Relationship of the Imported Fire Ant to Nantucket Pine Tip Moth Infestations

Field studies were conducted in southeastern Louisiana in 1966 and 1967 to determine the effect of imported fire ant, Solenopsis saevissima richteri</it> Fore!, predation on larval and pupal populations of the Nantucket pine tip moth, Rhyacionia frustrana</it> (Comstock). Results indicate that predation by the imported fire ant reduced larval and pupal populations of the pine tip moth very little. Counts of both larvae and pupae indicated about equal populations in both heptachlor-treated and untreated plots from early June through October. Spider counts also suggest that spiders influence larval and pupal tip moth populations only slightly during the summer season.