Wetterer, J.K.

Worldwide spread of the flower ant, Monomorium floricola (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The flower ant, Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851), is one of the most widely distributed ants of the tropics and subtropics. Occasionally, it is also found in temperate areas in greenhouses and other heated buildings. To evaluate the worldwide spread of M. floricola, I compiled published and unpublished specimen records from > 1100 sites. I documented the earliest known M. floricola records for 119 geographic areas (countries, island groups, major Caribbean islands, Us states, and Canadian provinces), including many locales for which I found no previously published records: Alaska, Anguilla, Antigua, Barbados, Barbuda, Bermuda, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Congo, Curaçao, Dominica, Nevis, New Zealand, Phoenix Islands, Quebec, St Kitts, St Martin, and Washington DC. Most records of M. floricola from latitudes above 30°, and all records above 35°, appear to come from inside greenhouses or other heated buildings. Although widespread, M. floricola is rarely considered a serious pest. However, because this species is very small, slow moving, cryptically colored, and primarily arboreal, I believe that it is probably often overlooked and its abundance and ecological importance is underappreciated. Monomorium floricola may be particularly significant in flooded mangrove habitats, where competition with non-arboreal ants is much reduced.

Open access, licensed under CC BY 4.0. © 2010 The Author(s).

Arboreal, biological invasion, exotic species, invasive species, mangrove.