Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger, 1863)

Herrera Léon Baert Wouter Dekoninck, Henri W., Causton, Charlotte E., Sevilla, Christian R., Pozo, Paola & Hendrickx, Frederik, 2020, Distribution and habitat preferences of Galápagos ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 93, pp. 1-60 : 42-44

Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger, 1863)

Little Fire Ant ( DEYRUP et al., 2000)

(ANTWEB: CASENT0173249). ( Map 42 )

This cosmopolitan ant ( WETTERER & PORTER, 2003; LONGINO & FERNÁNDEZ, 2007; WETTERER, 2015), is an invasive species which has been spread by human commerce. It is thought to have established in Galápagos 114 years ago ( SILBERGLIED, 1972; HERRERA & CAUSTON, 2008). It is known from 21 islands and islets and is present in natural and disturbed enviroments of the dry, transition and humid areas of inhabited and uninhabited islands. Nests can be found in leaf litter, rotten trunks, the base of trees ( P. guajava , B. graveolens , P. carthagenensis ), under mosses in branches of C. sinensis or P. guajava , under bark of rotten trunks ( C. odorata and B. graveolens ), under stones, and in hollow twigs. Wasmannia auropunctata is a polyphagous and opportunistic species (ULLOA–CHACON, 1990; MEIER, 1994), that forages on trees, leaf litter and soil. It tends the cottony cushion scale I. purchasi for honeydew. In dry areas it visits extrafloral nectaries of giant endemic cacti O. echios and J. thouarsii ( MEIER, 1994) . It was collected on stems of M. robinsoniana ( BOADA, 2005) , in mangrove areas, on plants of C. pyriformis , C. alba , H. mancinella , Paspalum sp. , W. ovata and A. filifolia . It visits flowers of Capsicum frutescens L., C. molle , C. lutea , Cucurbita pepo L., Iochroma ellipticum (Hook. f.) Hunz. , Justicia galapagana Lindau, Mormodica charantia L., P. scandens , Setaria parviflora (Poir.) Kerguélen and collects nectar in flowers of T. rufo – sericea ( MCMULLEN, 1986, 1990, 1993; BOADA, 2005; MCMULLEN, 2007, 2009, 2011; CHAMORRO et al., 2012).

In cultivated areas W. auropunctata is present in crops of S. officinarum , A. cepa , C. sativum , C. arabica , M. paradisiaca , B. oleracea , P. vulgaris , Z. mays , S. tuberosum , C. sativus , C. annuum , S. betaceum , S. lycopersicum , M. esculenta , Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp., L. sativa , Brassica napus L., S. quitoense , S. tuberosum , C. papaya , A. comosus , C. lanatus , G. barbadense , Citrus reticulata Blanco , Paspalum sp. , Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Pennisetum purpureum Schumach. and P. americana . In urban areas it is common in gardens and has been collected on plants of A. muricata , H. rosasinensis , A. nilotica , M. indica , T. indica , C. nucifera , Ficus sp. , C. lutea and B. graveolens . It was also collected in parks, ports, airports and at sites frequented by tourists.

Wasmannia auropunctata has been collected from tourist boats traveling between the islands ( LOMAS, 2008). The negative impact and consequences of the invasion of W. auropunctata in natural environments of Galápagos, as well as in other regions has been extensively documented ( CLARK et al., 1982; FABRES & BROWN, 1978; JOURDAN, 1997; LUBIN, 1984; ULLOA–CHACÓN & CHERIX, 1990; WILLIAMS & WHELAN, 1992; PASSERA, 1994; WETTERER & PORTER, 2003; CAUSTON et al., 2006; LONGINO & FERNÁNDEZ, 2007; HERRERA & CAUSTON, 2008). Wasmannia auropunctata was the target of two successful eradication programs in Galápagos (ABBEDRABO et al., 1994; CAUSTON et al., 2005).

Figures

Map 42. Distribution of Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger, 1863).