You are on page 1of 7

Argentine Ant Behavior: The Relationship between Liquid and Solid Bait Preference Andrea Gochi, Zoe Kikles,

Catherine Raney, Anum Malkani, Ashley Munetsi Thursday, 1:15- 5:15, Room 126 Abstract The study of animal behavior is based on objective observations of whole organisms or groups of whole organisms, and aims at understanding the complex mechanisms and evolutions of behavior (JSD, 2011). Argentine ant behavior was investigated through the use of baiting, and observing whether there was a preference for liquid or solid baits. Four different kinds of baits were used, two of which were forms of liquid sugar (liquefied honey and sugar water), and two of which were forms of solid sugar (diced pear and granulated sugar). Five sets of four baits were prepared in small petri dishes, giving a total of twenty baits. Every 10 minutes for two hours, the number of ants in each bait sample at each of the 5 locations within the Bernard Field Station, was counted, as well as the time for recruitment. The ants did in fact show a preference for liquid baits, as evident in the larger number of ants around the liquid baits observed, and the lack of recruitment times for the solid baits; the lack of recruitment time for solid baits signifies that the ants were not attracted to the solid baits as much as they were to the liquid baits. The results suggest that when given the option between liquid sugar and solid sugar, the ants preferred liquid sugar because it was more feasible than solid sugar. Results Conclusions Introduction In the same way that many different organisms have evolved through time, the complicated patterns of behavior have also evolved with similar manner. Behavior is extremely important because it is related to both the structure and function of an organism (JSD, 2011). Ants are amongst the most dominant insects, and can have a significant influence when placed in different environments. Exotic species, like the Argentine ant, are those that have been introduced into a habitat which they did not originally inhabit. This has become a problem for many native species, because of the great displacement that occurs when exotic species are introduced. However, predicting invasion success in particular cases requires a detailed understanding of how colonization ability and subsequent

population growth, are influenced by different features of specific environments (Holway 1998). Not only is the environment crucial in predicting invasive success, but the Argentine ants dispersed central foraging behavior, is also important when analyzing success (Greenberg et al 2006). This experiment was designed to monitor Argentine ants behavior when given the choice between liquid sugar and solid sugar baits, as well as the time of recruitment. This would allow us to investigate the foraging activity of Argentine ants, as well as the food preferences of various colonies. We expected that the ants would show no preference for either the liquid or solid baits. Because the ants store food they collect after first having chewed it into liquid form, and regurgitate this liquid to other ants and to the larvae (JSD, 2011), we expected that they would be attracted to both the liquid and solid baits, showing no preference. Methods and Materials We constructed five sets of four different types of bait in small petri dishes. For the liquid bait samples we first placed a piece of cotton ball in the petri dish and saturated it with a sugar water solution (25% sucrose/water). For the next sample we put liquid honey in the petri dish and added about 1.5 mL of water to further liquefy it. For the solid bait samples we used a finely diced pear and granulated sugar. These bait samples were placed adjacent to one another at five different locations in the Bernard Field Station, where there was evident ant foraging activity. Every 10 minutes for two hours, the number of ants in each bait sample was counted, as well as the time for recruitment. To test for any differences among the data collected, a Chi-Squared Goodness of Fit test was used, which indicated whether there was a significant

difference in ant preference for liquid and solid baits. Results Adding up the values for honey and sugar water, the total number of ants that visited the liquid baits was obtained, and adding up the values for solid sugar and pears, the total number of ants that visited the solid baits was obtained. The Chi-squared test confirmed that the difference between the number of ants at the liquid and solid baits was significant (p<0.0001). The difference between all baits was also significant (p<0.001). However, there was no significant difference between the sugar and pear baits (p<0.4166). Honey Site 1 Site 2 Site 3 Site 4 Site 5 Total # ants Sugar Water Sugar Pears 28.9 11.4 2.1 1.6 24.3 9.1 0.5 0.2 55.8 24.8 0.0 5.3 8.8 3.0 1.1 0.2 9.1 6.0 0.4 0.6 Liquid= 181.2 Solid= 12.0

Table 1. The average number of ants over the 2 hour period, for each location at each bait and the number of ants for solid and liquid baits. (mean +/- SE, n=5) The ants were more attracted to liquid baits than solid baits. The preferred bait was honey, followed by sugar water. The least attractive was solid sugar (Figure 1).

