Tapinoma Melanocephalum Research Articles

The Diversity of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on Industrial Forest in Sungai Merah Village, Sarolangun, Jambi with Its Identification Key

Ants have a very important role in an ecosystem. The insects act as decomposers, pollinators, soil aerators, pest controllers, and predators. Their role is very varied so that they can be easily found in various ecosystems, one of which is the rubber and oil palm ecosystem. The ant’s diversity in this forest eventually will affect the productivity of the land. The aim of this study is to determine the diversity and role of ants in the rubber and oil palm plantations in Sungai Merah Village. Both of the plantations dominate the industrial forest in Jambi. The method used in this study was purposive random sampling. Observation plots were installed in the ecosystem of rubber and oil palm plantations; each ecosystem had 4 plots consisting of 9 units of pitfall traps, and 9 units of bait traps. The results of this study show that 15 species of ants are found in the ecosystem of rubber and oil palm plantations. Furthermore, the collected ants consisted of 39.972 individual ants belonging to 12 genera and 5 subfamilies. Ants establish in the ecosystem of rubber and oil palm plantations in Sungai Merah Village have an important role either as predators (Crematogaster spp., Odontomachus rixosus, Odontoponera tranversa, Pheidole huberi, Tetraponera rufonigra, Tapinoma melanocephalum, Camponotus spp. and Colobopsis moeschi), or foragers such as ants from the genera Anoplolepis, Camponotus, Monomorium and Polyrhachis. As predators, Oecophylla smaragdina, Camponotus spp. and Crematogaster spp. also play a role as biological control agents in the ecosystem.

First inventory of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with detection of potential invasive species in National Park of Ehotilés islands, Côte d’Ivoire

Estuarine and wetland ecosystems are becoming increasingly altered by the concentration of human population near the coastline. A major threat to biodiversity related to this human footprint is the introduction of invasive alien species, particularly in isolated ecosystems like islands where biological invasion is often harmful. The National Park of Ehotilés Islands is an archipelago of 6 islands and a RAMSAR site subjected to disturbances activities like agriculture, illegal fisheries, and tourism. These factors often act as an accelerator for the introduction of invasive species. However, there is a lack of research conducted on insects, specifically ants on these islands. This study aimed to inventory the present ant fauna and estimate the vulnerability to tramp and potential invasive ant species. Ants were collected using Winkler, pitfall, and funnel traps on five islands. In total, 76 ant species were recorded. These species are distributed into 20 genera and five subfamilies: Dolichoderinae (5 species), Formicinae (11 species), Myrmicinae (49 species), Ponerinae (11 species) and Proceratiinae (1 species). We also detected two tramp and potentially invasive species: the ghost ant Tapinoma melanocephalum and the big-headed ant Pheidole megacephala. Ant communities are dominated by six species, namely Odontomachus troglodytes, Oecophylla longinoda, Nylanderia lepida, Pheidole sp.2, Monomorium invidium, and the invasive ghost ant Tapinoma melanocephalum. This work is the first to inventory ants on the Islands of Ehotilés National Park and may serve as a basis for conservation decisions as it demonstrates that this park is not spared from the introduction of invasive ant species.

They arrived and don’t stop coming: an update on the distribution of exotic ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in continental Ecuador

We present an updated list of introduced ants to continental Ecuador, and compile records of occurrence, as well as map the distribution of 15 exotic species. We analyzed specimens in entomological collections and data from AntWeb, GBIF and iNaturalist. Among these, we add two new records for the country: Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, 1980 and Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793). The former is also the first record for South America, while the finding of the latter shows how little we know about introduced tramp ants. In addition, we add site records for nine species: Cardiocondyla emeryi Forel, 1881, Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, 1899, Cardiocon­dyla wroughtonii (Forel, 1890), Linepithema humile (Mayr, 1868), Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851), Monomo­rium pharaonis (Linnaeus, 1758), Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802), Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793), and Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander, 1846). Based on our previous fieldwork observations, it appears that our understanding of exotic species richness is still in its early stages.

