Excerpt: Interactions between Pheidole megacephala and Linepithema humile in Oahu, Hawaii by Sam S. Fluker

Excerpt from the paper by Sam S. Fluker, "Sympatric associations among selected ant species and some effects of ants on sugarcane mealybugs in Hawaii" (1969)

In tests conducted in the laboratory, it was found that when colonies of Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) or Pheidole megacephala were placed in contact with a colony of Anoplolepis gracilipes, the workers and queens of A. gracilipes were always destroyed and the brood was taken as food by the other ant. A. gracilipes seemed to make no effort to defend itself or the brood. Instead the workers would run about the enciosure in panic and most would be killed by running into the "Tanglefoot" barrier rather than in fights with the other ants.

Colonies of Argentine ants and Pheidole which had been maintained in the laboratory for three weeks were put together so that there was continuous contact along one side of the nest platforms. Within ten minutes, the whole colony of Argentine ants had crossed over to the Pheidole platform. This invasion included not only workers but the brood and many queens as well. There seemed to be no concentrated attack by the Argentine ants; however, there were chance encounters caused by the Argentine ants scurrying about. An occasional Argentine ant would go into the area where the Pheidole colony was concentrated. It would be immediately attacked by one or more Pheidole workers and usually would be killed. The only unusual excitement in the Pheidole nest was caused by the occasional invasion by an Argentine ant. However, there seemed to be a response to the invasion throughout the Pheidole colony whereby the Pheidole began to seal the entrances to the nest with trash as a protective measure.

In less than 90 minutes, the Argentine ants had moved all their brood and queens back into their original colonies with only an occasional Argentine ant venturing onto the Pheidole platform. when an Argentine ant would cross over to the other platform, it would only go to the outer perimeter.

After four hours, there was no sign that either ant would attack the other in sufficient numbers to eliminate the colony. The Argentine ants still moved about their platform in the usual foraging manner, occasionally crossing over to the Pheidole piatform. The Pheidoe were still in the process of sealing the entrances to their nest. There were a few soldiers ani workers of PheidoZe on the Argentine platform.

At five hours after beginning the experiment, the Argentine ants began moving their brood from one nest to another. In a short time the colony became very excited and started moving the brood out of both nests and eventually setitied down at the opposite end of the platform from the nests. This excitation of the colony seemed to have been preceded by the invasion of the Argentine ant colony by four or five Phetdote soldiers, The Argentine ants seemed to go out of their way to avoid contact with the soldiers, : even when the soldiers were injured. Pheidole soldiers are much slower in their movements than the Argentine ant workerss; but they snap their mandibles at any moving object whichi near They will do this to even their own species when they are very excited.

After a 12 hour period had elapsed, the Argentine ant colony was still grouped with their queens and brood at the corner of the platform farthest from the nests. After the lights in the laboratory had been on for five to ten minutes, the Argentine ants began to move back into the two nests. Within a period of ten minutes, they had moved al1 of their brood back into the nests. At this time there was very little disturbance of the Argentine ant colony by Pheidole.

At 24 hours from the beginning of the experiment, the complete Argentine ant colony had moved again. This time they moved from the nests into the corner farthest from the Pheidole and their own nests. At this point in time, the former Argentine ant nests were occupied by six to ten Pheidole soldiers and approximately fifteen workers in each nest. The Argentine ants appeared to be very sluggish in their movements and were making no attempt to re-establish themselves in their nests. Even when a 75-watt 1ight was turned on directly above them, no attempt was made to protect themselves or their brood from the light. The colony of Pheidole seemed to be engaged in its normal activities without undue excitement,

Late in the morning of this second day of observations, another artificial nest was put on the platform containing Argentine ants. The colony immediately began moving into the nest. In less than 20 minutes the entire colony of Argentine ants was inside the nest.

Approximately four hours later, the colony of Argentine ants was still in the new nest with the Pheidole occupying the original Argentine ant nests.

At eight o clock in the morning of the following day, it was observed that the Argentine ants had moved out of the new artificial nest and were on top and to one corner of the nest. Shining bright lights on the colony did not force them to move. Only one Pheidole was seen in the nest which the Argentine ants had vacated.

The experiment explained above was repeated in the laboratory four times. Each experiment ended with Pheidole having possession of the nests and the Argentine ants huddled in a corner as far away from Pheidole as they could possibly get.

A later experiment consisted of placing a small colony of Argentine ants in an artificial nest with sand completely covering the floor of the platform to a depth of one-half inch. This platform was connected to another platform containing a very large colony of Pheidole. The Argentine ants immediately began to cross over to the Pheidole platform. There were so many Pheidole at the base of the bridge that the Argentine ants were unsuccessful in crossing over to the other platform. When one would try to make the crossing, it would be immediately attacked by Pheidole soldiers and workers. This situation was observed for one hour. The following morning, it was noted that the complete colony of Argentine ants had been killed by the Pheidole ants. The nest which had been originally occupied by the Argentine ants was inhabited by Pheidole. Upon close examination, it was observed that numerous Pheidole workers were carrying brood to their original nests. It was determined that this was the Argentine ant eggs, larvae and pupae which were probably used as food by the Pheidole colony.

