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Ants of Arkansas (species list) [Arkansas Pest Ants] [Arkansas Exotic Ants]


Much of the information known about the ants of Arkansas is from the work of L.O.Warren and E.P. Rouse (1969). More recent work has been done by Dave General and Lynne Thompson in the Arkansas Post National Memorial historical park in Arkansas County, and their results have added additional species to the Arkansas list (General and Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009). Additionally, current studies have been done in northwest Arkansas by Michael Skvarla at the University of Arkansas. The list below includes 136 species of Formicidae from 7 subfamilies and 35 genera. Species on the following list are from the Warren and Rouse paper, the General and Thompson papers, from other literature records, from specimens borrowed from the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum (UAAM), specimens borrowed from Michael Skvarla (University of Arkansas) and Michael Warriner, and from collections made by the Mississippi Entomological Museum (MEM) during the last 15 years.

Specimens identified by Rouse that are presumbably from the study by Warren and Rouse study are stored in the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum. Most species on their list have been reported by other researchers or collected by Mississippi Entomological Museum (MEM) researchers and are not considered to be questionable. Some of the species names on their list have been lost to synonomy, and this list reflects those changes. Scientific names from their study have been updated. I borrowed and examined specimens of questionable species from their study. Two species, Monomorium viridum Brown and Pogonomyrmex badius (Latreille), which were included on their list, are considered dubious, and I exclude them from this species list until these records can be verified.

Clicking on a species name will lead to a page with further information and photographs of that species. Although species pages are at various levels of progress, most pages now have representative photographs of at least workers of the species. In addition to the photographs of ants taken by Joe MacGown at the MEM, many photos are used, with permission, from AntWeb, a web site about ants of the world with amazing photos. Another site with photographs of ants is "Discover Life." The Discover Life site provides a list of North American ants with photos at "Kinds of Ants, Ants of North America Page". On each individual MEM species page, a link is provided (at the bottom of the page) for that species on both the AntWeb site and the Discover Life ant site.

The list presented is arranged by subfamily, tribe, and genus according to Bolton (2014). For species that are introduced or considered to be pest species, that designation is given following the species name. For species whose origin is uncertain, the word "introduced" is followed by the "?" symbol. Similarly, for questionable pest species, the word "pest" is followed by the "?" symbol. Pest species include species that are considered to be serious pests, in that they may cause significant damage or health problems, to mild, nuisance pests. Species that are in the Mississippi Entomological Museum (MEM), University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum (UAAM), literature records, web based records, and/or other citations of records are noted in brackets following the species name (note that not all published records are given).

Family Formicidae

Family Formicidae
Subfamily Dolichoderinae
Tribe Dolichoderini
Dolichoderus mariae Forel [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Dolichoderus taschenbergi (Mayr) [MEM, UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Dorymyrmex bureni (Trager) [Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2009]
Dorymyrmex flavus McCook (General & Thompson, 2008]
Dorymyrmex insanus (Buckley) [General & Thompson, 2008]
Forelius mccooki (McCook) [MEM; UAAM]
Forelius pruinosus (Roger) [Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]
Linepithema humile (Mayr) (introduced, pest) [Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]
Tapinoma sessile (Say) (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]

Subfamily Formicinae
Tribe Lasiini
Lasius americanus Emery [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]
Lasius claviger (Roger) [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Lasius interjectus (Mayr) [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; Wing, 1968]
Lasius neoniger Emery
[UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Nylanderia arenivaga (Wheeler) [Warren & Rouse, 1969; Trager, 1984]
Nylanderia faisonensis (Forel) [MEM; Trager, 1984; General & Thompson, 2009]
Nylanderia parvula (Mayr) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; Trager, 1984]
Nylanderia querna Kallal and LaPolla [Kallal and LaPolla 2012]
Nylanderia terricola (Buckley) (pest) [MEM; Trager, 1984; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Nylanderia wojciki (Trager) (this could possibly represent the recently described N. querna) [General & Thompson, 2008, 2009]
Prenolepis imparis (Say) (pest?)
[MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]

Tribe Plagiolepidini
Brachymyrmex depilis Emery [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr (introduced, pest) [MEM; MacGown et al., 2007]
Brachymyrmex sp.-04 [pers. comm., Lloyd Davis-Gainesville, FL]