Diversity patterns of ants and termites in forest‐savanna mosaic habitats in two protected areas of Cameroon

AbstractKnowledge of ant and termite distribution and ecology is limited for transitional ecosystems in Central Africa. As ants and termites are the primary food for several insectivorous mammals, conservation strategies of threatened species can be strengthened with information on their key food resources. We investigated the ant and termite diversity of two protected areas located in a forest‐savanna transition zone in central Cameroon: Mpem et Djim National Park (MDNP) and Deng‐Deng National Park (DDNP). Ants and termites were collected along 100 line transects using pitfall and bait traps and hand‐sampling during major dry and rainy seasons in seven habitat types. Overall, 14,093 ant individuals representing 108 species, 29 genera, and six subfamilies were recorded. Myrmicinae was the most speciose subfamily in DDNP, while Formicinae dominated in MDNP. The most speciose genus was Crematogaster in both parks. Tapinoma melanocephalum and Pheidole sp. 3 were the most common species recorded in MDNP and DDNP respectively. Ant species richness was highest in near primary forest in DDNP, while richness was greater in the secondary forest of MDNP. Ant communities were more diversified in DDNP than in MDNP. In MDNP, the ant species richness and diversity were highest in the secondary forest and lowest in saltworks, while DDNP near primary forest species richness was highest and swamps lowest. A total of 89 species of termite representing 33 genera and nine subfamilies were recorded from a sample of 56,798 individuals. Termite species richness was similar at DDNP and MDNP. Macrotermitinae was the most common subfamily in both protected areas. The most species‐rich termite genus was Isognathotermes in both parks. Macrotermes amplus in DDNP and Reticulitermes sp. in MDNP respectively, were the most commonly sampled termite species. Near primary forest yielded more termite species in DDNP and MDNP than in other habitat types. Termites and ants' communities were more species‐rich and diversified in relatively closed‐canopy and low‐disturbed forest habitats than in savanna and flooded habitats.

Phylogenetic Analysis of the Economically Important Hymenopterans using cytochrome oxidase 1 Enzyme Sequences

Hymenoptera is the fourth diverse and the most economically important insect order comprising of bees, wasps, ants, sawflies etc. Being an important part of ecosystem, their conservation is of utmost importance. The first step towards conservation strategies is the identification of the species. The traditional morphological approach can sometimes lead to misidentification due to a lack of expertise. DNA barcoding using the small genomic fragments has been identified as an efficient tool in the identification as well as the phylogenetic analysis of the species. In the present study, we used the COI gene sequences as a tool for the characterization of Hymenoptera from different parts of the Jammu region. The collected samples were proceeded for the isolation of DNA, PCR for amplification of the COI gene, and then sequenced by Sanger dideoxy method. A total of 22 COI sequences belonging to 18 different species were successfully generated. Among which eight species sequences (Tachytes sp., Bombus trifasciatus, Rhynchium carnaticum, Ropalidia brevita, Lasioglossum marginatum, Camponotus pennsylvanicus, Tapinoma melanocephalum, Formica rufibarbis) are the novel contribution in the global database. NJ tree using the K2P model with 1000 bootstrap supporting values has been used to study the phylogeny of the species. Sequence analysis shows high AT content (67-77%) in the COI region of Hymenopterans. The generated COI sequence analysis also revealed less than 1% intra-specific divergence in the examined taxa, while the interspecific distances ranged between 8% to 38%. This study added significantly to the databases of DNA barcodes of Hymenopterans species from Jammu region.

Paving Behavior in Ants and Its Potential Application in Monitoring Two Urban Pest Ants, Solenopsis invicta and Tapinoma melanocephalum.

