Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Fauna of the Marine Port of Savannah, Garden City, Georgia (USA)

Abstract

Abstract Seaports act as a critical interface between land and sea for the international transportation of goods and have played an important role in the introduction of exotic ant species worldwide. The objective of our survey was to catalog the ant species residing on and immediately adjacent to the Port of Savannah in Garden City, Georgia, USA. We assessed the ant fauna with pitfall traps, baits, active searching on trees, extraction from leaf litter, and destruction of coarse woody debris (rotting logs) along nine transects in wooded areas. We also collected ants along roadside habitat on and adjacent to Port of Savannah property. In total, we collected 1,300 samples in 2015 and 2016. Forty-five ant species representing 20 genera were cataloged, including 13 exotic species from 10 genera; 65,424 ants were collected during the study. The most diverse genera were Strumigenys (six species); Crematogaster and Pheidole (five species each); and Camponotus and Solenopsis (four species each). The tawny crazy ant, Nylanderia fulva Mayr, which was the most common ant collected (76% of all ants collected along nine transects in wooded areas), is reported here for the first time in Chatham County, Georgia and is the northernmost location from which it has been reported. Owing to the ubiquitous nature of the Formicidae, one or more ant species were present in 97.7% of the study's 1,300 samples.