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Area of Science:

  • Entomology
  • Chemical Ecology
  • Animal Behavior

Background:

  • House crickets (Acheta domesticus) are a food source for laboratory-reared imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta and S. richteri).
  • Imported fire ants exhibit differential feeding behavior, consuming cricket tissues but avoiding cricket eggs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the chemical cues influencing imported fire ant behavior towards house cricket eggs.
  • To determine if fatty acids on cricket eggs elicit necrophoric or retrieving behaviors in ants.

Main Methods:

  • Bioassays were conducted using freshly collected cricket eggs and fire ants.
  • Chemical analysis identified fatty acids on the surface of cricket eggs.
  • Cricket egg extract and reconstructed fatty acid mixtures were used to elicit ant behaviors.

Main Results:

  • Imported fire ants retrieved cricket eggs into nests before discarding them on refuse piles.
  • Fatty acids, known death cues, were identified on cricket eggs.
  • Cricket egg extract and fatty acid mixtures elicited necrophoric behavior but not retrieving behavior in Solenopsis invicta.
  • Cricket eggs share a similar fatty acid profile with dead ants.

Conclusions:

  • Fatty acids on house cricket eggs elicit necrophoric behavior in imported fire ants.
  • Unknown non-fatty acid compounds on cricket eggs may be responsible for the retrieving behavior.
  • The similar fatty acid profiles between cricket eggs and dead ants suggest potential ecological or evolutionary links.