Effect of Two Ant Species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on the Foraging and Survival of the Formosan Subterranean Termite (Isoptera: Rbinotermitidae)

Abstract

We examined the effect of 2 ant species, the bigheaded ant, Pheidole megacephala (F.), and Ochetellus glaber (Mayr),on the Formosan subterranean termite, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki. We also examined how differences in the proportion of termite soldiers affected the susceptibility of C. formosanus to predation by P. megacephala . In sand-filled containers, C. formosanus was more vulnerable to predation by P. megacephala than by O. glaber . However, the presence of ants of either species caused substantial mortality of termite soldiers P. megacephala was much more invasive of termite galleries than O. glaber . Termites exposed to P. megacephala suffered greater mortality compared with controls, regardless of worker to soldier ratio. However, there was no difference in termite mortality among replicates with different worker to soldier ratios. In the absence of sand, both ant species caused 100% mortality of termites after 1 wk of exposure.