title: Behavioral and electrophysiological studies with live larvae and larval rinses of the red imported fire ant,Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).
abstract: Behavioral and electrophysiological studies with live intact larvae and larval rinses of the red imported fire ant,Solenopsis invicta Buren, give undeniable evidence of a volatile material associated with the larvae of the ant that is capable of eliciting a response from brood-tending workers. In a Y-tube bioassay, worker ants were attracted equally to an airstream blown over sibling larvae or heterocolonial larvae. Workers were also attracted to a rinse of the larvae in a spot bioassay, aggregated about a piece of surrogate brood in another bioassay, and retrieved surrogate brood treated with the rinse material. A dose-response curve constructed from electroantennograms of workers revealed a receptor response of 1-100 brood equivalents.
authors.affiliation: Insects Affecting Man and Animals Research Laboratory, USDA, ARS, Gainesville, Florida.
authors.forename: B M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Glancey
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Dickens