''Solenopsis daguerrei'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has c ...

ant Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22 ...

s native to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. The young queens of the species invade the nests of other species, such as the

red imported fire ant The red imported fire ant (''Solenopsis invicta''), also known as the fire ant or RIFA, is a species of ant native to South America. A member of the genus ''Fire ant, Solenopsis'' in the subfamily Myrmicinae, it was Species description, describ ...

(RIFA) (''Solenopsis invicta''). This is made possible by the fact that the ''S. daguerrei'' queen produces

pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

s which are very similar to those produced by the queens of the host species. The young queen finds a queen of the host species and latches onto it, eating the food intended for the host queen and slowly killing it. The ''S. daguerrei'' queen then begins laying eggs. These are taken care of by the host ants, sometimes preferentially to their own brood. ''S. daguerrei'' only produce winged virgin queens and males. No workers are needed, since these are provided by the host species. The winged ants fly off to mate and invade new colonies. ''S. daguerrei'' is being considered as a potential

biological control agent Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...

for RIFA, which is an

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

in many parts of the world. As of 2006, work is underway to find methods of rearing the ants in sufficient numbers to be released into the wild to reduce RIFA populations. In their native

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

about 1-4% of the RIFA colonies are infested with ''S. daguerrei''.

References

An article at the website of the University of Texas
accessed November 20, 2006

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q3543474 daguerrei Hymenoptera of South America Insects described in 1930 Taxa named by Felix Santschi