Ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Tennessee and North Carolina)
Joe A. MacGown and JoVonn G. Hill
The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, located in the southern Appalachian Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, includes over 800 square miles of mostly wooded habitat. The park is extraordinarily diverse in its flora and fauna and over 10, 000 species are known to occur there, and it is estimated that another 90,000 species possibly live there. In an effort to catalog species found in the park, scientists are collecting and documenting the inhabitants of the park through a large project entitled the "All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory (ATBI)". Ants are among the many organisms being surveyed for; and currently, 108 species are known to occur in the park. The list below includes species that were documented to occur in the park by various earlier researchers (see literature cited), the ATBI staff and scientists involved in collections, and by collections made by Mississippi Entomological Museum (MEM) Staff.
Ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (Species are arranged alphabetically by subfamily)
Family Formicidae
Subfamily Dolichoderinae
Dolichoderus mariae Forel (TN)
Dolichoderus plagiatus (Mayr) (NC, TN)
Dolichoderus taschenbergi (Mayr) (TN)
Dorymyrmex bureni (Trager) (TN)
Forelius mccooki (McCook) (TN)
Tapinoma sessile (Say) (NC, TN) (pest)
Subfamily Formicinae
Brachymyrmex depilis Emery (NC, TN)
Camponotus americanus Mayr (NC, TN) (pest)
Camponotus caryae (Fitch) (TN) (pest)
Camponotus castaneus (Latreille) (TN) (pest)
Camponotus chromaiodes Bolton (NC, TN) (pest)
Camponotus nearcticus Emery (NC, TN) (pest)
Camponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer) (NC, TN) (pest)
Camponotus snellingi Bolton (?)
Camponotus subbarbatus Emery (NC, TN) (pest)
Colobopsis mississippiensis (Smith) (?)
Formica aserva Forel (TN)
Formica biophilica Trager (TN)
Formica difficilis Emery (TN)
Formica dolosa Buren (TN)
Formica exsectoides Forel (TN)
Formica incerta Buren (NC)
Formica integra Nylander (NC, TN)
Formica neogagates Emery (TN)
Formica obscuriventris Mayr (NC)
Formica pallidefulva Latreille (TN)
Formica querquetulana Kennedy and Dennis (Smoky Mountains, state unknown)
Formica rubicunda Emery (TN)
Formica subaenescens Emery (TN)
Formica subintegra Wheeler (TN)
Formica subsericea Latreille (NC, TN)
Lasius aphidicola (Walsh) ( NC, TN)
Lasius americanus Emery (NC, TN)
Lasius brevicornis Emery (TN)
Lasius claviger (Roger) (NC, TN)
Lasius interjectus (Mayr) (TN)
Lasius latipes (Walsh) (?)
Lasius nearcticus Wheeler ( TN)
Lasius neoniger Emery (NC, TN)
Lasius speculiventris Emery (TN)
Lasius subglaber (Emery) (TN)
Nylanderia faisonensis (Forel) (NC, TN)
Nylanderia parvula (Mayr) (TN)
Nylanderia terricola (Buckley) ? (NC) (pest)
Nylanderia vividula (Nylander) (NC)
Prenolepis imparis (Say) (NC, TN) (pest?)
Subfamily Dorylinae
Neivamyrmex carolinensis (Emery) (TN)
Neivamyrmex nigrescens (Cresson) (TN)
Subfamily Amblyoponinae
Stigmatomma pallipes (Haldeman) (NC, TN)
Subfamily Ponerinae
Brachyponera chinensis (Emery) (NC)
Cryptopone gilva (Roger) (TN)
Hypoponera opacior (Forel) (TN)
Ponera pennsylvanica Buckley (NC, TN)
Subfamily Proceratiinae
Proceratium croceum (Roger)(TN)
Proceratium pergandei (Emery)(TN)
Proceratium silaceum Roger (NC, TN)
Subfamily Myrmicinae
Aphaenogaster ashmeadi Emery (TN)
Aphaenogaster carolinensis Wheeler(NC, TN)
Aphaenogaster fulva Roger(NC, TN)
Aphaenogaster lamellidens Mayr(TN)
Aphaenogaster picea (Wheeler)(TN)
Aphaenogaster rudis Enzmann( NC, TN)
Aphaenogaster tennesseensis (Mayr) (TN)
Aphaenogaster treatae Forel(TN)
Crematogaster ashmeadi Mayr (TN) (pest)
Crematogaster cerasi (Fitch) (NC, TN)
Crematogaster lineolata (Say)(TN) (pest)
Crematogaster minutissima (Mayr) (TN)
Crematogaster missuriensis Emery (TN)
Crematogaster pilosa Emery (TN) (pest)
Monomorium minimum (Buckley) (NC, TN) (pest)
Myrmecina americana Emery (NC, TN)
Myrmica fracticornis Forel(TN)
Myrmica latifrons Starcke(NC, TN)
Myrmica pinetorum Wheeler(NC)
Myrmica punctiventris Roger(NC, TN)
Myrmica scabrinodis Nylander?? (Smoky Mountains, state unknown) (introduced)
Myrmica sculptilis Francoeur(Smoky Mountains, state unknown)
Myrmica spatulata Smith (NC, TN)
Pheidole bicarinata Mayr(TN) (pest?)
Pheidole dentata Mayr(TN) (pest?)
Pheidole dentigula Smith(TN)
Pheidole morrisi Forel (TN)
Solenopsis carolinensis Forel (?)
Solenopsis invicta Buren (NC, TN) (introduced, pest)
Solenopsis molesta (Say) (NC, TN) (pest)
Stenamma brevicorne (Mayr) ( NC)
Stenamma diecki Emery(NC, TN)
Stenamma impar Forel (NC, TN)
Stenamma meridionale Smith (NC)
Stenamma schmittii Wheeler (NC, TN)
Strumigenys clypeata Roger (NC, TN)
Strumigenys creightoni Smith (TN)
Strumigenys laevinasis Smith (TN)
Strumigenys ohioensis Kennedy & Schramm ( NC, TN)
Strumigenys ornata Mayr ( NC, TN)
Strumigenys pergandei Emery (NC, TN)
Strumigenys pulchella Emery (TN)
Strumigenys reflexa Wesson & Wesson (TN)
Strumigenys rostrata Emery (NC, TN)
Strumigenys talpa Weber (TN)
Temnothorax curvispinosus (Mayr) (NC, TN)
Temnothorax longispinosus (Roger) ( NC, TN)
Temnothorax pergandei (Emery) (TN)
Temnothorax schaumii (Roger) (TN)
Temnothorax smithi (Baroni Urbani) (TN)
Tetramorium immigrans Santschi (TN) (introduced?, pest)
Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (McCook) (TN)
Cole, A. C. 1940. A guide to the ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park Tennessee. The American Midland Naturalist 24: 1-88.
Cole, A. C. 1953. A checklist of ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. Journal of the Tennessee Academy of Science. 28: 34-35.
Pfitzer, D.W. 1950. Checklist of the ants of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Snyder, K.D. 1957. A checklist of insects of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Montreat College, Montreat, NC. 78pp.