Tribe Camponotini
Camponotus americanus Mayr (pest) [MEM;Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008]
Camponotus caryae (Fitch) (pest) [Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Camponotus castaneus (Latreille) (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007; 2008, 2009]
Camponotus chromaiodes Bolton (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Camponotus decipiens Emery (pest) [Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007; 2008, 2009]
Camponotus discolor (Buckley) (pest) [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]
Camponotus nearcticus Emery (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008]
Camponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer) (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008]
Camponotus sansabeanus (Buckley) (pest) [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Camponotus snellingi Bolton (occasional pest) [MEM; General & Thompson, 2008, 2009]
Camponotus subbarbatus Emery (pest)
[MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Colobopsis impressa Roger [MEM; UAAM; listed as C. pylartes fraxinicola, but likely impressus-Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Colobopsis obliqua (Smith) [UAAM]

Tribe Formicini
Formica biophilica Trager [MEM; Trager et al., 2007]
Formica dolosa Buren [MEM; Trager et al., 2007; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Formica pallidefulva Latreille [MEM; Trager et al., 2007; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008]
Formica rubicunda Emery [MEM; General & Thompson, 2008]
Formica subsericea Say [MEM; UAAM;General & Thompson, 2008]
Polyergus mexicanus Forel [MEM]
Polyergus lucidus Mayr
[Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]

Subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae
Tribe Pseudomyrmecini

Pseudomyrmex pallidus (Smith) (pest?)
[Warren & Rouse, 1969; Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Pseudomyrmex ejectus (Smith) [General & Thompson, 2009]

Subfamily Dorylinae
Labidus coecus (Latreille) [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Neivamyrmex nigrescens (Cresson) [MEM; UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Neivamyrmex opacithorax (Emery) [MEM; UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Neivamyrmex pilosus (F. Smith) [MEM; UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]

Neivamyrmex swainsonii (Shuckard) [General & Thompson, 2009]
Syscia augustae Wheeler [MEM]

Subfamily Amblyoponinae
Tribe Amblyoponini
Stigmatomma pallipes (Haldeman) [MEM; General & Thompson, 2008; Warren & Rouse, 1969]

Tribe Ponerini

Brachyponera chinensis (Emery) [MEM]
Cryptopone gilva
(Roger) [MEM; Smith, 1928a; MacGown & Brown, 2006a] [MEM; General & Thompson, 2008; Smith, 1979]
Hypoponera inexorata
(Wheeler) [MEM]
Hypoponera opacior
(Forel) [MEM; UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Hypoponera opaciceps (Mayr) [General & Thompson, 2009]
Ponera exotica Smith [MEM; General & Thompson, 2008, 2009]
Ponera pennsylvanica Buckley
[MEM; UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]

Subfamily Proceratiinae
Tribe Proceratiini
Discothyrea testacea Roger [MEM; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Proceratium crassicorne Emery [MEM]
Proceratium creek de Andrade [Baroni Urbani & de Andrade, 2003]
Proceratium croceum (Roger)
[Baroni Urbani & de Andrade, 2003]
Proceratium pergandei (Emery) [MEM; Baroni Urbani and de Andrade, 2003; Smith, 1979; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Proceratium silaceum Roger
[MEM; Baroni Urbani & de Andrade, 2003; General & Thompson, 2008]

Subfamily Myrmicinae
Tribe Myrmicini
Myrmica americana Weber [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2009]
Myrmica pinetorum Wheeler [MEM; General & Thompson, 2009]
Myrmica punctiventris Roger [MEM; UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Pogonomyrmex barbatus (Smith) [UAAM; Warriner, 2011; Warren & Rouse, 1969]

Tribe Pogonomyrmecini
Pogonomyrmex comanche Wheeler [MEM; UAAM; Warriner, 2011; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2009]

