Crematogaster pilosa (Ant) Mortality Trials in the Lab when Exposed to Macondo Oil

We monitored ant mortality in the lab when exposed to vapors of Macondo oil. The objective was to increase our understanding of ecological damages and recovery in the Spartina marshes. We investigated what effects exposure to the oil emulsion had on the foraging behavior and rate of mortality of acrobat ants, Crematogaster pilosa Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ants have previously been used in a variety of disturbance-based ecological studies and thus may also provide important information on the health of the Louisiana salt marshes. The hypotheses tested were: The presence of DWH-associated crude oil will reduce the foraging behavior of Crematogaster pilosa; and the presence of DWH-associated crude oil will increase morality in Crematogaster pilosa. This dataset includes data on survival that can be used to calculate LD50 . Ants were exposed to one of 5 treatments, or a control. Food, water, and oil in the case of treatments were then a dded to each of the 5 replications. The number of ants in each replicate was no less than 20 and no more than 100 individuals. Ants were exposed to treatments for 24 hours. C. pilosa’s foraging behavior was drastically reduced by oil presence (p < 0.0001) though oil did not usually increase mortality.