David couldn't bring down Goliath: museum specimen reveals a failed predation attempt by fire ants (Solenopsis Westwood, 1840) upon a large hawk moth Eumorphaphorbas (Cramer, 1775).

Abstract

Insights into insect predatory behaviour can be inferred indirectly from specimens housed in Natural History Collections. In this work, we document a unique interaction, never recorded before, involving the remains of a Solenopsis Westwood, 1840 ant worker -probably S.saevissima (Smith, 1855)- whose head is firmly attached by its mandibles to an antenna of a female hawk moth Eumorphaphorbas (Cramer, 1775) (Sphingidae). This specimen is part of the Entomology Collection at the MNCN-CSIC in Madrid, Spain. As fire ants have very large colonies showing collective hunting behaviour, this worker was likely trapped while taking part in a group attack with nestmates attempting to subdue this comparatively large moth. This observation highlights the value of museum specimens in revealing aspects of predator-prey interactions that might otherwise remain undocumented.