Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-2pzkn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-06T21:07:25.269Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Field evaluation of methyl 4-methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate, an ant trail pheromone, as a component of baits for leaf-cutting ant (Hymenoptera Formicidae) control

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

S. W. Robinson ,
A. R. Jutsum ,
J. M. Cherrett  and
R. J. Quinlan
S. W. Robinson
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Zoology, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
A. R. Jutsum
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Zoology, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
J. M. Cherrett
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Zoology, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
R. J. Quinlan
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Zoology, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In the laboratory, the trail pheromone methyl 4-methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate (M4MP2C) when added to bait particles acts as an attractant to leaf-cutting ants, increasing the pick-up of pheromone-impregnated bait compared with plain bait. However, field trials in Trinidad, Brazil and Paraguay were disappointing. Bait with and without pheromone was scattered in the foraging area, and the proportion of each taken to the nest by Atta sexdens rubropilosa Forel, A. cephalotes (L.) and Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) was assessed. In only one of the experiments (A. octospinosus foraging bait with 50 p.p.m. of M4MP2C) was increased pick-up detected. Four reasons for this are suggested: (1) small pheromone effects are difficult to measure as scattering bait produced a patchy distribution and heterogeneous replicates, whilst choice trials on plain and pheromone-impregnated bait placed close together were difficult to interpret, as the pheromone probably excited the ants, increasing pick-up of plain bait; (2) A. octospinosus workers, the subject of detailed studies, were less sensitive to M4MP2C in the field than in the laboratory; (3) as the pheromone only attracts, it does not produce a comparable increase in the number of pieces picked up, contact/pick-up ratios of sucroseimpregnated discs increasing from 2·26 at 5 pg pheromone to 16·39 at 50 ng; and (4) soyabean oil, citrus-pulp extract and orange juice were found to be attractive, and when pheromone was added, its effects were not additive. Early studies used sucrose-impregnated paper discs, and as these have no attractants of their own, the addition of M4MP2C had a more marked effect. It is concluded that M4MP2C is not a cost-effective addition to current leaf-cutting ant baits which possess food odours, a much cheaper source of attractiveness.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , September 1982 , pp. 345 - 356
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Jutsum, A. R. & Cherrett, J. M. (1981). A new matrix for toxic baits for control of the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 71, 607–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, T. (1972). Aerial baiting to control leaf-cutting ants.—PANS 18, 71–74.Google Scholar
Lewis, T. (1973). Aerial baiting to control leaf-cutting ants (Formicidae, Attini) in Trinidad. II. Field application, nest mortality and the effects on other animals.—Bull. ent. Res. 63, 275–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Littledyke, M. & Cherrett, J. M. (1975). Variability in the selection of substrate by the leaf-cutting ants Atta cephalotes (L.) and Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Formicidae, Attini).—Bull. ent. Res. 65, 33–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Littledyke, M. & Cherrett, J. M. (1978). Olfactory responses of the leaf-cutting ants Atta cephalotes (L.) and Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the laboratory.—Bull. ent. Res. 68, 273–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudd, A., Peregrine, D. J. & Cherrett, J. M. (1978). The chemical basis for the use of citrus pulp as a fungus garden substrate by the leaf-cutting ants Atta cephalotes (L.) and Acromyrmex octospinosus (Reich) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae).—Bull. ent. Res. 68, 673–685.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mustafa, A. H. I. (1971). Synthetic baits for leaf-cutting ants.—M.Sc. thesis, Univ. Wales, 48 pp.Google Scholar
Riley, R. G., Silverstein, R. M., Carroll, B. & Carroll, R. (1974). Methyl 4-methyl-pyrrole-2-carboxylate: a volatile trail pheromone from the leaf-cutting ant, Atta cephalotes.—J. Insect Physiol. 20, 651–654.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, S. W., Aranda, A., Cabello, L. & Fowler, H. G. (1980). Locally produced toxic baits for leaf-cutting ants for Latin America; Paraguay, a case study.—Turrialba 30, 71–76.Google Scholar
Robinson, S. W. & Cherrett, J. M. (1973). Studies on the use of leaf-cutting ant trail pheromones as attractants in baits.—Proc. VII Congr. Int. Un. Study Soc. Insects 332–338.Google Scholar
Robinson, S. W. & Cherrett, J. M. (1974). Laboratory investigations to evaluate the possible use of brood pheromones of the leaf-cutting ant Atta cephalotes (L.) (Formicidae, Attini) as a component in an attractive bait.—Bull. ent. Res. 63, 519–529.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, S. W. & Cherrett, J. M. (1975). Some reactions of leaf-cutting ants (Attini: Formicidae) to a synthetic scent-trail pheromone.—pp. 91–97in Noirot, C., Howse, P. E. & Le Masne, G. (Eds.). Pheromones and defensive secretions in social insects.—248 pp. Dijon, Int. Un. Study Soc. Insects.Google Scholar
Robinson, S. W. & Cherrett, J. M. (1978). The possible use of methyl 4-methylpyrrole-2-carboxylate, an ant trail pheromone, as a component of an improved bait for leaf-cutting ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) control.—Bull. ent. Res. 68, 159–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robinson, S. W., Moser, J. C., Blum, M. S. & Amante, E. (1974). Laboratory investigations of the trail-following responses of four species of leaf-cutting ants with notes on the specificity of a trail pheromone of Atta texana (Buckley).—Insectes soc. 21, 87–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tumlinson, J. H., Silverstein, R. M., Moser, J. C., Brownlee, R. G. & Ruth, J. M. (1971). Identification of the trail pheromone of a leaf-cutting ant, Atta texana.—Nature, Lond. 234, 348–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed