title: Argentine ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) trail pheromone enhances consumption of liquid sucrose solution.
abstract: We investigated whether the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), trail pheromone, Z9-16:Ald, could enhance recruitment to and consumption of liquid sucrose solutions. All tests were done as paired comparisons with a 10% sucrose solution as food. In the laboratory, mixing 20 microl of a 10-microg/ml solution of the pheromone with 50 microl of the 10% sucrose solution increased the number of ants feeding by >150%. In a field test, we combined the trail pheromone with a 10% sucrose solution in 50-ml vials. These vials were covered with a plastic membrane that has 1.5-mm-diameter holes punched uniformly across its surface. Ants could drink from the holes after the vials were inverted. For half of the vials, 1 microg of the pheromone was put onto the plastic membrane before the vials were filled with a 10% sucrose solution. The remaining vials had no pheromone on the plastic membrane. After 4 h we measured the consumption in each vial. Bait consumption with the pheromone was enhanced by 29%. In a 2nd series of tests, vials were left outside for 24 h. The consumption rate was 33% higher with the pheromone compared with the controls that didn't have pheromone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Entomology, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Klotz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001000:Ants / Q000502:physiology*; D004435:Eating; D010675:Pheromones; D012996:Solutions; D013395:Sucrose
chemical_list: D010675:Pheromones; D012996:Solutions; C010411:insect attractants; D013395:Sucrose