In efforts to establish Argentine ants in the ant infested plots of sugarcane at the Waimanalo Experiment Station, two large colonies of Argentine ants were brought from Wailua Agriculture Company Field Opaeula Number Nine to the Waimanalo plots. The ants were transported from Wailua to Waimanalo in heavy plastic bags The two plastic bags containing the ants were placed at the edge of the plot and a hole was punched in each bag. This hole was made to allow the insertion of a sugarcane leaf into the bags. The leaf was positioned so that the ants would move along the leaf to a horizontal cane stalk which was lying on the ground. Some loose soil had been previously placed over a portion of the stalk about three feet from the plastic bags as a possible nest. The ants immediately began moving their brood from the plastic bags to the place where the soil was covering the stalk. By close observation, it was noted that the workers would take the brood to the soil covering the stalk and return to the plastic bags for more brood.

During six hours of almost constant observation, there was a steady stream of workers with brood going to the new nest from the plastic bags and returning empty to the bags after more brood. At the end of six hours, it was noticed that some Pheidole soldiers and workers were at the base of the sugarcane stalk approximately two feet from the nest. At the same time large numbers of Pheidole soldiers and workers were observed on the ground about one foot from the Argentine nest. Within four hours after the first Pheidole was seen in the vicinity of the Argentine ant nest, the Pheidote ants had moved into the Argentine ant nest with the result that the Argentine ants had moved their brood out of the nest and through an area which had been treated with 2.58 Dieldrin granules. The Argentine ants moved even though they outnumbered the Pheidole tremendously. There were close to ten thousand Argentine workers in the nest and less than one hundred Pheidole near the area.

Argentine ants were introduced to the Waimanalo Experiment Station plots on several occasions prior to this using similar methods. Each time they disappeared, so this particular attenpt was made to determine their actions and movements.

The behavior exhibited by Pheidole and the Argentine ants suggests that glandular secretions are involved and play a large role in the behavior on one ant toward the other. Crowell (1968) theorized that the Argentine ant released some type of glandular secretion which was very repugnant to Pheidole, causing Pheidole to move away from concentrations of Argentine ants. If indeed there is a chemical repellent released by the Argentine ants, my studies seem to indicate that only under certain conditions do the Argentine ants release this glandular secretion. This appears to be during the time immediately preceding an invasion of new territory by the Argentine ants. If a glandular secretion is produced by the Argentine ants, this could account for the "Buffer Zone" that is commonly found separating the Argentine ants and Pheidole during the former's "invasion cycle". At other times, Argentine ant and Pheidole colonies are found very close together.

The studies conducted in the laboratory and sugarcane plots at Waimanalo Experiment Station appear to indicate that the Pheidole soldier may release a glandular secretion that is offensive to the Argentine ants. The action of the Argentine ant in the presence of the Pheidole soldier suggests this possibility. Although the Argentine ants will attack and kill Pheidole workers and will continue to mutilate their bodies after death, the Argentine ants appears to go to great extremes to avoid a Pheidole soldier. Even if the Argentine ants far outnumber the Pheidole soldiers, they will make no attempt to attack. No attempt was made to determine if the Pheidole soldier has a glandular secretion that was responsible for the actions of the Argentine ants. However, I find it difficult to believe that the mere physical presence of a few Pheidole soldiers is all that is needed to cause a colony of thousands of Argentine ants to abandon otherwise suitable nesting sites.

Step aside, fire ants, there’s a new, big-headed, six-legged female sheriff in town

Photograph by R.H. Scheffrahn, University of Florida

I woke up and read two interesting news articles.

The articles noted that "bigheaded ants", which presumably are Pheidole megacephala, have slowly been taking over south florida and pushing aside the usual fire ants (Solenopsis invicta).

In a way, this is not very surprising. The status of P. megacephala as a pest ant in or
near structures in that region rose from the 7th spot in 1995 (Klotz et al, 1995) to the top
spot by 2007 (Warner and Scheffrahn, 2007).

It was also interesting that when I traveled to the state in 2018 to survey Key West, both of the two hotels I stayed in (one in Marathon in the Florida Keys, the other in Homestead, which is south of Miami) had P. megacephala colony clusters in them. I had found that a very remarkable coincidence at the time, but perhaps I should not have been that surprised. When I traveled to Fort Lauderdale earlier this month I also easily found the species in an urban park (I was only in the city for one day), where it and S. invicta have co-existed since at least the 1980s.

The cause of this upsurge in the species is not known, although Warner and Scheffrahn in 2007 stated it might have been because of new plantings of trees to replace those damaged due to hurricanes in that area.

Another possibility that comes to mind is that the climate in that state may be slowly changing to better accommodate the species, which is normally constrained by abiotic factors. P. megacephala prefers moisture and warmth, and is easily desiccated.

As an aside, it's kinda annoying that the ant they show in one video is not the right species, but I guess they had to show a larger ant for the cameras (even the majors in P. megacephala are small at 4 mm or less). Fortunately, the other article's video had the right species *smh*.

The two articles:

Step aside, fire ants, there’s a new, big-headed, six-legged female sheriff in town

'Bigheaded' ants are invading South Florida

Pheidole megacephala in George Town, Grand Cayman

Citation: Sunjian, A (2019). Pheidole megacephala in Georgetown, Grand Cayman . The Pm Compendium (PMC). https://pheidolemegacephala.blogspot.com/2019/03/pheidole-megacephala-in-georgetown.html

Abstract

A visual survey of the downtown area of Georgetown, Grand Cayman in March 2019 revealed the presence of Pheidole megacephala, which had been absent in previous surveys. A mapping of the current range of the colony cluster in the city showed that it occupied at least one block, an area of approximately 1 hectare. No other ant species were found in that area, although Paratrechina longicornis, a Brachymyrmex sp., Trichomyrmex  destructor, and Solenopsis invicta fire ants were present surrounding that block.

PDF of Full Article:

Pheidole megacephala in Georgetown, Grand Cayman