caa a22 4500 397546629 CHVBK 20180308164739.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161202e19960301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1093/aesa/89.2.231 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)oxford-10.1093/aesa/89.2.231 Mermithid Nematode Parasitism of Solenopsis Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Northern Florida [Elektronische Daten] [Donald A. McInnes, Walter R. Tschinkel] Sexuals collected from nests of the fire ant, Solenopsis geminata (F.), the red imported fire ant, S. invicta Buren, and S. pergandei Forel in the Apalachicola National Forest were parasitized occasionally by a large mermithid nematode. Summer infection rates (1991-1993) varied by species and sex: 0% for S. invicta gynes, between 1 and 7% for S. pergandei gynes and males of all 3 species, and 16% for S. geminata gynes. The seasonality of infection coincided with the summer reproductive period of S. geminata and suggests the mermithid has an annual life cycle. The parasites, up to 15.5 cm in length, distend the abdomen of the host, but have little anatomical effect other than detracting from sex organ development. Mermithisized ants do not participate in mating flights and die when the parasites emerge. The mermithids emerge as sexually immature larvae, precluding their identification or taxonomic description. A mermithid this large has not been reported previously in Solenopsis. Currently, there is no record of mermithid parasitism in S. invicta and S. pergandei nor have mermithisized sexuals been reported in the genus. © 1996 Entomological Society of America Ecology and Population Biology nationallicence Solenopsis nationallicence fire ants nationallicence ants nationallicence mermithid nematodes nationallicence parasitism nationallicence McInnes Donald A. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. aut Tschinkel Walter R. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306. aut Annals of the Entomological Society of America Oxford University Press 89/2(1996-03-01), 231-237 0013-8746 89:2<231 1996 89 aesa https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/89.2.231 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1093/aesa/89.2.231 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- McInnes Donald A. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306 aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Tschinkel Walter R. Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306 aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Annals of the Entomological Society of America Oxford University Press 89/2(1996-03-01), 231-237 0013-8746 89:2<231 1996 89 aesa Metadata rights reserved CC BY-NC-4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-oxford