Our previous study discovered that two urban pest ants, red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), and ghost ants, Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius) (Formicidae: Dolichoderinae), can pave viscose surfaces with particles to facilitate food search and transport. We hypothesize that this paving behavior can be applied to monitor S. invicta and T. melanocephalum. In the present study, 3998 adhesive tapes, each with a food source (sausage), were placed in 20 locations around Guangzhou, China (181-224 tapes per location), and their efficiency to detect S. invicta and T. melanocephalum was compared with two traditional ant-monitoring methods, baiting and pitfall trapping. Overall, S. invicta was detected by 45.6% and 46.4% of baits and adhesive tapes, respectively. In each location, the percentage of adhesive tapes detecting S. invicta and T. melanocephalum was similar when compared to baits and pitfall traps. However, significantly more non-target ant species showed up on bait and pitfall traps. Seven non-target ant species-Pheidole parva Mayr (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), Pheidole nodus Smith (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), Pheidole sinica Wu & Wang (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), Pheidole yeensis Forel (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), Carebara affinis (Jerdon) (Formicidae: Myrmicinae), Camponotus nicobarensis Mayr (Formicidae: Formicinae), and Odontoponera transversa (Smith) (Formicidae: Ponerinae)-also showed tape paving behavior, but they can be easily distinguished morphologically from S. invicta and T. melanocephalum. Our study showed that the paving behavior occurs in different subfamilies of ants (i.e., myrmicinae, dolichoderinae, formicinae, and ponerinae). In addition, paving behavior can potentially be used to develop more specific monitoring methods for S. invicta and T. melanocephalum in urban areas in southern China.

Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) at Biology Laboratory of Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Padang

The ants are one of the insects that dominate all ecosystems, it biomass reaching more than 30% in tropical ecosystems. The ants plays positive or negative roles in ecosystem. The negative role of ants is as a household pests that can have a negative impact on humans. The loss caused by pest ants is causing contamination of food as well as contamination of sterile equipment in hospitals and laboratories. The ant stinging will cause allergies and also become disease vectors due they association with several pathogenic microorganisms. This study was conducted at the Biology Laboratory, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Negeri Padang, Air Tawar, West Sumatra, from October to November 2021. The ants were collected inside and outside of the laboratory by using the baited trap (peanut butter, honey, and sardines) and hand collection methods. A total of 419 individual ants were found belonging to eight species and three subfamilies. The highest number of individual found in Tapinoma melanocephalum.

The previous concept of the cosmopolitan pest ant Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793) includes two species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Tapinoma)

Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793), known under the vernacular name Ghost Ant and being a widely distributed cosmopolitan tramp species with significant pest status, has been considered long-since to represent a single species. Yet, investigation of 83 worker samples from the whole globe provided evidence that the Ghost Ant consists of two species: 8.4 % of the samples belonged to the new species T. pithecorum sp. nov. whereas 91.6 % were classified as T. melanocephalum. Absence of mixed samples indicates that T. melanocephalum and T. pithecorum sp. nov. do not represent morphs of the same species. T. pithecorum sp. nov. is known from a greenhouse finding in Germany and outdoor populations from the south of the Arabian Peninsula, Pakistan, India, Malaysia and the Fiji and Christmas Islands. The phenotypical separation of the new species from other minute Tapinoma species of Orientalic, Indo-Australian and Australasian origin is very clear, allowing identification even by evaluation of z-stack photos. A detailed argumentation is presented that Tapinoma pellucida (Smith, 1857), T. coronatum (Forel, 1908), T. malesianum (Forel, 1913), T. australis (Santschi, 1928), T. australe (Santschi, 1928), T. luffae (Kurian, 1955), T. wallacei (Guerrero, 2018) and T. jerdoni nom. nov. should be considered as synonyms of T. melanocephalum. Synomymies of T. melanocephalum and T. pithecorum sp. nov. with T. indicum (Forel, 1895) and Tapinoma minutum (Mayr, 1862) are clearly excluded by morphometric data. Diagrams of principal component analyses, photos, a key as well as a morphometric table to separate these four species are presented. In a concluding section, is argued that the true number of species related to these four species is much larger than presently known and a warning is given regarding careless use of pigmentation characters in ant identification.

Invasive predators affect community-wide pollinator visitation.

