12 C. G. Wright, T. P. Nuhn, and H. E. Dupree, Jr. 



species. Prenolepsis imparls was by far the most common species in 

 September, when it replaced dwindling numbers of the other species at 

 the onset of cool weather. It was collected infrequently in July and 

 August. Other ant species might have been captured if other baits or 

 collecting techniques had been used. Nuhn and Wright (1979) collected 

 36 species in 21 genera on the North Carolina State University campus 

 by using several ant-collecting techniques. 



The number of ants taken in a trap may be determined by several 

 factors, such as size of nest, number of nearby nests, or recruitment. A 

 relatively less common species may recruit large numbers of individuals 

 to a trap if they happen to nest near the trap, which was probably the 

 cause of the large samples of Monomorium minimum (Buckley), 

 Tetramorium caespitum (L.), and Lasius alienus (Forster). Other species 

 may have been more common and were collected in more traps, but 

 were underrepresented in total numbers collected because they do not 

 recruit as often or in such large numbers. 



Pisarski and Czechowski (1978) and Kondoh (1978) in Poland and 

 Japan, respectively, reported that one or two dominant ant species 

 occurred in urbanized areas and a relatively small number of species 

 were present. Pisarski and Czechowski (1978) found tremendous 

 numbers of the dominant species. Porter and Savignano (1990) observed 

 that invading Solenopsis invicta Buren decimated the indigenous ant 

 populations in urban and agricultural areas in Texas, with species 

 richness dropping 70%. The total number of native individuals dropped 

 by 90%, concurrent with a large increase in S. invicta. Knight and Rust 

 (1990) identified ant specimens collected in and around structures by 

 professional pest control personnel in California. They found more than 

 25 ant taxa, of which Iridomyrmix humilis (Mayr) was the most 

 common species. In Western Australia, some ant species favored urban 

 areas; they were present in urban gardens and absent or uncommon in 

 adjacent native vegetation (Majer and Brown 1986). Other species were 

 present in the native vegetation and absent in the gardens. In contrast, 

 we found no single species to be clearly dominant around structures, 

 except for P. imparis in September, probably because of the relatively 

 greater habitat diversity of the more suburban collecting sites. 



Cockroach nymphs collected in the traps were not identified to 

 species. Other than native wood cockroaches (Cariblatta, Ischnoptera, 

 and Parcoblatta spp.), the order Dictyoptera was represented by Blatta 

 orientalis L. (2 specimens) and Periplaneta fuliginosa (Serville) (9 

 specimens), two species that often occur both inside and outside 

 buildings (Mallis 1982). Periplaneta fuliginosa occurs both indoors and 

 outdoors in many southern states and is spreading to areas where it 

 previously was not found (Mallis 1982). Wright (unpublished data) 



