Abstract
Various artificial diets have been used for rearing imported fire ants; however most of these diets include insect supplements. This study was designed to examine growth of red imported fire ant colonies (Solenopsis invicta Buren) on four artificial diets: a chemically undefined “oligidic” predator diet, two partly defined “meridic” diets utilized by Bhatkar and Whitcomb (Florida Entomol. 53: 229–232, 1970) and Dussutour and Simpson (Insect. Soc. 55: 329–333, 2008) for Solenopsis fire ants and Rhytido-ponera ants, respectively, and finally a completely chemically defined “holidic” diet utilized by Straka and Feldhaar (Insect. Soc. 54: 100–104, 2007a, Insect. Soc. 54: 202, 2007b Erratum) for carpenter ants. Crickets and sugar water were used as a standard diet. After 6 weeks, fire ant colonies fed crickets and sugar water were healthy and had grown considerably. In contrast, colonies fed the artificial diets showed little or no growth demonstrating that these diets are not suitable for rearing healthy fire ant colonies. Nevertheless, the holidic or entirely synthetic Straka diet may provide a suitable basis for further studies of fire ant dietary requirements because it resulted in modest production of all brood stages. We advise caution in using diets that mix sugar and protein into a single “all in one” diet because workers and brood have differing dietary requirements.
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Acknowledgments
The authors appreciate the assistance provided by Darrell Hall (CMAVE, Gainesville, Florida) in helping with processing samples and feeding the colonies. We thank Ulrich Bernier, Alisa Huffaker, Rodney Nagoshi, Peter Teal, Steven Valles, Robert Vander Meer (all CMAVE), and Aaron Hirko (SFC, Gainesville) for sharing chemicals needed for the diets. We thank Robert Vander Meer (CMAVE), Deby Cassill (USF, Tampa, Florida), Andrea Dussutour (CNRS, Toulouse, France) and an anonymous reviewer for helpful comments. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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Gavilanez-Slone, J., Porter, S.D. Laboratory fire ant colonies (Solenopsis invicta) fail to grow with Bhatkar diet and three other artificial diets. Insect. Soc. 61, 281–287 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-014-0353-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-014-0353-7