Disruption of plant-pollinator interactions by invasive predators is poorly understood but may pose a critical threat for native ecosystems. In a multiyear field experiment in Hawai'i, we suppressed abundances of globally invasive predators and then observed insect visitation to flowers of six native plant species. Three plant species are federally endangered (Haplostachys haplostachya, Silene lanceolata, Tetramolopium arenarium) and three are common throughout their range (Bidens menziesii, Dubautia linearis, Sida fallax). Insect visitors were primarily generalist pollinators, including taxa that occur worldwide such as solitary bees (e.g., Lasioglossum impavidum), social bees (e.g., Apis mellifera), and syrphid flies (e.g., Allograpta exotica). We found that suppressing invasive rats (Rattus rattus), mice (Mus musculus), ants (Linepithema humile, Tapinoma melanocephalum), and yellowjacket wasps (Vespula pensylvanica) had positive effects on pollinator visitation to plants in 16 of 19 significant predator-pollinator-plant interactions. We found only positive effects of suppressing rats and ants, and both positive and negative effects of suppressing mice and yellowjacket wasps, on the frequency of interactions between pollinators and plants. Model results predicted that predator eradication could increase the frequency of insect visitation to flowering species, in some cases by more than 90%. Previous results from the system showed that these flowering species produced significantly more seed when flowers were allowed to outcross than when flowers were bagged to exclude pollinators, indicating limited autogamy. Our findings highlight the potential benefits of suppression or eradication of invasive rodents, ants, and yellowjackets to reverse pollination disruption, particularly in locations with high numbers of at-risk plant species or already imperiled pollinator populations.

Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Cabo Verde Islands

The Cabo Verde Islands, a tropical Atlantic archipelago west of Senegal, West Africa, is the southernmost part of Macaronesia, a biogeographic subregion that also includes the archipelagos of the Azores, Madeira, and the Canary Islands. We surveyed ants at 238 sites on the nine inhabited islands of Cabo Verde, collecting a total of 33 ant species, including 11 previously unreported species. Published, previously unpublished, and new records of ants from Cabo Verde now total 39 species. Only three species, Camponotus occasus, Cardiocondyla n. sp., and Monomorium boltoni, are known Cabo Verde endemics, though three unidentified species may also be endemics. An additional 24 species are apparently native to the Afrotropical and/or Palearctic biogeographic realms. Most are likely to be native to Cabo Verde, including Brachyponera sennaarensis, a widespread and conspicuous ant in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, well known for its painful sting. Nine of the Afrotropical/Palearctic species are well known tramp ants, widely spread around the world through human commerce: Cardiocondyla emeryi, Hypoponera punctatissima, Hypoponera ragusai, Pheidole megacephala, Strumigenys membranifera, Technomyrmex pallipes, Tetramorium caldarium, Tetramorium simillimum, and Trichomyrmex destructor. It is unclear which of these species are native to Cabo Verde and which are exotic. Seven ant species thought to originate in the Indomalay and/or Australasian realms are almost certainly exotic to Cabo Verde: Cardiocondyla obscurior, Monomorium floricola, Paratrechina longicornis, Strumigenys emmae, Syllophopsis sechellensis, Tapinoma melanocephalum, and Tetramorium bicarinatum. Finally, two species, Brachymyrmex cordemoyi and Solenopsis globularia, are the only ants found in Cabo Verde known to be exotic New World species. Records of six previously reported species, Cardiocondyla nigra, Carebara vorax, Lepisiota capensis, Pheidole punctulata, Solenopsis innota, and Technomyrmex albipes, appear to be misidentifications of Cardiocondyla n. sp., Solenopsis orbula, Lepisiota canescens, Pheidole megacephala, Solenopsis globularia, and Technomyrmex pallipes, respectively. Tramp ants, which are extremely common in Cabo Verde, have probably had a great impact on the endemic and native ants. In fact, M. boltoni may now be extinct, exterminated by P. megacephala, a highly destructive invasive ant species, which was the most commonly collected ant in Cabo Verde. Numerous Cabo Verde residents reported being attacked by another invasive tramp ant, Trichomyrmex destructor. Given the number of species we found two or fewer times (14 of 39 species), we expect that multiple ant species probably remain undetected.

