Individual and Cooperative Food Transport of the Red Imported Fire Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Laboratory Observations

• Published in: Journal of insect behavior Vol. 29; no. 1; pp. 99 - 107
• Main Authors: Wang, Cai, Chen, Xuan, Strecker, Rachel, Henderson, Gregg, Wen, Xiujun, Hooper-Bùi, Linda M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.01.2016; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agriculture; Animal behavior; Animal Ecology; Behavioral Sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Entomology; Evolutionary Biology; Food; Foraging behavior; Insects; Invasive insects; Life Sciences; Meat; Neurobiology; Urban agriculture; foraging; individual transport; social insect; Cooperative transport
• ISSN: 0892-7553; 1572-8889
• DOI: 10.1007/s10905-016-9546-4

The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, is a significant urban and agricultural pest with a global distribution. However, the food transport patterns of S. invicta are poorly understood. In the present study, food of different sizes were provided to S. invicta colonies and transport for a short distance was observed under laboratory conditions. Individual transport of small food (1 × 1 mm deli meat) and cooperative transport of food of larger sizes (2 × 2 mm, 4 × 4 mm, and 8 × 8 mm deli meat) was observed. The majority of transporters were small workers. During cooperative transport, ants were either around or on the food, pulling/pushing the food item in multiple directions, leading to a slow process with frequent deadlocks. Individual transport required significantly shorter time in the preparation and transportation stages, but food transport was more likely to deviate from the nest. This observation suggests that the cooperative transport of S. invicta is closer to uncoordinated.