Assessment of the effects of ants on Hawaiian crickets

John S. LaPolla
Department of Entomology, Rutgers University
New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901

and

Daniel Otte and Lauren A. Spearman
Department of Entomology, The Academy of Natural Sciences
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

Abstract

A visit to Kauai in 1997 revealed a catastrophic drop in Laupala
cricket populations in the Keahua region of the island. Ants, previously
unknown at the sites, were now found in large numbers. This study
investigates the possible effects of ants on Laupala. Localities from
Hawaii, Kauai, Oahu, and Maui, previously known to possess large cricket
populations were examined for the number of crickets heard singing and the
presence of ants. Cricket songs provide a method by which cricket
abundance can be assessed. No sites were found to have both an abundant
Laupala population and a population of Pheidole megacephala. The data
suggests that in eastern Kauai the decline in crickets and the peculiar
distribution patterns observed can be attributed to predation by this ant.