www.antbase.net
Dr. Joachim Offenberg
Date and place of Birth:
- 8 February 1965, Copenhagen - Denmark
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Aarhus
- Department of Biological Sciences
University of Aarhus
Universitetsparken Aarhus
DK-8000
- Denmark
- +45 89423341
- +45 89423350
- Ant-plant-insect interactions, ant ecology, biological control, mutualism-parasitism, Organic farming, Oecophylla
- Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Denmark
- Domestication of Oecophylla ants
Oecophylla ants are famous for being the earliest known biological control agents. They were used at least 1700 years ago to control pests in Chinese citrus plantations. Recently it has been documented that the ants are superior to modern pesticides in controlling pests in several tropic plantation crops, e.g. mango, cashew and citrus. In some cases the ants can lead to a more than 70% increase in net income compared to the use of pesticides. In addition to controlling pests, the ants can also be utilised directly since they are edible. In several Asian countries ants are harvested and sold at local markets as a pricey human delicacy, for traditional medicine, or as a valued feed for pet birds. The multiple uses of these ants has generated an increased interest in a domestication of the ants. To integrate the ants in large scale plantations and to make them manageable to lay men, requires that live ant colonies can be produced in high numbers. Also, techniques to farm the ants needs development to increase the efficiency and relieve the pressure on wild colonies. Currently we are assessing the benefit of Oecophylla smaragdina as a biocontrol agent in different crops in the tropics and we develop ant farming techniques. We test if ant farming can be sustainably integrated with biological control and thus create a second income to plantations. I.e. can ants be harvested without destroying the population of worker ants? Lastly, we are developing techniques to mate virgin Oecophylla queens in order to create a staple supply of live colonies.
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Cannicci S, Burrows D, Fratini S, Le SY, Smith TJ, Offenberg J, Dahdouh-Guebas F (2008) Faunistic impact on vegetation structure and ecosystem function in mangrove forests. Aquatic Botany in press.
Offenberg J (2007) The distribution of weaver ant pheromones on host trees. Insectes Sociaux 54: 248-250
Offenberg J, Macintosh DJ, Nielsen MG. (2006) Indirect ant-protection against crab herbivory: damaged leave's increased susceptibility to crab grazing may lead to reduced crab-grazing on ant-colonised trees. Functional Ecology 20: 52-57
Offenberg J, Nielsen MG, Macintosh DJ, Aksornkoae S, Havanon S (2006) Weaver ants increase premature loss of leaves used for nest construction in rhizophora trees. Biotropica 38: 782-785
Offenberg J, Nielsen MG, Macintosh DJ, Havanon S, Aksornkoae S (2005) Lack of ant attendance may induce compensatory plant growth. Oikos 111(1): 170-178
Offenberg J, Havanon S, Aksornkoae S, Macintosh DJ, Nielsen MG (2004). Observations on the ecology of weaver ants (Oecophylla smaragdina Fabricius) in a Thai mangrove ecosystem and their effect on herbivory of Rhizophora mucronata Lam. Biotropica 36(3): 344-351.
Offenberg J, Nielsen MG, Macintosh DJ, Havanon S, Aksornkoae S (2004) Evidence that insect herbivores are deterred by ant pheromones. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London series B (Suppl.) 271(6): 433-435.
Offenberg J (2001) Balancing between mutualism and exploitation: the symbiotic interaction between Lasius ants and aphids. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 49(4): 304-310.
Offenberg J (2000) Correlated evolution of the association between aphids and ants and the association between aphids and plants with extrafloral nectaries. Oikos 91(1): 146-152.
Koella JC, Offenberg J (1999) Food availability and parasite infection influence the correlated responses of life history traits to selection for age at pupation in the mosquito Aedes aegypti. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 12, 760-769
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Offenberg J (2007) New insights and future directions in applied Oecophylla research. International Conference on Ants and other Social Hymenoptera (6th ANeT). Punjabi University, Patiala, India. Talk.
Offenberg J (2007) Commercial utilization of ants: biocontrol and ant farming. The third Thai ants seminar "Ants Management and Sufficient Economy". Ant Museum, Faculty of Forestry, Kasetsart University, Bankok, Thailand. Keynote speak.
Offenberg J (2005) Dual utilization of weaver ants. 5th International ANeT Conference. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Talk.
Offenberg J (2003) Conservation supporting development: Ant-plant relationships in the mangroves of Thailand. Conservation supporting development in Southeast Asia: experiences from South East Asia. AU 75 Workshop. Talk.
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