Know thy enemy: Interspecific differences of pine consumption among leafcutter ants in a plantation

ANDREA C. GUILLADE; ALEJANDRA FERNANDEZ; LUCIANA ELIZALDE; PATRICIA J. FOLGARAIT

JOURNAL OF PEST SCIENCE

SPRINGER HEIDELBERG

Año: 2016 vol. 89 p. 403 - 411

1612-4758

The damage to plantations by pests is oftendetermined by perceptions rather than objective data,resulting in excessive use of pesticides. Leafcutter ants areconsidered important pests to plantations in America. Weevaluated the difference in Pinus taeda biomass consumptionby four Acromyrmex leafcutter ant species whichco-inhabit plantations of this pine species. These antsexhibit morphological and behavioral differences, i.e., Ac.heyeri has mandibles adapted to cut monocots, while theother species cut dicots, which may result in differences intheir consumption of pine. We collected the plant biomassthat ants carried into their nests and recorded the foragingactivity in different seasons throughout a year. The P.taeda biomass carried into leafcutter nests was less than20 % compared to total plant biomass. Colonies withgreater foraging activity carried a greater amount of totalbiomass, but they did not carry more pine biomass. Theleafcutter ant species studied differed in their use of pinebiomass, but not of total biomass. Acromyrmex ambiguusand Ac. crassispinus were the species carrying the greatestamount of pine biomass and with more colonies using pine,whereas very little amounts of pine were carried by Ac.heyeri and by very few colonies.Thus, leafcutter ant speciesdo not cause the same damage to pine plantations. Ourresults also highlight the importance of pest management strategies based on a thorough knowledge of the biology ofthe species, including those characteristics which can predictthe use that each species will make of the plantation.