Predation on the Lone Star Tick1by the Imported Fire Ant2,3

Abstract

In tests conducted at Baton Rouge and Pine Grove, Louisiana, various stages of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum (L.), were released in areas infested with the imported fire ant, Solenopsis saevissima richteri Forel, and in areas where mirex bait was applied to suppress ant populations. A significant ( P <0.01) greater survival of tick eggs and engorged tick larvae occurred in the mirex-treatcd area after 24, 48, and 72 hours of exposure to fire ant predation. About 75% of the ticks released in the mirextreated plot in August and September 1970 as nymphs were recovered as adults in March 1971. No ticks were recovered in the ant-infested plot. Engorged female ticks confined in hardware-cloth cages had a much higher survival rate in the mirex-treated plots.