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The red imported Þre ant, Solenopsis invicta (Buren), is an invasive species in the southern United States and is expanding its range westward to California and eastward up the Atlantic Coast. This voracious predator can reach extremely high densities and have widespread effects once it invades an ecosystem. We conducted a 2-yr sampling study and a series of greenhouse and Þeld experiments to document the impact of red imported Þre ants on beneÞcial insects in cotton. We found that the densities of 12 of 13 natural enemies sampled on cotton plants in 1999, and 8 out of 8 sampled in 2000, were negatively correlated with the densities of foraging Þre ant workers. Red imported Þre ants reduced the survival of lady beetles (Coccinella septempunctata L., and Hippodamia convergens Guerin-Meneville) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) by 50% and green lacewing larvae (Chrysoperla carnea Stephens) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) by 38% in greenhouse experiments. Fire ants did not, however, reduce the survival of spiders (Oxyopidae, Thomisidae, and Clubionidae). We used a commercially available Þre ant bait to suppress Þre ant populations in cotton Þelds during the 2000 growing season and compared the densities of beneÞcial arthropods in treated versus control Þelds. Densities of lady beetles, spiders, and big-eyed bugs (Heteroptera: Geocoridae) were signiÞcantly higher in Þelds with suppressed Þre ant populations than in Þelds with relatively large Þre ant populations. The effect of Þre ants on minute pirate bugs (Heteroptera: Anthocoridae) was incon- sistent, and populations of damsel bugs (Heteroptera: Nabidae) and hooded beetles (Coleoptera: Anthicidae) were not affected by Þre ant suppression. The results of this study suggest that red imported Þre ants are major intraguild predators of important beneÞcial arthropods in cotton.

Intraguild Predation of Beneficial Arthropods by Red Imported Fire Ants in Cotton