Environmental Entomology (1981) 10, 415-418

C.T. Adams, T.E. Summers, C.S. Lofgren, D.A. Focks and J.C. Prewitt (1981)
Interrelationship of ants and the sugarcane borer in Florida sugarcane fields
Environmental Entomology 10 (3), 415-418
Abstract: The interrelationship between 4 species of ants and the sugarcane borer, Diatraea saccharalis F., was studied over a 6-month period in Florida. Ants were collected monthly from May to October, and numbers were compared with those of sugarcane borers collected bi-weekly during the same period. The data showed a slight increase in sugarcane borer damage in the fields treated with mirex (dodecaclorooctahydro-1,3,4-metheno-1H-cyclo-buta[cd]pentalene) to reduce populations of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren. Pearson's correlation cofficients were positive between the sugarcane borer and the red imported fire ant but negative between the sugarcane borer and Pheidole dentata Mayr and P. floridana Emery. These data suggest that the reduction of all ant species with mirex bait resulted in increased damage from the sugarcane borer and that a multiple predator ant complex is more effective than one dominated by S. invicta.
(The abstract is excluded from the Creative Commons licence and has been copied with permission by the publisher.)

Research topic(s) for pests/diseases/weeds:
biocontrol - natural enemies
Research topic(s) for beneficials or antagonists:
general biology - morphology - evolution

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Pest and/or beneficial records:

Beneficial	Pest/Disease/Weed	Crop/Product	Country	Quarant.
	Diatraea saccharalis	Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)	U.S.A. (SE)
Solenopsis invicta (predator)	Diatraea saccharalis	Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum)	U.S.A. (SE)