Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-sjtt6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-22T12:58:04.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Homoptera associated with the ants Crematogaster clariventris, Pheidole megacephala and Tetramorium aculeatum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on cocoa in Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

C.A.M. Campbell
C.A.M. Campbell*
Affiliation:
Cocoa Research Institute, New Tafo, Ghana
*
Dr CAM Campbell, Horticulture Research International, East Mailing, Kent ME19 6BJ, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Population densities of honeydew-producing Homoptera were assessed on mature upper-Amazon cocoa (Theobroma cacao) (Sterculiaceae) trees with combinations of the ants Crematogaster clariventris Mayr, Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius) and Tetramorium aculeatum (Mayr). Interactions were found between combinations of the three ant species and the abundance of Homoptera attended for honeydew. Crematogaster clariventris primarily attended Stictococcus sjostedti Cockerell (Stictococcidae), and less frequently Waxiella sp. nr zonata (Newstead) (Coccidae). Pheidole megacephala attended mealybugs, mainly Planococcoides njalensis (Laing), and Planococcus citri (Risso) (both Pseudococcidae). Tetramorium aculeatum was negatively associated with honeydew-producing Homoptera only when it was the sole dominant ant. Where T. aculeatum co-existed with either one, or both, of the other ant species, it had little influence on the abundance of the honeydew-producing Homoptera they attended, including the mealybug vectors of cocoa swollen shoot virus. Ant-attended Homoptera were more numerous on trees solely dominated by their attendant ants than on trees where two or all three ant species co-occurred. By contrast, the non-ant-attended psyllid Mesohomotoma tessmanni (Aulmann) was least common on trees with a single dominant ant species, and was most abundant on trees foraged by all three ant species.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 84 , Issue 3 , September 1994 , pp. 313 - 318
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bigger, M. (1981) Observations on the insect fauna of shazded and unshaded Amelonado cocoa. Bulletin of Entomological Research 71, 107–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bigger, M. (1993) Ant-homopteran interactions in a tropical ecosystem. Description of an experiment on cocoa in Ghana. Bulletin of Entomological Research 83, 475–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, C.A.M. (1979) Crematogaster spp., Oecophylla longinoda and the mealybug vectors of cocoa swollen shoot virus. pp. 133–136 in Mbondji, M. & Decazy, B. (Eds) Rapport de Synthese véme Conference des Entomologistes du Cacaoyer de l'Ouest—Africain, 13–18 Décembre, 1976. Onarest, B.P Yaoundé, Cameroun.Google Scholar
Campbell, C.A.M. (1983) The assessment of mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) and other Homoptera on mature cocoa trees in Ghana. Bulletin of Entomological Research 73, 137–151CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, C.A.M. (1984) The influence of overhead shade and fertilizers on the Homoptera of mature Upper-Amazon cocoa trees in Ghana Bulletin of Entomological Research 74, 163–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, C.A.M. (1990) The susceptibility of cocoa to mealy-bugs (Pseudococcidae) and other honeydew-producing Homoptera in Ghana. Bulletin of Entomological Research 80, 137–151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hairston, N.G. (1989) Ecological experiments. 370 pp. Cambridge, Cambridge University PressCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leston, D. (1973) The ant mosaic—tropical tree crops and the limiting of pests and diseases. Pest Articles and News Summaries 19, 311–341.Google Scholar
Majer, J.D. (1972) The ant mosaic in Ghana cocoa farms. Bulletin of Entomological Research 62, 151–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Majer, J.D. (1976) The maintenance of the ant mosaic in Ghana cocoa farms. Journal of Applied Ecology 13, 123–144.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Room, P.M. (1971) The relative distribution of ant species in Ghana's cocoa farms. Journal of Animal Ecology 40, 735–751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strickland, A.H. (1951a) The entomology of swollen shoot of cacao. I—The insect species involved with notes on their biology Bulletin of Entomological Research 41, 725–748.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strickland, A.H. (1951b) The entomology of swollen shoot of cacao. II—The bionomics and ecology of the species involved. Bulletin of Entomological Research 42, 65–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Way, M.J. (1963) Mutualism between ants and honeydew-producing Homoptera. Annual Review of Entomology 8, 669–691.CrossRefGoogle Scholar