| biological control of fire ants: an update on new techniques. | to review the present understanding of biological control methods for imported fire ants (ifas). | 2004 | 15281467 |
| antennal sensilla of the decapitating phorid fly, pseudacteon tricuspis (diptera: phoridae). | pseudacteon tricuspis borgmeier is a parasitic decapitating phorid fly (diptera: phoridae), which has been released in the southern united states in the last decade for biological control of invasive imported fire ants, solenopsis spp. in a previous study, we demonstrated that p. tricuspis uses fire ant semiochemicals to locate host worker ants. to provide a solid background in support of our research on mechanisms of host location and olfaction in phorid flies, we studied the morphology of the ... | 2008 | 17869528 |
| developmental rates and host specificity for pseudacteon parasitoids (diptera: phoridae) of fire ants (hymenoptera: formicidae) in argentina. | this study extends our comparative knowledge of pseudacteon interactions with solenopsis fire ant workers. reported in this work are development times for seven argentinean parasitoid species reared on two hosts, solenopsis richteri forel and solenopsis invicta buren, under laboratory temperature regimes comparable with those of the climatic zones occupied by these host species. developmental times spanned 31-66 d across phorid species, and in general did not differ between genders or host speci ... | 2002 | 12539825 |
| sampling and dynamics of pseudacteon tricuspis (diptera: phoridae) in louisiana. | the population dynamics of a fire ant (solenopsis invicta buren) parasitoid (pseudacteon tricuspis borgmeier) was studied in louisiana. the objectives of this study were to understand the daily and seasonal population dynamics of p. tricuspis in the context of environmental variables, determine whether p. tricuspis populations were synchronized over local and regional scales, determine the sex ratios and frequency distributions of p. tricuspis at disturbed s. invicta mounds, and determine the mi ... | 2009 | 19508762 |
| phorid fly, pseudacteon tricuspis, response to alkylpyrazine analogs of a fire ant, solenopsis invicta, alarm pheromone. | the phorid fly, pseudacteon tricuspis borgmeier, is a parasitoid of the red imported fire ant, solenopsis invicta buren. this fly has been reported to use fire ant chemicals, specifically venom alkaloids and possibly alarm pheromone to locate its host. a recent study identified 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethyl pyrazine as a component of the alarm pheromone of s. invicta. to determine the possible involvement of this fire ant alarm pheromone component in mediating fire ant-phorid fly interactions, we tested ... | 2011 | 21524656 |
| pseudacteon tricuspis: its behavior and development according to the social form of its host and the role of interference competition among females. | we studied how the behavior and performance of pseudacteon tricuspis borgmeier varies with the social form of its host solenopsis invicta buren, in its native range in argentina where monogyne colonies are more abundant than polygynes (approximately 75 vs. 25%). female, p. tricuspis took 44% less time (50 vs. 89 s) to attack monogyne than polygyne ants, but oviposition attempts were similar (23 vs. 18 attacks). the presence of the parasitoid affected the average size of foragers on the trail, wi ... | 2012 | 22606808 |
| effectiveness comparison of multiple sticky-trap configurations for sampling pseudacteon spp. phorid flies (diptera: phoridae). | a variety of traps have been developed for monitoring introduced populations of pseudacteon spp. phorid flies (diptera: phoridae) across their established range in the united states. such traps typically exploit common aspects of phorid fly biology and behavior, such as their attraction to live or dead red imported fire ants, solenopsis invicta buren (hymenoptera: formicidae), as well as the perching behavior of these parasitoids. however, populations of multiple species of phorid flies have bee ... | 2013 | 23905740 |
| comparing electroantennogram and behavioral responses of two pseudacteon phorid fly species to body extracts of black, red and hybrid imported fire ants, solenopsis spp. | several phorid fly species were introduced to the southern united states for biological control of the invasive imported fire ants, solenopsis richteri (black), solenopsis invicta (red), and their hybrid s. richteri×s. invicta (hybrid). it has been previously reported that the jaguariuna biotype of pseudacteon tricuspis and the formosan biotype of pseudacteon curvatus could distinguish among the three fire ant species with greater preference for hybrid and red fire ants. we hypothesized that pho ... | 2012 | 22846844 |
| fire ant alarm pheromone and venom alkaloids act in concert to attract parasitic phorid flies, pseudacteon spp. | pseudacteon tricuspis, pseudacteon obtusus and pseudacteon curvatus are three species of parasitic phorid flies (diptera: phoridae), which have been introduced as classical biological control agents of imported, solenopsis fire ants (hymenoptera: formicidae) in the southern usa. previous studies demonstrated the behavioral response of p. tricuspis to the venom alkaloids and alarm pheromone of the fire ant, s. invicta. in the present study, we compared the responses of p. tricuspis, p. obtusus an ... | 2013 | 24035750 |
| Short-Term Population Redistribution of Pseudacteon tricuspis (Diptera: Phoridae) From Point Source Releases. | There is a need for quantitative data on patterns and rates of movement of organisms to understand their movement behavior and predict their rates of spread. Opportunities for studying movement of biological control agents are presented during release programs. However, despite these opportunities, patterns and range of dispersal are often not considered. For example, information about effects of wind on dispersal patterns and heterogeneities in rates of movement is critical to predicting futur ... | 2011 | 22182614 |
| fire ant decapitating fly cooperative release programs (1994-2008): two pseudacteon species, p. tricuspis and p. curvatus, rapidly expand across imported fire ant populations in the southeastern united states. | abstract natural enemies of the imported fire ants, solenopsis invicta buren s. richteri forel (hymenoptera: formicidae), and their hybrid, include a suite of more than 20 fire ant decapitating phorid flies from south america in the genus pseudacteon. over the past 12 years, many researchers and associates have cooperated in introducing several species as classical or self-sustaining biological control agents in the united states. as a result, two species of flies, pseudacteon tricuspis borgmeie ... | 2011 | 21526930 |
| fire ant venom alkaloids act as key attractants for the parasitic phorid fly, pseudacteon tricuspis (diptera: phoridae). | the phorid fly, pseudacteon tricuspis borgmeier, is an introduced parasitoid of imported fire ants, solenopsis spp., in the usa. although the assumption that phorid flies use fire ant alarm pheromones for host location is probably true, we demonstrated in a previous study the possible involvement of other ant semiochemicals in the response of p. tricuspis to fire ants. this study was conducted to determine the glandular sources and identity of the semiochemicals mediating this interaction. first ... | 2009 | 19714317 |
| indirect competition facilitates widespread displacement of one naturalized parasitoid of imported fire ants by another. | species abundances in natural systems are usually close to some equilibrium, making mechanisms that maintain or prevent species coexistence difficult to discern. biological control projects provide an opportunity to observe systems transition between equilibriums as a result of the influence of the newly introduced species. in the southeastern united states and texas, species of phorid fly parasitoids are being sequentially introduced as control agents for imported fire ants. the first two speci ... | 2009 | 19537540 |