Adverse Environmental Condition Causes Shifting of Behaviour of Tetraponerasp (Slender Ants) from Aggressive, Ecological Dominance to Resource Partitioning, Coexistence with Other Arthropods Pest of Cocos nucifera L. Plant

Slender ant belonging to the genus Tetraponeraspis ecologically dominant, aggressive species don’t believe on resource partitioning and coexistence with other arthropod species in their natural habitat. With help of their peptide containing venom they can paralysed and deterred other species from their host plant.

After Amphan, a super-cyclone which strike on Gangetic plane, West Bengal, on 20th May, 2020 caused destruction of lots of plants due to high wind velocity (155km/hour). This adverse environmental condition causes food scarcity and lost of habitat of Tetraponerasp which resulted into changed their behaviour. It make them natural pest of Cocos nucifera by sharing their habitat with carpenter ants, pest beetle of coconut and causes huge damage of growing coconuts.