Tribe Stenammini
Aphaenogaster carolinensis Wheeler [MEM; General & Thompson, 2008; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Aphaenogaster fulva Roger [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Aphaenogaster lamellidens Mayr [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Aphaenogaster rudis Enzmann [UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Aphaenogaster tennesseensis (Mayr) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2008, 2009]
Aphaenogaster texana Wheeler [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008]
Aphaenogaster treatae Forel [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2009]
Stenamma impar Forel [UAAM]
Stenamma meridionale Smith
[Smith, 1979; Smith, 1957; Warren & Rouse, 1969]

Tribe Solenopsidini
Monomorium minimum (Buckley) (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus) (introduced, pest) [UAAM: Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Solenopsis carolinensis Forel [MEM; Pacheco, 2007]
Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) (pest) [General & Thompson, 2008; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Solenopsis invicta Buren (introduced, pest) [MEM; UAAM: General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Solenopsis molesta (Say) (pest) [Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Solenopsis pergandei Forel [General & Thompson, 2009]
Solenopsis richteri Forel [Loftin and Hopkins, 2010]
Solenopsis texana Emery [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Solenopsis xyloni McCook (pest)
[Warren & Rouse, 1969]

Tribe Attini
Pheidole bicarinata Mayr (pest?) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]
Pheidole dentata Mayr (pest?) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Pheidole dentigula Smith [MEM; General & Thompson, 2007; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Pheidole metallescens Emery [General & Thompson, 2009]
Pheidole morrisi Forel [MEM; UAAM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Pheidole pelor Wilson [General & Thompson, 2009]
Pheidole pilifera (Roger) [MEM; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Pheidole soritis Wheeler [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Pheidole tetra Creighton
[MEM; Wilson, 2003; General & Thompson, 2008, 2009]
Pheidole tysoni Forel [MEM; General & Thompson, 2007]
Strumigenys abdita Wesson & Wesson [MEM]
Strumigenys angulata Smith [MEM; Bolton, 2000]
Strumigenys creightoni Smith [MEM]
Strumigenys clypeata Roger [MEM; Bolton, 2000; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Strumigenys dietrichi Smith [MEM; Bolton, 2000]
Strumigenys filitalpa (Brown) [Bolton, 2000]
Strumigenys laevinasis Smith [MEM; UAAM; Bolton, 2000]
Strumigenys louisianae Roger
[MEM; Bolton, 2000; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Strumigenys membranifera Emery [General & Thompson, 2009]
Strumigenys metazytes (Bolton) [MEM]
Strumigenys missouriensis Smith [MEM; UAAM-collected by Michael Skvarla]
Strumigenys ohioensis Kennedy & Schramm [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; Bolton, 2000; General & Thompson, 2009]
Strumigenys ornata Mayr [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; Bolton, 2000; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Strumigenys pilinasis Forel [Bolton, 2000; Warren & Rouse, 1969]
Strumigenys pulchella Emery [MEM]
Strumigenys reflexa Wesson & Wesson [MEM; Bolton, 2000; General & Thompson, 2009]
Strumigenys rostrata Emery
[MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969;Bolton, 2000]
Strumigenys talpa Weber[MEM]
Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (McCook) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]

Tribe Crematogastrini
Cardiocondyla venustula Wheeler [UAAM; Warren and Rouse, 1980]
Crematogaster ashmeadi Mayr (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Crematogaster cerasi (Fitch) [Smith, 1979; General & Thompson, 2008, 2009]
Crematogaster laeviuscula Mayr [Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]
Crematogaster lineolata (Say) (pest) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Crematogaster minutissima Mayr [MEM' Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Crematogaster missuriensis Emery [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Crematogaster pilosa Emery [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]

Crematogaster vermiculata Emery [Smith, 1979]
Myrmecina americana Emery [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Temnothorax americanus (Emery) [General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Temnothorax ambiguus (Emery) [UAAM-collected by Michael Skvarla]
Temnothorax curvispinosus (Mayr) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969;General & Thompson, 2007, 2008, 2009]
Temnothorax longispinosus (Roger) [MEM]
Temnothorax pergandei (Emery) [MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007, 2009]
Temnothorax schaumii (Roger)
[MEM; Warren & Rouse, 1969; General & Thompson, 2007]
Temnothorax texanus (Wheeler) [MEM]
Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) [UAAM; listed as T. guineense-Warren & Rouse, 1969]

Acknowledgments

Thanks to Jeff Barnes (University of Arkansas) for the loan of specimens from the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum. Thanks to Michael Skvarla at the for the loan of specimens collected in a study of ants of northwest Arkansas and to Michael Warriner for specimens of ants that he donated to the MEM. Thanks to Dave General and Lynne Thompson for information on the ants of Arkansas and their ethusiastic collections of ants in the state. MEM research was supported by State Project MIS-311080 and the USDA-ARS Areawide Management of Imported Fire Ant Project (Richard L. Brown, Principal Investigator). 

