crazy ants were much more predaceous than expected, as worker \({\updelta }\)15N values were often statistically indistinguishable from known arthropod predators (14/22 total observations). A review of the literature indicates that our results add to a growing body of evidence (15/24 studies) suggesting that ant abundance does not always correspond with a more herbivorous diet. Rather, other factors such as dietary flexibility and abiotic features may play a more important role in invasive ant abundance, particularly in the case of tawny crazy ants.

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All raw data will be submitted to Dryad upon acceptance.

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R code associated with all statistical analyses will be available on Dryad upon acceptance.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank R. Puckett, P. Shults, and W. Brown for help with field sites, J. de León, M. Jones, and staff at Estero Llano Grande State Park for access, help, and expertise at the park, B. and P. Howell for access to their property and interest in the project, A. Shults for support during sampling, and J. Hewlett and A. Hyodo for help with isotope samples. We would also like to thank R. Puckett, J. Light, and three anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. This material is based upon work supported by the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Invasive Ant Research and Management Grant and the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE 1252521. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Funding

This material is based upon work supported by the Texas A&M AgriLife Research Invasive Ant Research and Management Grant awarded to MDE and GAS. It is also supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE 1252521 awarded to MKK. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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  1. Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA

    MacKenzie K. Kjeldgaard, Gregory A. Sword & Micky D. Eubanks

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  1. MacKenzie K. Kjeldgaard
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MKK, MDE, and GAS designed the experiment. MKK collected all samples, prepared and submitted isotope samples, and analyzed the data. MKK wrote the manuscript with contributions from MDE and GAS.

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Correspondence to MacKenzie K. Kjeldgaard.

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Kjeldgaard, M.K., Sword, G.A. & Eubanks, M.D. Sugar is an ant’s best friend? Testing food web theory predictions about trophic position and abundance in an invasive ant (Nylanderia fulva). Biol Invasions 24, 67–80 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-021-02627-z

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