Ants community structure in the urban and the city suburbs areas of Douala (Littoral-Cameroon)

The Douala harbour represents the main gateway through which human activities introduce invasive ants, so that Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804) originating from Neotropics has been reported in several areas of the Littoral region of Cameroon. But nothing is known about the ant community structure and composition of the coastal zone. We hypothesized that environmental perturbations around Douala have repercussions on the native litter-dwelling ants. Collections conducted in 33 houses, six gardens of 225 m² each, 41 plantations of one hectare each and 34 two-year old fallows of one hectare each suggested lowly even communities, low species richness, low diversity and low dominance by a few species. Among 28 species recorded four species were mostly represented: two foreign origin species [S. geminata (Fabricius, 1804) and Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerdon, 1851), from tropical America and India respectively], one native species [Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793)] and two ambiguous native range species [Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802) and Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793)] since they have long been recorded as having a widespread distribution. Alien species were highly represented than native ones (52.9% and 47.1% respectively, p<0.001). Inside houses, gardens and plantations the ant species were distributed according to the geometrical progression (Motomura’s model) while in the old fallows abundance distribution suggested an evolved ecosystem (Mandelbrot’s model). Between the three dominant species [Pa. longicornis (Latreille, 1802), Ph. megacephala (Fabricius) and S. geminata (Fabricius)], the first species was positively correlated with the third one while other associations were not significant. These dominant species appeared influencing the abundance of the rare species. Dominance and high abundance of a few species indicated that areas were influenced mostly by interspecies competition and/or disturbance by human activities.

The Inventory of Soil Ants in Residential Area of Palembang

The purpose of this research is to find out the species of soil ants in the residential area. The sampling method is hand collecting and baited trap (tuna and honey). There are 8 species found: Acanthomyrmex sp., Solenopsis germinata, Monomorium pharaonis, Pheidole megacephala, Paratrechina longicornis. Tapinoma melanocephalum, Camponotus ligniperda, Diacamma intricatum. The most numerous species, namely Pheidole megacephala and the least species, namely Diacamma intricatum. Ant species diversity tends to increase, as human activity decreases

A Preliminary Synopsis of the Ant Fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Qatar with Remarks on the Zoogeography

The ant fauna of the State of Qatar is reviewed based on collected material and literature. In total, 23 species, belonging to 12 genera and four subfamilies, were reported from the country. Given that Messor arenarius diabolus Santschi, 1938 is endemic in Egypt, and it was recorded by mistake in Qatar, we excluded it from the country faunal list. Six genera are recorded for the first time from the country, Cardiocondyla Emery, 1896, Crematogaster Lund, 1831, Lepisiota Santschi, 1926, Monomorium Mayr, 1855, Paratrechina Motschoulsky, 1863, and Pheidole Westwood, 1839. Fourteen species are recorded for the first time from Qatar, namely, Camponotus oasium Forel, 1890, Cardiocondyla emeryiForel, 1881, Cataglyphis livida (Andre, 1881), Cataglyphis arenariaFinzi, 1940, Cataglyphis nigra (Andre, 1881), Lepisiota bipartita (Smith, 1861), Lepisiota gracilicornis (Forel, 1892), Monomorium abeillei Andre, 1881, Monomorium areniphilumSantschi, 1911, Monomorium subopacum (Smith, 1858), Monomorium venustum (Smith, 1858), Pheidole sinaiticaMayr, 1862. Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793), and Tapinoma simrothiKrausse, 1911. Preliminary analysis of the zoogeography of Qatar's ants reveals the remarkable predominance of Palearctic faunal elements (13 species/ ∼57%), followed by minor proportions of Afrotropical (4 species/ ∼17%) and Indomalayan (1 species/ ∼4%) species, while the five invasive species (∼22%) reflect human impacts on the country. Monomorium tumaireCollingwood & Agosti, 1996 is known as endemic in the Arabian Peninsula. No species are considered endemic to Qatar. Ecological and biological notes on species are provided when available.

Thermally Induced Actinidine Production in Biological Samples.

