Current View: All Antweb

Cite this page

View in AntCat

Taxonomic History (provided by Barry Bolton, 2017)

Taxon Page Images:

Distribution:

(based on species list records)   Species is introduced to: Australasia, Indomalaya, Malagasy, Nearctic, Neotropical, Oceania, Palearctic bioregions.

Afrotropical Region: Africa, Bundibugyo, Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eastern Africa, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Hadjer-Lamis, Kabarole, Kenya, Khartoum, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Middle Africa, Mozambique, Mtwara, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sofala, South Africa, South-West, Southern Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Western Africa, Woleu-Ntem
Australasia Region: Australia, Australia and New Zealand, Barrow Island, Central, Choiseul, Guadalcanal, Madang, Manus, Morobe, National Capital, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Northern, Northern Territory, Oceania, Papua New Guinea, Queensland, Solomon Islands, Sud, Timor-Leste, Vanuatu, Western Australia
Indomalaya Region: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Asia, Bangladesh, Borneo, Cambodia, Central, Christmas Island, India, Indonesia, Krakatau Islands, Lampung, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Nicobar Island, Okinawa, Pakistan, Philippines, Sabah, Singapore, South-Eastern Asia, Southern Asia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam
Malagasy Region: Anjouan, Antananarivo, Antsiranana, Comoros, Europa Island, Fianarantsoa, Grande Comore, Juan de Nova Island, Madagascar, Mahajanga, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mohéli, Reunion, Rodrigues, Saint-Denis, Seychelles, Toamasina, Toliara
Nearctic Region: Alabama, Arizona, Baja California Sur, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, North America, North Carolina, Ohio, Sonora, South Carolina, Texas, United States
Neotropical Region: Alta Verapaz, Americas, Anguilla, Aragua, Aruba, Atlántida, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Caribbean, Cayman Islands, Central, Central America, Chiapas, Chile, Colombia, Colón, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Galapagos Islands, Galápagos, Gracias a Dios, Guadeloupe, Guanacaste, Guantánamo, Guatemala, Guatemala, Guerrero, Guyana, Haiti, Heredia, Honduras, Izabal, Jamaica, Limón, Managua, Martinique, Mato Grosso do Sul, Mexico, Minas Gerais, Morelos, Nacional, Nayarit, Nicaragua, Oaxaca, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Petén, Puerto Rico, Puntarenas, Quintana Roo, Saint Ann, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, San Cristóbal, San José, San José de Ocoa, Sinaloa, South America, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Venezuela, Veracruz, Yucatán
Oceania Region: Aimeliik, Angaur, Ba, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaii, Jaluit, Kayangel, Kiribati, Koror, Marshall Islands, Melanesia, Micronesia, Micronesia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Peleliu, Pohnpei, Polynesia, Ra, Samoa, Sonsorol, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuamasaga, Tuvalu
Palearctic Region: Al Bahah, Andalusia, Ar Riyad, Bahrain, Balearic Islands, Belgium, China, Eastern Asia, Estonia, Europe, France, Iran, Israel, Japan, Libya, Macaronesia, Malta, Morocco, Māzandarān, Northern Africa, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Southern Europe, Spain, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, West Flanders, Western Asia, Western Europe, Yemen

Distribution Notes:

Reference for Kenya if not type: Arabuko Sukoke

Biology:

Natural History:

This species is a pantropical tramp that is easily dispersed by human activity. They are a common pest ant in houses and seem peculiarly adapted to the interior and immediate vicinity of human habitations (Fig. 1). In Costa Rica I have collected them in the town squares of Liberia and Sierpe, city parks in San JosŽ, around the buildings at Finca La Pacifica, beach margins of Atlantic and Pacific coasts, and in the dining hall of La Selva Biological Station. At La Selva, where intensive surveys of the ant fauna have been carried out, I have never collected P. longicornis beyond the confines of the dining hall.

The workers are very generalized scavengers, very quickly recruiting to food scraps in houses.

On two occasions, once at Discovery Bay Marine Lab in Jamaica and once on the steps of the La Selva dining hall, I have seen massive emergences of P. longicornis colonies (Fig. 2). I do not know what caused these evacuations, but the visual effect was stunning. In each case many square meters were covered with a coruscating layer of workers. The workers formed a closely spaced monolayer. Many of the workers were carrying brood, and many dealate queens were scattered amongst the workers. When undisturbed the ants were more or less stationary, but shining a light on them or blowing on them caused ripples and waves of movement.

There is a large literature on the biology of P. longicornis. A search for "Paratrechina longicornis" in the 2001 version of Formis, a database of ant literature, yielded 271 references.

Comments:

Introduced species

Notes:

(Dutch vernacular name: superlangsprietmier)

Taxonomic Treatment (provided by Plazi)

Specimen Habitat Summary

Found most commonly in these habitats: 99 times found in urban/garden, 36 times found in coastal scrub, 23 times found in urban garden, 21 times found in dry forest, 14 times found in degraded dry forest, 15 times found in rainforest, 17 times found in 2º lowland rainforest, 15 times found in Degraded dry forest on tsingy, 4 times found in savannah shrubland, 11 times found in tropical dry forest, ...

Found most commonly in these microhabitats: 108 times on low vegetation, 84 times ground forager(s), 24 times under stone, 21 times sifted litter (leaf mold, rotten wood), 27 times ex soil, 19 times ex rotten log, 18 times ex sifted leaf litter, 16 times at bait, 13 times ground forager, 1 times ex rot pokcet above ground, 10 times ground nest, ...

Collected most commonly using these methods: 22 times search, 25 times hand collection, 16 times hand collecting, 15 times Beating, 20 times malaise, 5 times water traps, 16 times Baiting, 13 times aspirating; PB & maple syrup bait, 13 times Hand, 15 times MiniWinkler, 10 times aspirating; PB bait, ...

Elevations: collected from 1 - 1850 meters, 164 meters average

Type specimens:

See something amiss? Send us an email.

AntWeb is hosted and supported by the California Academy of Sciences.