Eur. J. Entomol. 119: 439-447, 2022 | DOI: 10.14411/eje.2022.046

Winged insects associated with the poorly studied forest fire ant Solenopsis virulens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)Original article

Thalles P.L. PEREIRA ORCID...1, 3, Carolina De A. GARCIA ORCID...2, Freddy BRAVO ORCID...3, Jacques H.C. DELABIE ORCID...4
1 University of Alaska Museum, Museum of the North, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA; e-mail: thallesplp@gmail.com
2 Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, Departamento de Entomologia, Laboratório de Diptera, São Paulo, Brazil; e-mail: carolina_garcia@usp.br
3 Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil; e-mail: freddybra@gmail.com
4 Laboratório de Mirmecologia, CEPEC-CEPLAC & Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Ilhéus, Bahia, Brazil; e-mail: jacques.delabie@gmail.com

The present study documents new records of winged insects collected from fragments of nests of the tropical fire ant Solenopsis virulens (Smith), using a trap, which is also described in detail. The emergence chamber consisted of a 5L opaque plastic container, a 50 ml transparent vial and a 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tube. This trap captured 70 insects from 12 nests of Solenopsis virulens. They were classified into two orders, 13 families, 18 genera and 39 morphospecies. The most abundant order was Diptera, with nine families. The richest family was Cecidomyiidae, with 12 morphospecies, followed by Sciaridae with seven. Ceratopogonidae, Chironomidae, Chloropidae, Drosophilidae, Hybotidae, Phoridae and Psychodidae were also represented. Hymenoptera included a total of three families: Figitidae (Eucoilinae), Platygastridae (Scelioninae and Platygastrinae) and Diapriidae. Although the association of several genera (Diptera: 11/ Hymenoptera: 1) and families (Diptera: 1/ Hymenoptera: 1) with ant nests was recorded for the first time, it is likely that many of these insects are only fortuitous or temporary inquilines and not obligatory myrmecophiles. The trap described is also useful for catching insects that emerge from other substrates such as leaves, logs, galls, termite nests, etc. Furthermore, it could enable researchers to sample and further study important material in the laboratory and decrease the costs of sampling during field trips.

Keywords: Neotropical, Brazil, Bahia, Atlantic Forest, emergence chamber, low cost, biodiversity, Diptera

Received: February 2, 2022; Revised: September 27, 2022; Accepted: September 27, 2022; Published online: December 8, 2022  Show citation

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PEREIRA, T.P.L., GARCIA, C.A.D., BRAVO, F., & DELABIE, J.H.C. (2022). Winged insects associated with the poorly studied forest fire ant Solenopsis virulens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). EJE, 119, Article 439-447. https://doi.org/10.14411/eje.2022.046
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