Feeding in the Larvae of the Imported Fire Ant, Solenopsis invicta:1 Behavior and Morphological Adaptations
- 17 July 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Annals of the Entomological Society of America
- Vol. 71 (4) , 643-648
- https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/71.4.643
Abstract
Adult workers of the imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, feed liquid foods, including sucrose and soybean oil, to larvae of all instars, and feed solid proteinaceous foods only to the 4th instars. Solid foods, including undamaged fire ant eggs, experimentally placed on larvae, are ingested only by 4th instars. Workers place solid food, of a specific size range, on the antero ventral region of 4th instars. This region bears specialized hairs and spines which hold solid food while the larvae feed on it. The relationship of larval feeding to a possible method of fire ant control is discussed.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- The Feeding Habits of Pseudomyrmine and Other AntsTransactions of the American Philosophical Society, 1920