Ants at Clark Creek Natural Area, Wilkinson County, Mississippi [MS State Park Ants]
Joe A. MacGown
Clark Creek Natural Area is located in Wilkinson County, Mississipip in the southwestern part of the state. This beautiful park has numerous waterfalls that can be accessed by the well maintained, but steep, trails that wind through hardwood/pine forest habitat with very hilly topography.
On 18 June, 2015, I made ant collections at Clark Creek with three student workers (Austin Hannah, Claire Caprio, and Kaycee Barnes). We were only at the natural area for a few hours, but did manage to collect 25 species of ants, which are listed below.
List of ant species collected (this list is incomplete and will be updated eventually)
Aphaenogaster carolinensis (Wheeler)
Aphaenogaster fulva Roger
Brachymyrmex depilis Emery
Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr
Cyphomyrmex rimosus (Spinola)
Camponotus castaneus (Latreille)
Camponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer)
Hypoponera inexorata (Wheeler)
Hypoponera opaciceps (Mayr)
Hypoponera opacior (Mayr)
Monomorium minimum (Buckley)
Myrmecina americana Emery
Pheidole dentigula Smith
Pheidole dentata Mayr
Ponera exotica M.R.Smith
Solenopsis invicta Buren
Solenopsis picta Emery
Solenopsis tennesseensis M.R.Smith
Solenopsis texana Emery
Strumigenys hexamera (Brown)
Strumigenys louisianae Roger
Strumigenys ohioensis Kennedy & Schramm
Strumigenys membranifera Emery
Strumigenys silvestrii Emery
Temnothorax pergandei (Emery)
