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CARPENTER ANTS AS PREDATORS OF SPRUCE BUDWORM IN THE BOREAL FOREST OF NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2012

C.J. Sanders  and
A. Pang
C.J. Sanders
Affiliation:
Forestry Canada, Ontario Region, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada P6A 5M7
A. Pang
Affiliation:
Forestry Canada, Forest Pest Management Institute, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada P6A 5M7
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Abstract

In the boreal forest of northwestern Ontario, where carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) construct extensive underground tunnels, few worker ants were seen on the aerial portions of trees containing colonies of the ants or on neighboring trees, even though the trees were infested by large numbers of spruce budworm [Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)] larvae. Immunochemical techniques detected less spruce budworm soluble protein in worker ants from this area than in a laboratory colony that had been fed budworm larvae, or in a colony located in a spruce tree that was surrounded by gravel where the ants were unable to build underground tunnels and instead foraged extensively in the tree crown. This suggests that, in contrast to evidence from western North America, carpenter ants in the boreal forests of northwestern Ontario, and perhaps elsewhere throughout the range of the spruce budworm, are of limited importance as predators of the spruce budworm.

Résumé

Dans la forêt boréale du nord-ouest de l’Ontario, où les fourmis charpentières (Camponotus spp.) construisent des réseaux de galeries souterraines, on n’a observé qu’un petit nombre de ces insectes sur les portions aériennes des arbres contenant des colonies de fourmis ou sur les arbres avoisinants, même si les arbres étaient infestés en grand nombre de larves de la tordeuse des bourgeons de l’épinette [Choristoneura fumiferana (Clem.)]. Des techniques immunochimiques ont permis de déterminer qu’il y avait moins de protéines solubles de la tordeuse dans les fourmis ouvrières de cette région que dans une colonie de laboratoire à laquelle on avait donné des larves de la tordeuse ou dans une colonie habitant une épinette entourée de gravier où les fourmis étaient incapables de construire des galeries souterraines et se nourrissaient donc surtout sur la cime de l’arbre. Cela semble indiquer que, contrairement à ce qui avait été démontré à l’évidence pour l’ouest de l’Amérique du Nord, les fourmis charpentières des forêts boréales du nord-ouest de l’Ontario, et peut-être d’autres endroits de l’aire de distribution de la tordeuse, sont des prédatrices peu importantes de la tordeuse.

Type
Articles
Information
The Canadian Entomologist , Volume 124 , Issue 6 , December 1992 , pp. 1093 - 1100
Copyright
Copyright © Entomological Society of Canada 1992

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