The Ants of Bidwell Park, Chico, California

Abstract

The ant fauna of northern California is poorly known. Although Mallis (1941) has published an annotated list of the species of ants found in California and Cook (1953) has surveyed the literature on the ants of California, locality records and notes on the life histories of northern California ant species are very few (i.e. of the localities mentioned in Mallis' work, less than 8 percent are in the Sacramento River drainage system, an area which includes about one-fourth of the area of the state; none of the localities is in the upper Sacramento Valley) . The Bidwell Park area is interesting for the study of ants in that it has a diversity of flora and habitats which is representative of a great portion of the Sacramento Valley and surrounding foothills. Athough it is not an entirely natural area, being changed continually by grazing, pruning, and introductions, it is a relatively permanent unit in which individual sections have remained unchanged for many years. Material for this paper was collected, and observations were made, within the park, throughout the Sacramento Valley, and in the surrounding foothills between December, 1953 and June, 1956. Unless otherwise noted in the accounts to follow, all species which are mentioned were collected in the park. The localities listed at the end of each account represent additional records in habitats similar to that found in the park. Locations of these stations in air miles from the Chico State College campus are as follows: Centerville, 8 mi. E; Fair Oaks, 82 mi. S; Glenn, 19 mi. SW; Hamilton City, 10 mi. W; Lakehead, 105 mi. N; Live Oak (Sutter Buttes), 31 mi. S; Modoc County, 147 mi. NE; Mt. Shasta City, 113 mi. N; Orland (Newville,), 30 mi. W; Oroville, 21 mi. SE; Paradise, 13 mi. E; Paynescreek, 42 mi. N; Paskenta, 40 mi. W; Willows, 23 mi. SW.