Wagner, Thomas and Czaczkes, Tomer J. (2024) Corpse-associated odours elicit avoidance in invasive ants. PEST MANAGEMENT SCIENCE, 80 (4). pp. 1859-1867. ISSN 1526-498X, 1526-4998
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BACKGROUND: Invasive ants, such as Linepithema humile (the Argentine ant), pose a global threat, necessitating a better understanding of their behaviour in order to improve management strategies. Traditional eradication methods, including baiting, have had limited success, but the causes of control failure are not always clear. This study aims to investigate whether ants form associations between food odours and corpses, and subsequently avoid areas or food sources with food odours associated with corpses. We propose that ants may learn to avoid toxic baits in part because of their association with ant corpses, which could have implications for pest control strategies.RESULTS: Ants were tested on a Y-maze after exposure to scented corpses or dummies. 69% (n = 64) of ants avoided branches bearing the scent of scented corpses. Colonies neglected food with corpse-associated odours, with only 42% (n = 273) of foragers feeding from such sources. However, if corpses were produced by feeding ants scented toxicant, focal ants encountering these corpses did not avoid the corpse-associated scent on a Y-maze (53%, n = 65). In dual-feeder tests, ants did not avoid feeding at food sources scented with odours associated with conspecific corpses.CONCLUSION: Conspecific corpses act as a negative stimulus for ants in a foraging situation, potentially causing avoidance of toxic baits. This study suggests adding odours to baits and cycling them to disrupt the bait-corpse association may be helpful. Interestingly, although avoidance of baits was observed, feeding preferences were not significantly affected.(c) 2023 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ARGENTINE ANTS; HYMENOPTERA-FORMICIDAE; INFORMATION; DETERRENT; HERBIVORY; BEHAVIOR; REMOVAL; BAITS; Linepithema humile; ant learning; odour association; corpse avoidance; negative stimulus; bait avoidance |
| Subjects: | 500 Science > 590 Zoological sciences |
| Divisions: | Biology, Preclinical Medicine > Institut für Zoologie |
| Depositing User: | Dr. Gernot Deinzer |
| Date Deposited: | 13 Mar 2024 09:38 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Mar 2025 10:02 |
| URI: | https://pred.uni-regensburg.de/id/eprint/59534 |
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