Evaluation of food selection of fire ant Solenopsis saevissima (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in resources with and without immature stages of Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)/ Avaliação da seleção alimentar da formiga Solenopsis saevissima (Smith) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em recursos com e sem estágios imatudos de Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) (Diptera: Calliphoridae)

• Autor(a) principal: Mendonça, Raquel
• Data de Publicação: 2020
• Outros Autores: Melo, Diego, Prezoto, Fabio
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Veras
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.brazilianjournals.com.br/ojs/index.php/BRJD/article/view/17618
• topic: Ant flow; Blowfly; Decaying meat; Forensic Entomology; Temperature.

Ants of the genus Solenopsis Westwood, 1840 play a relevant role in forensic entomology studies due to the changes they can cause in cadaveric fauna This study aims to evaluate the food selection behavior of Solenopsis saevissima (Smith,1855) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) ants against the offered combinations of decaying meat with Chrysomya albiceps (Wiedemann, 1819) eggs x decaying meat without eggs and decaying meat with C. albiceps larvae x decaying meat without larvae. Ant flow did not vary significantly when different diets were compared (p >0.05). However, the correlation between ant flow and temperature showed a higher number of ant activity during periods of higher temperature (p? 0.05), reinforcing the relationship of maintenance of metabolism of these individuals and environmental temperature. There was no food selection by the fire ants in the tests performed (p >0.05), but we could observe a positive correlation between flow and temperature (p? 0.05). Besides the lack of selection observed in this study corroborates the omnivorous role of species of the genus Solenopsis.