250 Average Number of Ants 200 150 100 50 0 0 20 40 60 80 Time (minutes) 100 120 140

Figure 1. The number of ants at each bait from 0 to 120 minutes. The solid lines represent the liquid baits, with the thick one representing honey and the thin one representing sugar water. The dashed lines represent the solid baits, with the thick one representing pears and the thin one representing solid sugar. (mean+/- SE, n=5) The average recruitment time for each of the baits affirms the result that the ants were more attracted to the liquid baits, as honey had the shortest recruitment time. The two solid baits never had enough ants to reach recruitment time (Table 2). The ants preference of the liquid baits was also found to be consistent across all five locations (Table 1).

Honey Recruitment Time (mins) 30

Sugar Water

Sugar

Pear -

50 -

Table 2. The average recruitment time, in minutes, at each bait. (mean +/- SE, n=4) Discussion This experiment was designed with the intention of analyzing whether Argentine ants prefer liquid or solid baits. Using two different kinds of liquid baits, sugar water and liquefied honey, and two different kinds of liquid baits, diced pair and granulated sugar, the experimented was conducted at 5 different locations within the Bernard Field Station.

We expected the ants not to show a preference for either type of bait. However, our hypothesis was proven to be inaccurate according to our findings. The ants, in fact, preferred the liquid baits, as evident in Table 1 and Figure 1 illustrating the much larger amount of activity around the liquid baits versus the solid. This figure is supported by the value obtained by a Chi-Squared Goodness of Fit test, which indicated that p<0.0001, making the difference between the two values significant. Indeed, in a study conducted by Krushelnycky et al 1998 on the bait preference of Argentine ants in Haleakala National Park, Hawaii, they too found the ants to prefer liquid baits. The fact that the ants preferred liquid baits over solid baits could be accounted to the accessibility of each bait. Because liquid baits are much easier, and lighter to transport than solid baits, and because they store food after having broken it down into liquid, liquid might have just been the better choice for them. Table 2 goes on to show the average recruitment time at each bait; no recruitment time was recorded for either the sugar or pear bait and a shorter time was recorded for honey versus sugar water. This indicates that the liquid baits were preferable to the solid baits again, but it also shows honey was preferred to sugar water. This could suggest an experimental flaw, which can occur if all the baits do not have the same sugar concentration, as this could skew the experimental design unfavorably. Essentially, if honey had a higher sugar concentration than any of the other baits, then the ants could have preferred the bait for that reason rather than it being liquid. As the study by Baker et al 1985 shows, Argentine ants do have a significant preference to baits containing sugar, thus honey having a higher concentration could entice more ants, regardless of it being

liquid. As table 1, demonstrates this preference to honey is consistent at each observed site so this flaw can be considered legitimate. Thus, although the experiment results did find that the Argentine ants preferred liquid to solid baits, it also indicated a further preference for high sugar concentrated baits. In order to amend this potential flaw, future experiments could ensure that each bait choice contains the same level of sugar concentration. This should ensure equal preference for each bait by the ant and in so doing allow an accurate finding in regards to what bait type Argentine ants prefer, liquid or solid. This could also then lead to future innovations, such as the development of biological methods in dealing with pest control.

Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr. Mosser for providing the necessary background and technical advice, as well as ensuring the proper equipment and solutions that were available, and for reviewing the manuscript. Literature Cited Baker, T. C., Vorhis-Key, S.E. van, Gaston, L. K. 1985.Bait-preference tests for the
Argentine ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Journal of Economic Entomology 78:1083-1088.

Greenberg, L., Klotz J.H., Rust M.K. 2006. Liquid Borate Bait for Control of the Argentine Ant Linepitthema humile in Organic Citrus. The Florida Entomologist 84:469-474. Holway D.A. 1998. Factors Governing Rate of Invasion: A Natural Experiment Using Argentine Ants. Oecologia 115:206-212 Krushelnycky P.D., Loope L.L., and Reimer N.J. 1998. Bait preference by the Argentine ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Haleakala National Park, Hawaii. Environmental Entomology 27: 1482-1487

Joint Science Department. 2011. Laboratory Manual for Biology 44. The Claremont Colleges.

You might also like