02332nas a2200205 4500008004100000022001300041245016600054210006900220260001600289520146300305653001501768653001301783653001501796653001901811653001401830100001801844700001801862700001601880856023001896 2014 eng d a1226861500aIntraspecific and interspecific aggressive interactions between two species of fire ants, Solenopsis geminata and S. invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in Taiwan0 aIntraspecific and interspecific aggressive interactions between  cJan-12-20143 a

Fire ants represent a considerable hazard for humans and animals living in areas where they are introduced. Currently, two species of fire ant, Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) and both social forms of Sinvicta Buren, have been accidentally introduced into Taiwan. In this study, we conducted a series of behavioral assays to examine the aggressive response of two species of fire ants, using individual and group assays. Workers ofSgeminata, monogyne Sinvicta, and polygyne S. invicta achieved low mean scores for their responses in conspecific interactions, but did exhibit significantly high aggressive responses in heterospecific interactions. The results demonstrate that 51.7% residents and 23.1% intruders played first attacker roles in individual aggression assay. After the interspecific individual aggression tests, the results show that polygyne Sinvicta had the lowest mortality among the three fire ant forms. In interspecific group aggression tests, Sgeminata experienced the highest mortality compared with that for both social forms of Sinvicta. The results in this study can be used to partially explain the behavioral responses and competitive ability of two species of fire ants in aggression bioassays.

10aaggression10afire ant10aFormicidae10aheterospecific10amortality1 aLai, Li-Chuan1 aHua, Kuo-Hsun1 aWu, Wen-Jer uhttp://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1226861514001460http://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1226861514001460?httpAccept=text/xmlhttp://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1226861514001460?httpAccept=text/plain