Cody Mascho
Dr. Denise Piechnik
Entomology
October 29, 2014
Journal article review The red imported fire ant, also known as Solenopsis invicta, is a very invasive species. The red fire ant is native to South America, the Caribbean islands, Australia, China, and Mexico. Although fascinating, S. invicta poses a huge threat to the economy because of their unique and efficient way of survival. When the ants are forced to leave their native soil due to environmental factors, such as flooding, S. invicta form conglomerations also known as rafts. This journal article took a deeper look into the creation and conformation of the raft created by fire ants. This study tested the hypothesis that bubbles helped keep the raft and ants from drowning. This study also looked into the behavioral pattern of S. invicta within the raft system. For instance, it was thought that in order to keep the ants dry, they would actually rotate or move in a certain cycle that would keep the ants from being submerged at all times. It was also perceived that the ants were interlocked in some fashion to keep the ants together.
Methods:
In this study, four experiments were conducted. The first experiment consisted of taking the fire ants and placing them in a water filled arena. This forced the ants to conform into the raft structure. Once in the raft, the ants were marked…show more content… Although there are a plethora of similarities between certain studies, this study alone provided a large amount of new data. Some similarities consisted with the cycling experiment. Both studies that explored this process found that no matter what ands were marked, they always would end up on the opposite side of the raft. Additionally, another similarity to other studies is the larvae forms within the rafts. Other research provided the same answers as this study. Raft formations cannot exist for long periods of time without larvae
