Exotic Ants of Louisiana [Louisiana Ants] [Louisiana Exotic Ants]
Joe MacGown
Currently, 26 species thought to be exotic are found in Louisiana. The exotic ants listed below are thought to have originated from a variety of regions including Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia (Deyrup et al. (2000).
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 Mississippi Entomological Museum (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. Additionally, many of the species found in this list can be identified using the identification keys found on this web site.
Exotic Ants of Louisiana (arranged alphabetically)
Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr (introduced-Argentina, Neotropics, pest)
Cardiocondyla nuda (Mayr) (probably Cardiocondyla minutior Forel) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Australia)
Cardiocondyla venustula Wheeler (introduced-Old World Tropics?)
Cardiocondyla wroughtonii (Forel) (introduced-tropical Asia & Australia)
Cyphomyrmex rimosus (Spinola) (introduced-Neotropics)
Hypoponera opaciceps (Mayr) (introduced-Brazil)
Linepithema humile (Mayr) (introduced-Argentina, pest)
Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus) (introduced-Africa?, pest)
Nylanderia fulva (Mayr) (introduced - South America )
Nylanderia vividula (Nylander) (introduced?-Mexico?, nuisance pest)
Pachycondyla harpax (Fabricius) (introduced, pest?)
Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Africa?, pest)
Pheidole navigans Forel (introduced- South America)
Pseudomyrmex gracilis (Fabricius) (introduced-Mexico or Central America, pest?)
Pseudoponera stigma Fabricius (introduced-uncertain-pantropical tramp, pest?)
Solenopsis invicta Buren (introduced-Brazil, pest)
Strumigenys epinotalis Weber (introduced-Central and/or South America?)
Strumigenys hexamera (Brown) (introduced-Japan)
Strumigenys margaritae Forel (introduced-Neotropics)
Strumigenys membranifera Emery (introduced-Old World Tropics-Europe)
Strumigenys silvestrii Emery (introduced-South America)
Strumigenys subnuda (MacGown and Hill) [introduced? South America?)
Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius) (introduced-Old World Tropics, pest)
Technomyrmex difficilis Forel (introduced, pest-previously misidentified as T. albipes (Smith), see Wetterer, 2008)
Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) (introduced-Old World Tropics-SE Asia, pest)
Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr (introduced-Old World Tropics-SE Asia?, pest)
Deyrup, M., S. Cover, and L. Davis. 2000. Exotic ants in Florida. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 126 293-325.
Wetterer, J. K. 2008. Technomyrmex difficilis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae (in the West Indies). Florida Entomologist 91: 428-430.
