ANALYSIS OF THE PREDATOR RELUCTANCE AND PREY REJECTION OF WEAVER ANTS WITH LUPROPS AS SINGLE PREY RESOURCE

Abstract

ABSTRACT Massive seasonal invasion of the litter dwelling beetle, Luprops tristis (Fabricius, 1801) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae: Lupropini), into the residential buildings and their prolonged stay in a state of dormancy during the rainy season has been a serious nuisance in the rubber plantation belts of Kerala for the last three decades. The deterring defensive secretion of the beetles is the prime reason for the non-predation by any of the vertebrate or non vertebrate predators present in the breeding habitat or in the aggregation shelters. Recent efforts revealed that the weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius, 1775) could be a potential bio-control agent of Luprops beetles. However, the possibility of its failure as a bio-control agent remains as repeated feeding on a prey item with repelling defensive gland secretion leading to development of predator reluctance and prey rejection. The present work ascertained the effect of repeated feeding of weaver ants on Luprops and the results indicate that repeated feeding did not lead to predator reluctance and point out the potential of weaver ants as an effective bio-control agent against Luprops. Low abundance of weaver ants in rubber plantations in contrast to their higher incidence in the scarce native trees in rubber plantation belts indicates that rubber tree is not a preferred host plant for weaver ants. Further, the possibility of regular feeding on Luprops that are readily available in rubber plantations, leads to questions about prey suitability and the effects on the rates of development, reproduction or survival of weaver ants which calls for post-evaluation studies in field conditions after the preliminary field trials.