Actinidine, a methylcyclopentane monoterpenoid pyridine alkaloid, has been found in many iridoid-rich plants and insect species. In a recent research on a well-known actinidine- and iridoid-producing ant species, Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), no actinidine was detected in its hexane extracts by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis using a common sample injection method, but a significant amount of actinidine was detected when a solid injection technique with a thermal separation probe was used. This result led us to hypothesize that heat can induce the production of actinidine in iridoid-rich organisms. To test our hypothesis, the occurrence of actinidine was investigated in four iridoid-rich organisms under different sample preparation temperatures, including two ant species, T. melanocephalum and Iridomyrmex anceps Roger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), and two plant species, Actinidia polygama Maxim (Ericales: Actinidiaceae) and Nepeta cataria L. (Lamiales: Lamiaceae). Within a temperature range of 50, 100, 150, 200, and 250 °C, no actinidine was detected at 50 °C, but it appeared at temperatures above 100 °C for all four species. A positive relationship was observed between the heating temperature and actinidine production. The results indicate that actinidine could be generated at high temperatures. We also found that the presence of methylcyclopentane monoterpenoid iridoids (iridodials and nepetalactone) was needed for thermally induced actinidine production in all tested samples. These results suggest that the presence of actinidine in iridoid-rich plants and ants might be a consequence of using high temperatures during sample preparation.

Interference Competition for Mutualism between Ant Species Mediates Ant-Mealybug Associations.

Ant-hemipteran mutualism has been well documented, and many studies have reported the interference competition between ant species for the mutualism. However, little is known on how this interference competition impacts the reciprocally beneficial association. Previous studies demonstrated that the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis (Tinsley) has established close mutual relationship with the ghost ant Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius). The sympatric ants, Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) and Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) were frequently observed to compete for nutrient honeydew produced by P. solenopsis with T. melanocephalum. Herein, we investigated the effects of interference competition between the ant species on the ant-mealybug interactions. Phenacoccus solenopsis benefited from the tending by T. melanocephalum and P. longicornis. Interference competition between T. melanocephalum and P. longicornis interrupted the mutualism, suppressed the trailing activity of both species, but negligibly influenced the parasitism of Aenasius bambawalei Hayat, a solitary endoparasitoid of P. solenopsis. Harmonia axyridis, a predator of P. solenopsis, showed a significant avoidance when encountering with T. melanocephalum or P. longicornis, but not T. bicarinatum. Ant workers showed higher aggressiveness and lower exploratory activity when T. melanocephalum encountered P. longicornis. However, competition between T. melanocephalum and T. bicarinatum seldom influenced the trailing and exploratory activity of T. melanocephalum. It is concluded that interference competition for mutualism between ant species can mediate ant-mealybug associations and the fitness of mealybug colony. Our results also demonstrate that the effects of interference competition between ant species on ant-mealybug mutualism are varied among ant species.

Ant–hemipteran association decreases parasitism of Phenacoccus solenopsis by endoparasitoid Aenasius bambawalei

1. Mutualism between ants and honeydew‐excreting hemipterans is ubiquitous in the ecosystem. It is widely accepted that ant tending facilitates the colony growth of hemipterans by protecting them from predators and parasitoids. However, few studies have explored how ant tending helps defend against natural enemies.2. Ghost ant Tapinoma melanocephalum and the invasive mealybug Phenacoccus solenopsis have a close mutual relationship. Previous studies have shown that ghost ant tending can definitely reduce parasitism and visit frequency of Aenasius bambawalei, the dominant endoparasitoid of P. solenopsis. However, the ghost ant workers seldom attack the parasitoids. It is still unclear how the ghost ant adversely affects parasitoids. This study explored the mechanism underlying the impacts of ants on natural enemies of the mealybugs.3. Honeydew produced by P. solenopsis was an attractant to A. bambawalei. Parasitoids exhibited less searching activity, shorter longevity and lower parasitism when supplied with less honeydew. Aenasius bambawalei showed significant avoidance of pygidial gland secretions and visual cues of ghost ants. Parasitism in plants treated with 6‐methyl‐5‐hepten‐2‐one, actinidine, and gland extracts was significantly lower than that in plants treated only with solvents (paraffin oil or double‐distilled water).4. It is concluded that honeydew consumption by ghost ants could negatively influence the performance of parasitoids. The pygidial gland secretions and visual cues of ghost ants also significantly inhibit the parasitism. These results may contribute to a better understanding of the regulation mechanism in ant–hemipteran–enemy interactions.

