Specificity of the Red Imported Fire Ant Phagostimulant Response to Carbohydrates
The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, is considered an oil-loving feeder, however, carbohydrates are essential ingredients in the diet of the fire ant also. Comprehensive screening of mono-, di-, and tri-saccharides demonstrated that glucose, fructose, fucose, sucrose, maltose, turanose and raffinose were significant phagostimulants for fire ant workers. It was also found that while D-glucose and L-fucose, the naturally occurring isomers, were active, the opposite diastereomers were not. Any structural modification of the glucose molecule resulted in loss of activity. None of the sugar alcohols evaluated were active. The fire ant is an agricultural pest and the many reports of fire ant damage to food crops may be linked to their need for dietary carbohydrates. A knowledge of carbohydrate phagostimulants may help to understand specificity of fire ant /plant interactions.
A simple diet for rearing laboratory colonies of the red imported fire ant.
Newly-established laboratory colonies of Solenopsis invicta Buren when fed honey and water (1:1 ratio) in addition to a standard diet of pureed fly pupae, ground beef, eggs, and vitamins, grew faster (2–3 times) and suffered 50% less queen mortality than colonies fed a standard diet.
THE BIOLOGICAL HALF LIFE AND DISTRIBUTION OF 125IODIDE AND RADIOIODINATED PROTEIN IN THE IMPORTED FIRE ANT, SOLENOPSIS INVICTA
The radioisotope 125Iodide, a gamma emittor, was used in two different forms, as 125I mixed with egg yolk and as 125I covalently attached to egg albumin and mixed with egg yolk, to study food flow in the imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. The biological half life of 125I‐albumin in egg yolk powder was determined to be 96 hr in isolated workers, 108 hr in individuals held with small groups of unlabelled workers, and 1,008 hr in workers held in colonies exposed to labelled food for 48 hr. In contrast, the biological half life of free 125I mixed with egg yolk powder was 22 hr, 20 hr, and 40 hr, respectively.