Results
Phorids flies influenced the competitive interactions between W. auropunctata and L. iniquum. We observed that L. iniquum in the presence of phorids underwent a 3-fold reduction in less than 15 minutes, which caused significant declines of L. iniquum abundance (p = 0.01). W. auropunctata abundances significantly increased abundance levels by 2-4 times in the presence of phorids (p < 0.0001). Phorid flies limited the recruitment rate of L. iniquum (fig 4.3), likely restricting resource uptake, which in effect increased the abundance of W. auropunctata in the presence of phorids. The spatial distribution of L. iniquum nests in trees significantly affected the searching efficiency of phorids. The majority of trees where occupied by W. auropunctata nests (N=166), followed by L. iniquum nests (N=129), and unidentified ant species (N=29). We found a significant effect of phorid arrival in L. iniquum dominated patches as compared to W. auropunctata dominant patches. Phorids in nearby L. iniquum patches took anywhere between 3-5 minutes to arrive at trees, while phorids took much longer to detect L. iniquum trees within W. auropunctata patches (fig 4.4). Thus, the spatial distribution of L. iniquum limited the effectiveness of phorid control in areas where W. auropunctata dominates.