First survey of ground-dwelling ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on the uninhabited Gaja-jima Island, the Ryukyu archipelago, Japan

The ground-dwelling ant fauna on the uninhabited Gaja-jima Island, the Tokara Islands, the Ryukyu archipelago, Japan was investigated, which was the first survey on ants of the island. Twenty-three ant species were found during a visit of only eight hours in daytime. Four of them were new records to the Tokara Islands. Of the four new records, the southern limit of distributions was renewed for three species. Three exotic species, Pheidole fervens, Tetramorium bicarinatum, and Tapinoma melanocephalum were recognized, which seems relatively low given that ten exotic species have been altogether recorded from the Tokara Islands. The relationship between invasion by ants and the scale of human activity is discussed.

Symbiotic microbiota may reflect host adaptation by resident to invasive ant species.

Exotic invasive species can influence the behavior and ecology of native and resident species, but these changes are often overlooked. Here we hypothesize that the ghost ant, Tapinoma melanocephalum, living in areas that have been invaded by the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, displays behavioral differences to interspecific competition that are reflected in both its trophic position and symbiotic microbiota. We demonstrate that T. melanocephalum workers from S. invicta invaded areas are less aggressive towards workers of S. invicta than those inhabiting non-invaded areas. Nitrogen isotope analyses reveal that colonies of T. melanocephalum have protein-rich diets in S. invicta invaded areas compared with the carbohydrate-rich diets of colonies living in non-invaded areas. Analysis of microbiota isolated from gut tissue shows that T. melanocephalum workers from S. invicta invaded areas also have different bacterial communities, including a higher abundance of Wolbachia that may play a role in vitamin B provisioning. In contrast, the microbiota of workers of T. melanocephalum from S. invicta-free areas are dominated by bacteria from the orders Bacillales, Lactobacillales and Enterobacteriales that may be involved in sugar metabolism. We further demonstrate experimentally that the composition and structure of the bacterial symbiont communities as well as the prevalence of vitamin B in T. melanocephalum workers from S. invicta invaded and non-invaded areas can be altered if T. melanocephalum workers are supplied with either protein-rich or carbohydrate-rich food. Our results support the hypothesis that bacterial symbiont communities can help hosts by buffering behavioral changes caused by interspecies competition as a consequence of biological invasions.

Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of Tapinoma melanocephalum (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Tapinoma melanocephalum is a ubiquitous invasive species and widely distributed in subtropical and tropical regions around the world. Here, we sequenced and annotated the complete mitochondrial genome (mitogenome) of T. melanocephalum. This mitogenome was 15,499 bp long and encoded 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and 2 ribosomal RNA unit genes (rRNAs). Compared to other Formicidae species, gene order of T. melanocephalum was not conserved and one tRNA cluster trnW-trnC-trnY converted to trnW-trnY-trnC. The whole mitogenome exhibited heavy AT nucleotide bias (79.5%). All PCGs started with the standard ATN codons. Except for cox1 and nad5 end with the incomplete codon T−, all PCGs terminated with the stop codon TAA. Phylogenetic analysis showed that T. melanocephalum got together with three same subfamily Dolichoderinae species and one Dorylinae species, indicating the close relationship of Dolichoderinae and Dorylinae.

Can a Common and Abundant Plant-Visiting Ant Species Serve as a Model for Nine Sympatric Ant-Mimicking Arthropod Species?

Many arthropods mimic ants to avoid predation risk from visual predators. Our study of ant-mimicking arthropod diversity revealed 10 sympatric myrmecomorphs including spiders, mantids, bugs and grasshoppers. All, except one, were found predominantly on extrafloral nectary-bearing and homopteran harbouring plants. Of the five plant-visiting ant species, Camponotus compressus, Camponotus paria, Camponotus sericeus, Crematogaster subnuda and Tapinoma melanocephalum , only C. compressus showed significantly high occurrence and abundance on these plants. Except for a small spider morph, the remaining nine myrmecomorphic species resembled C. compressus and apparently use this common and abundant ant species as their model.