{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,8]],"date-time":"2026-01-08T21:03:26Z","timestamp":1767906206465,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"Cambridge University Press (CUP)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2009,2,10]],"date-time":"2009-02-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1234224000000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/terms"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Bull. Entomol. Res."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,10]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:p>The tropical fire ant <jats:italic>Solenopsis geminata<\/jats:italic> (Fabricius) often nests very abundantly in the earthen banks (bunds) around irrigated rice fields in the tropics. Where some farmers habitually drain fields to the mud for about 3\u20134 days, the ants can quickly spread up to about 20 m into the fields where they collect food, including pest prey such as the eggs and young of the apple snail <jats:italic>Pomacea caniculata<\/jats:italic> (Lamarck) and insects such as lepidopterous larvae and hoppers, notably <jats:italic>Nilaparvata lugens<\/jats:italic> (St\u00e4l) the brown planthopper (Bph) and green leafhoppers <jats:italic>Nephotettix<\/jats:italic> spp. Even in drained fields, the activity of <jats:italic>S. geminata<\/jats:italic> is restricted by rainfall in the wet season. The relatively few ant workers that forage characteristically into drained fields and on to the transplanted clumps of rice plants (hills) kill the normally few immigrant Bph adults but are initially slower acting than other species of the natural enemy complex. However, larger populations of Bph are fiercely attacked and effectively controlled by rapidly recruited ant workers; whereas, in the absence of the ant, the other natural enemies are inadequate. In normal circumstances, there is no ant recruitment in response to initially small populations of immigrant Bph and no evidence of incompatibility between ant foragers and other natural enemies such as spiders. However, when many ants are quickly and aggressively recruited to attack large populations of Bph, they temporarily displace some spiders from infested hills. It is concluded that, in suitable weather conditions and even when insecticides kill natural enemies within the rice field, periodic drainage that enables <jats:italic>S. geminata<\/jats:italic> to join the predator complex is valuable for ant-based control of pests such as snails and Lepidoptera, and especially against relatively large populations of Bph. Drainage practices to benefit ants are fully compatible with recent research, which shows that periodic drainage combats problems of \u2018yield decline\u2019 in intensively irrigated tropical rice and is also needed in South East Asia to make better use of seriously declining water supplies for irrigation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1017\/s0007485308006524","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2009,2,10]],"date-time":"2009-02-10T10:13:35Z","timestamp":1234260815000},"page":"503-512","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":14,"title":["Significance of the tropical fire ant <i>Solenopsis geminata<\/i> (hymenoptera: formicidae) as part of the natural enemy complex responsible for successful biological control of many tropical irrigated rice pests"],"prefix":"10.1017","volume":"99","author":[{"given":"M.J.","family":"Way","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"K.L.","family":"Heong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"56","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2009,2,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref009","first-page":"137","article-title":"Effect of transplanting date and irrigation regime on growth, yield and water use in rice (Oryza sativa) in northern India","volume":"66","author":"Singh","year":"1996","journal-title":"Indian Journal of Agricultural Science"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref011","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S000748530003282X"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref014","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1079\/BER2002185"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref004","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-4290(00)00075-7"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref001","first-page":"17","article-title":"Water-efficient management strategies in rice production","volume":"26","author":"Bouman","year":"2001","journal-title":"International Rice Research Notes"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref002","first-page":"54","volume-title":"Water Management in Irrigated Rice \u2013 Coping with Water Scarcity","author":"Bouman","year":"2007"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref003","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1046\/j.1461-9563.2002.00141.x"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref005","first-page":"19","volume-title":"Producing More Rice with Less Water from Irrigated Systems","author":"Guerra","year":"1998"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref006","first-page":"97","article-title":"Methods for sampling and monitoring ants in the rice environment","volume":"10","author":"Islam","year":"2000","journal-title":"Bangladesh Journal of Entomology"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref007","first-page":"19","article-title":"Population regulation of the rice brown planthopper Nilaparvata lugens St\u00e4l within rice fields in the Philippines","volume":"1","author":"Kenmore","year":"1984","journal-title":"Journal of Plant Protection in the Tropics"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref008","first-page":"136","volume-title":"Helpful Insects, Spiders and Pathogens","author":"Shepard","year":"1987"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref010","first-page":"271","volume-title":"Arthropod Natural Enemies in Arable Land","volume":"72","author":"Sunderland","year":"1997"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref012","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.en.37.010192.002403"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref013","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/S0007485300042218"},{"key":"S0007485308006524_ref015","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/mollus\/67.3.275"}],"container-title":["Bulletin of Entomological Research"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/services\/aop-cambridge-core\/content\/view\/S0007485308006524","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2019,4,30]],"date-time":"2019-04-30T10:48:13Z","timestamp":1556621293000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.cambridge.org\/core\/product\/identifier\/S0007485308006524\/type\/journal_article"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2009,2,10]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2009,10]]}},"alternative-id":["S0007485308006524"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/s0007485308006524","relation":{},"ISSN":["0007-4853","1475-2670"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0007-4853","type":"print"},{"value":"1475-2670","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2009,2,10]]}}}