Prevalence, impacts, and implications of odorous house ant colonies within active American robin nests

Qazi, Danish; Suarez, Andrew; Gibson, Joshua; Merrill, Loren

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/90247 Copy

Description

Title

Prevalence, impacts, and implications of odorous house ant colonies within active American robin nests

Author(s)

• Qazi, Danish
• Suarez, Andrew
• Gibson, Joshua
• Merrill, Loren

Contributor(s)

Suarez, Andrew

Issue Date

2016

Keyword(s)

• entomology
• fledging
• land development

Abstract

The odorous house ant (Tapinoma sessile Say) is a cosmopolitan ant species in the Midwest known to nest in a variety of habitats. Polygynous and seasonally polydomous, it can be found nesting in both urban and natural areas, including within homes and bird nests. While previous studies have noted T. sessile colonies in active bird nests, no studies have been conducted examining the prevalence of this phenomenon and the impact it may have on nesting dynamics. In this study, we examine the prevalence of T. sessile colonies inhabiting nests of American robins from Midwestern Illinois and considered the potential relationships between the presence of colonies and the fledging success of nestlings, nest parasite loads, and presence of other nest dwelling arthropod species. Robin nests were located at multiple field sites, urban and rural, and monitored until the nestlings fledged or perished. Following abandonment nests were collected, frozen, and later sieved to collect all arthropods within the nest which were identified to order and morphospecies. We compare our findings to ongoing studies on the prevalence and impacts of T. sessile colonies in other species of Midwestern birds. Future work will examine properties of bird nests that are attractive to T. sessile colonies and relationships between the presence of T. sessile colonies and nestling immune function and stress.

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/90247

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2016 Danish Qazi

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