Literature Cited

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Bolton, B. 2000.  The Ant Tribe Dacetini.  Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute.  Vol. 65, part 1-2. 

Bolton, B. 2014. An online catalog of the ants of the world. Available online: http://www.antweb.org/world.jsp (accessed 31 October 2014).

Fisher, B. L. and S. P. Cover. 2007. Ants of North America: A guide to the Genera. University of California Press. Berkeley, CA. 194 pp.

Global Invasive Species Database: Paratrechina longicornis (insect). http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?fr=1&si=958&sts= accessed 2 June 2008.

General, D. M. and L. C. Thompson. 2007. Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of Arkansas Post National Memorial. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 61: 59-64.

General, D. M. and L. C. Thompson. 2008.  New distributional records of ants in Arkansas.  Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 62:  148-150. 

General, D. M and L. C. Thompson.  2009.  New distributional records of ants for 2008.  Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 63:  182-184. 

Kallal, R. J. and J. S. LaPolla. 2012. Monograph of Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the World, Part II: Nylanderia in the Nearctic. Zootaxa 3508: 1-64.

Loftin, K. and J. D. Hopkins. 2010. Distribution of Imported Fire Ants in Arkansas.  University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service. http://www.extension.org/pages/Information_for_Arkansas_Residents [accessed 1 November 2010].

MacGown, J. A., J.G. Hill, and M. A. Deyrup. 2007. Brachymyrmex patagonicus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), an emerging pest species in the southeastern United States. Florida Entomologist 90: 457-464.

Pacheco, J. A. 2007. The New World ants of the genus Solenopsis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Ph.D dissertation, The University of Texas at El Paso. i-xxi +543 pp.

Smith, D. R. 1979.  In Catalog of Hymenoptera in America north of Mexico. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D. C.  Vol. 2, pp. 1323-1427. 

Smith, M. R. 1957. Revision of the genus Stenamma Westwood in America north of Mexico (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). The American Midland Naturalist 57: 133-174.

Trager, J. C. 1984.  A revision of the genus Nylanderia (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the continental United States. Sociobiology 9:  49-162. 

Trager, J. C. 1988. A revision of the Conomyrma (Hymenoptera: Fomicidae) from the southeastern United States, especially Florida, with keys to the species. Florida Entomologist 71: 11-29.

Trager, J. C. 2013. Global revision of tgeh dulotic ant genus Polyergus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Formicinae). Zootaxa 3722 (4): 501–548.

Trager, J. C., J. A. MacGown and M. D. Trager. 2007. Revision of the Nearctic endemic Formica pallidefulva group (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Formicinae). In: Snelling, R. R., P. S. Ward, and B. L. Fisher (editors), Advances in ant systematics. Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 80: 610-636.

Warren, L.O., and E.P. Rouse. 1969. "The ants of Arkansas." Univ. Arkansas Agric. Exp. Stn. Bull. No. 742, 68 pp.

Warren, L. 0. and E. P. Rouse. 1980. Checklist of the ants (Formicidae) of Arkansas. Arkansas Academy of Science, Arkansas Biota Survey Checklist No. 24. 3pp.

Warriner, M. D. 2011. Status of the harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex spp.: Hymenoptera: Formicidae) fauna of Arkansas. Kansas Entomological Society, 84: 10-162.

Wilson, E. O.  2003.  Pheidole in the New World, a Dominant, Hyperdiverse Ant Genus.  Harvard University Press.  Cambridge, MA, London, England.  794 pp.

Wing, M. W. 1968.  Taxonomic revision of the Nearctic genus Acanthomyops (Hymenoptera:  Formicidae).  Cornell Experiment Station Memoir 405:  1-173.