Defensiveness of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is increased during colony rafting

@article{Haight2006DefensivenessOT,
  title={Defensiveness of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, is increased during colony rafting},
  author={Kevin L. Haight},
  journal={Insectes Sociaux},
  year={2006},
  volume={53},
  pages={32-36}
}
  • K. Haight
  • Published 1 February 2006
  • Environmental Science
  • Insectes Sociaux
Abstract.Colonies of the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, can survive flood conditions by forming a raft of ants that floats on the water’s surface until the flood recedes or higher ground is found. Having been forced from the protection of their subterranean nests, rafting colonies are totally exposed and are without retreat. I tested the hypothesis that rafting S. invicta colonies would compensate for their elevated vulnerability by increasing their defensiveness. I measured defensiveness using… 
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28 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
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Background Citations
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Methods Citations
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28 Citations

Ontogeny of the Defensive Stinging Behavior of the Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta

  • K. Haight
  • Psychology
    Journal of Insect Behavior
  • 2007
Defensiveness is found to increase with age initially but then decline after a mid-age peak, and it is S. invicta's mid-aged workers that are the most defensive, probably because they are both physiologically and spatially the most suitable nest defenders.

Raft Formation by the Red Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta

This study shows that ants trapped under water escape by lifting themselves to the air-water interface through the use of bubbles collected from submerged substrate, and the presence of larvae was noted to increase colony survival and maximize raft longevity.

Fire ants self-assemble into waterproof rafts to survive floods

It is found that ants can considerably enhance their water repellency by linking their bodies together, a process analogous to the weaving of a waterproof fabric, in a self-assembled hydrophobic surface.

Ant Brood Function as Life Preservers during Floods

This work investigates the position and function of different colony members, and the costs and benefits of this functional geometry in rafts of the floodplain-dwelling ant Formica selysi, and shows that workers and brood are extremely resistant to submersion.

Metabolic scaling of fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) engaged in collective behaviors

ABSTRACT During flash floods, fire ants (Solenopsis invicta Buren) link their bodies together to build rafts to stay afloat, and towers to anchor onto floating vegetation. Can such challenging…

A Non-lethal Water-based Removal-reapplication Technique for Behavioral Analysis of Cuticular Compounds of Ants

It is demonstrated that cuticular compounds can be extracted from workers of the red fire ant, Solenopsis saevissima, and reapplied to the cuticle of workers from a sympatric species, Camponotus blandus, while keeping the ants alive.

Risk Assessment and the Effects of Refuge Availability on the Defensive Behaviors of the Southern Unstriped Scorpion (Vaejovis carolinianus)

Evidence that scorpions’ defensive behaviors changed based on the number of refuges and that these differences may be sex specific is found, suggesting that V. carolinianus can assess risk and features of the local environment and alter their defensive strategies accordingly.

Dynamics and shape of large fire ant rafts

This study makes two improvements on a previously reported model on the construction rate of rafts numbering between 3,000 and 10,000 individuals based upon experimental observations of randomly-directed linear ant trajectories atop the raft, and predicts more accurately the growth of large rafts.

The influence of colony density , temperature and 1 illumination intensity on the aggregation of fire ant , 2 Solenopsis invicta 3

Aggregation plays a basic role in the organization of social insects, and many factors 20 including environment and individual interaction can influence this behavior. In this study, we 21…

Poke but don't pinch: risk assessment and venom metering in the western black widow spider, Latrodectus hesperus

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