FOOD PREFERENCE, FORAGING ACTIVITY, INTER- AND INTRASPECIFIC AGGRESSION AND BAITING OF THE CRAZY ANT, Paratrechina longicornis (LATREILLE) (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE)

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Date
2010-06
Authors
JING, SAM SIAO
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This thesis focuses on the study of food preferences, foraging activity, interand intraspecific interactions as well as baiting of Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille). Amongst all th~ carbohydrate and lipid foods, P. longicornis preferred saccharose sugar and egg yolk (P < 0.05) the most. Crazy ant also highly preferred dried anchovy and it was significantly (P < 0.05) preferred over the other candidates except dried prawn, tuna fish and sausage. This species are also more attracted to lower viscosities but higher concentrations of food (P < 0.05). Besides that, P. longicornis favoured their diet in liquid solution as well as protein and lipid food in solid form (P < 0.05). In contrast, semi-solid food was less appeal to these ants (P > 0.05). P. longicornis preferred relatively large food particles but not above 1900 11m in size. Foraging activity of P. longicornis was influenced more by ambient temperature compared to relative humidity. In addition, rain would affect the foraging activity of ants in varying degree depending on the duration and intensity of rainfall. Two peaks of activity were recorded, on between 5.00-7.00 pm and the other between 1.00-5.00 an1. During these peak periods, temperatures ranges from 24°C to 32°C with relatively high humidity. Seasonal food preferences revealed that crazy ants are attracted to carbohydrates (saccharose solution) throughout most of the trial period. In May and July, all food groups were given more attention by P. longicornis and it may be related to colony growth and expansion. During interactions with other Xll ant species, P. longicornis were more aggressive in group test than individual test. Oecophylla smaradigma (Fabricius) inflicted the highest mortality rate on P. longicornis in both individual and group tests. Casualties of the crazy ants were correlated with the mandible width and size of the opponents. Besides that, the aggressive response from P. longicornis also correlated with the degree oftaxonomic closeness between the species and this was especially evident during the intraspecific interactions. Optigard® gel bait managed to reduce P. longicornis workers by more than 95% at the end of the test while Advion® gel bait achieved only about 42% reduction rate. Furthermore, only the impact of Optigard® was significantly different from the control treatment (P < 0.05). xm
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FOOD PREFERENCE, FORAGING ACTIVITY, INTER- AND INTRASPECIFIC AGGRESSION AND BAITING OF THE CRAZY
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