Biological Control (2007) 40, 168-178

Agnes M.K. Abera, Clifford S. Gold, Roy van Driesche (2007)
Composition, distribution and relative abundance of ants in banana farming systems in Uganda.
Biological Control 40 (2), 168-178
Abstract: A survey of ant composition and relative abundance was conducted in farmers' fields in the banana growing areas of Uganda in 2003. We sampled at 39 farms in four regions and found 55 species of ants in pitfall traps and 24 species in fish and honey baits. When banana weevil, Cosmopolites sordidus (Germar), larvae were exposed as baits, 11 ant species were attracted, of which Pheidole sp. 1, Pheidole sp. 2, Pheidole sp. 3, Paratrechina sp. 1, and Lepisiota sp. 1 were the most abundant. Seventeen ant species were found in pseudostems and 34 in corms of live banana plants and residues of harvested plants. High species richness and abundance especially inside plants and residues, suggest that ants are important foragers in banana plantations. Seven of the ant species found in plants demonstrated significant ability to remove banana weevil eggs artificially inserted in corms. Two species, Odontomachus troglodytes Santschi and Pheidole sp. 2, were able to remove eggs from naturally infested corms. O. troglodytes removed 33-68% of the eggs in naturally infested corms, while Pheidole sp. 2 removed 38-60% of such eggs. The attraction of O. troglodytes and Pheidole sp. 2 to banana weevil-infested plant pieces, their close association with banana plants and residues, and their ability to extract artificially and naturally introduced banana weevil eggs from plant tissue suggest that these two species may have significant potential to consume weevil immature stages in plants and residues.
(The abstract has been supplied by the author or ISPI and is excluded from the Creative Commons licence.)
Link to article at publishers website
Database assignments for author(s): Clifford S. Gold, Roy G. Van Driesche

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
evaluation - screening - selection

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Cosmopolites sordidus	Banana/plantain (Musa)	Uganda
Odontomachus troglodytes (predator)	Cosmopolites sordidus	Banana/plantain (Musa)	Uganda
Pheidole (genus - predators)	Cosmopolites sordidus	Banana/plantain (Musa)	Uganda