Interspecific competition predicts the potential impact of little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) invasion on resident ants in southern China

作者：Lei Nie, Bamisope Steve Bamisile, Yuling Li, Hao Ran, Suhang Wang, Lei Wang, Yijuan Xu · 发表于：Insect Science · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1111/1744-7917.13170 · 被引用次数：8 · 研究领域：Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior、Insect and Pesticide Research、Plant and animal studies

The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) is a major invasive species that seriously threatens the biodiversity of invaded areas. W. auropunctata was first reported in Chinese mainland in 2022 and its impact on native species is still unknown. To evaluate the impact of W. auropunctata invasion on the ant communities in southern China, a series of interspecific competition experiments were conducted in this study. The individual aggression index and group aggression experiments showed the advantage of W. auropunctata in competition with 5 resident ants under equal worker numbers. When encountering Anoplolepis gracilipes, Camponotus nicobarensis, Tetramorium bicarinatum, Polyrhachis dives, and Solenopsis invicta, W. auropunctata gradually gained a competitive advantage with an increase in its number of workers. In the group aggression experiments with equal worker numbers, there was a negative correlation between the body length and mortality rate of resident ants. The results of the foraging behavior experiments showed that W. auropunctata was able to dominate food resources under competition with Carebara diversa, which also displayed weak competition in the group aggression bioassay. In addition, the abilities to recruit workers and retrieve food were inhibited under competition with S. invicta and T. bicarinatum. The results of the nesting behavior experiments showed that in the 24-h bout of space resource competition, W. auropunctata was dominant over C. diversa, ...