Ants are common in agroecosystems, where they can significantly impact agricultural production and yield through interactions with other organisms. By regulating crop-damaging insects and occasionally pollinating flowers, ants provide ecosystem services. However, ants can harm crops through herbivory, tending hemipterans, eating beneficial arthropods, or vectoring disease. In this review, we provide an overview of the roles played by ants in agroecosystems through their interactions with other species. We categorize ant species interactions as beneficial or harmful, direct or indirect, and address the importance of context-dependency. In addition to reviewing the role of ant-mediated biological interactions in agroecosystems, we discuss management implications that should be considered when supporting or suppressing ants. This article provides new insights and suggests promising directions for utilizing ants to implement more sustainable agricultural practices in agroecosystems across the globe. We propose that ants play critical roles in agroecosystems through their interactions with other organisms and should be considered when making management decisions.

Pollinators are critical for agricultural production and food security, leading to many ongoing surveys of pollinators (especially bees) in crop and adjacent landscapes.These surveys have become increasingly important to better understand the community of potential pollinators, quantify relative insect abundance, and secure crop ecosystem services. However, as some bee populations are declining, there is a need to align and improve bee survey efforts, so that they can best meet research and conservation goals, particularly in light of the logistical and financial constraints of conducting such studies. Here, we mined the existing literature on bee surveys in or around agricultural lands to better understand how sampling methods can be optimized to maximize estimates of 2 key measures of bee communities (abundance and richness). After reviewing 72 papers spanning 20 yr of publication, we found that study duration, number of sites, sampling time, and sampling method most significantly influenced abundance, while the number of trips per year and collection method significantly influenced richness. Our analysis helps to derive thresholds, priorities, and recommendations that can be applied to future studies describing bee communities in agroecosystems.

Insect-induced galls are novel structures that serve as habitat to whole communities of associate arthropods that include predators, parasitoids, and inquilines. Galling insects are generally under-described, but their associate communities, which can include many specialist organisms, are virtually unknown, particularly in the southwest United States. Aciurina bigeloviae (Cockerell 1890) and Aciurina trixaCurran 1932 (Diptera: Tephritidae) are unusually common and abundant galling flies in New Mexico. The 2 species are sister and occur in sympatric areas but have distinct gall morphologies. We reared all arthropods from 3,800 galls from 14 sites in the northern and central regions of the state and as a result characterized the complete communities of both species, including barcode sequences and eclosion phenology. We also investigate interactions of A. trixa galls with the abundant inquiline weevil Anthonomus cycliferus Fall 1913 (Coleoptera: Circulionidae) and find no measurable effect of inquiline abundance on the size of the emerged adult fly or gall. The total species count is 24 and includes 6 guilds; both A. bigeloviae and A. trixa communities are richer and more complex than other documented Tephritidae–Asteraceae galling systems. This study highlights the potential of galling insects as ecosystem engineers to maintain large, rich, and multi-trophic communities.

Las agallas inducidas por insectos son estructuras únicas utilizadas como hábitat para comunidades enteras de artrópodos que incluyen depredadores, parasitoides e inquilinos. Los insectos inductores de agallas son poco conocidos en general, pero las comunidades asociadas que pueden incluir muchos organismos especializados son casi todas desconocidas, particularmente en la región suroeste de los Estados Unidos. Aciurina bigeloviae (Cockerell 1890) y Aciurina trixa Curran 1932 (Diptera: Tephritidae) son moscas de agallas inusualmente comunes y abundantes en el estado de Nuevo México. Las dos especies son hermanas y ocurren en regiones simpátricas, pero tienen morfologías de agallas distintas. Criamos todos los artrópodos de 3800 agallas de 14 sitios en las regiones del norte y central de Nuevo México, y como resultado caracterizamos las comunidades completas de las dos especies, incluyendo código de barras y fenología de eclosión. Además, investigamos las interacciones de agallas de A. trixa con el gorgojo Anthonomus cycliferus Fall 1913 (Coleoptera: Circulionidae), un inquilino abundante, y no encontramos ningún efecto mensurable en la abundancia del inquilino con el tamaño de la mosca inductora o de la agalla. El recuento total de las especies es 24 e incluye 6 gremios. Ambas comunidades de moscas, A. bigeloviae y A. trixa son más ricas y complejas que las de otros sistemas de agallas Tephritidae-Asteraceae documentados. Este estudio destaca el potencial de insectos inductores de agallas como ingenieros de ecosistemas para mantener comunidades grandes, ricas y multitróficas.

Graphical Abstract