Polygynous, red imported fire ant colonies infected with the entomopthogen Thelohania solenopsae often contain uninfected queens. Laboratory colonies of polygyne S. invicta with 3-12 queens were infected with T. solenopsae. Brood levels in all infected colonies declined to 0 after 26-52 weeks. In 2 of 8 infected colonies, 5 fertile queens were recovered but brood did not reappear in any of these colonies. The effects of Vairimorpha invictae on field colonies of the fire ant S. invicta in Argentina were studied. V. invictae occurred at 13.8% of the sampled sites and in 2.8% of the fire ant colonies. Vegetative stages of V. invictae were found in fire ant larvae, pupae and queens from 4.8% to 52.3%. The mean percentage of active workers with V. invictae spores was 8.8% while in dead fire ant workers, the percentage of spores was 56.7%.
Species 1: Microsporidia Thelohaniidae Thelohania solenopsae
Species 2: Microsporidia Burenellidae Vairimorpha invictae
Species 3: Hymenoptera Formicidae Solenopsis invicta (red imported fire ant)
Keywords: entomopathogens
The ESA 2001 Annual Meeting - 2001: An Entomological Odyssey of ESA