David couldn't bring down Goliath: museum specimen reveals a failed predation attempt by fire ants (Solenopsis Westwood, 1840) upon a large hawk moth Eumorpha phorbas (Cramer, 1775)

By

Sánchez Albert, Adrián
Dejean, Alain
París, Mercedes

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2025-1-8

Original Publication

Biodiversity data journal

Volume

13

Pages

1--6

Subjects

Eumorpha phorbas , failed predation , fire ant , French Guiana , hawk moth , museum specimen , novel interaction , Solenopsis

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia Pensoft Publishers [2013]-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.12.e142671

 

Abstract

Insights into insect predatory behaviour can be inferred indirectly from specimens housed in Natural History Collections. In this work, we document a unique interaction, never recorded before, involving the remains of a Solenopsis Westwood, 1840 ant worker —probably S. saevissima (Smith, 1855)— whose head is firmly attached by its mandibles to an antenna of a female hawk moth Eumorpha phorbas (Cramer, 1775) (Sphingidae). This specimen is part of the Entomology Collection at the MNCN-CSIC in Madrid, Spain. As fire ants have very large colonies showing collective hunting behaviour, this worker was likely trapped while taking part in a group attack with nestmates attempting to subdue this comparatively large moth. This observation highlights the value of museum specimens in revealing aspects of predator-prey interactions that might otherwise remain undocumented.