Effect of temperature on the development and survival of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Girona, Montilivi Campus s/n, 17071 Girona, Spain
Abstract
The influence of temperature on the developmental times and survival of insects can largely determine their distribution. For invasive species, like the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), these data are essential for predicting their potential range based on mechanistic models. In the case of this species, such data are too scarce and incomplete to make accurate predictions based on its physiological needs. This research provides comprehensive new data about brood survival and developmental times at a wide range of temperatures under laboratory conditions. Temperature affected both the complete brood development from egg to adult worker and each of the immature stages separately. The higher the temperature, the shorter the development times. Brood survival from egg to adult was low, with the maximum survival rate being only 16% at 26º C. Temperature also affected survival of each of the immature stages differently: eggs were negatively affected by high temperatures, while larvae were negatively affected by low temperatures, and the survival of pupae was apparently independent of environmental temperature. At 32º C no eggs survived, while at 18º C less than 2% of the eggs hatched into larva. The data from the present study are essential for developing prediction models about the distribution range of this tramp species based on its physiological needs in relation to temperature.
Keywords: brood developmental times, brood survivorship rate, Formicidae, Hymenoptera, invasive species
Correspondence:
asilvia.abril@udg.edu,
bcrisanto.gomez@udg.edu
Associate Editor: Robert Jeanne was editor of this paper.
Received: 30 May 2008 | Accepted: 17 October 2008 | Published: 8 July 2010
Copyright: This is an open access paper. We use the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license that permits unrestricted use, provided that the paper is properly attributed.
ISSN: 1536-2442 | Volume 10, Number 97
Abril S, Oliveras J, Gómez C. 2010. Effect of temperature on the development and survival of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile. Journal of Insect Science 10:97, available online: insectscience.org/10.97
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