ANTS FROM THREE REMOTE OCEANIC ISLANDS 
By Robert W. Taylor and Edward O. Wilson 
Biological Laboratories, Harvard University 
The three islands (Raoul, Clipperton, St. Helena) whose ant 
faunas are described below have in common only extreme geographic 
isolation. That ants occur on them at all confirms the idea that these 
insects, with man’s help, have now populated every part of the earth 
capable of supporting them. These and other remote oceanic islands 
will undoubtedly attract more of the ecologist’s attention in the 
future, since many animal taxa inhabiting them, including most or 
all of the ant species, have only arrived within historical times and 
present simple case histories of faunas in the first stages of local 
adaptation. 
We are grateful to Dr. J. S. Edwards, Dr. C. F. Harbinson, Mr. 
Arthur Loveridge and Dr. B. A. Holloway of the Dominion 
Museum, Wellington, New Zealand, for making these unusual 
collections available. The study has been supported in part by a 
research grant from the National Science Foundation. 
Raoul Island, Kermadec Islands 
The Kermadecs are a group of forest-clad volcanic islands lying 
in the South Pacific between S. lat., 29.10 and 31.30 ; and W. long., 
177.45 and 179.00. The nearest sizable land mass is the North Island 
of New Zealand, about 650 miles to the southwest, and the nearest 
major Polynesian island is Tongatabu of the Tongan group, about 
700 1 miles to the north. Australia lies about 1,700 miles to the west. 
The ants listed below were taken on Raoul or Sunday Island, the 
largest of the group (11.25 sq. miles), or on its tiny outlier, Meyer 
Island. Most of the material was collected during June 1956 for the 
University of Auckland, New Zealand, by Dr. J. S. Edwards of 
Cambridge University. A few records are from the collections of 
the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, or from 
the Dominion Museum, Wellington, New Zealand. Unless otherwise 
noted all collections were made by Dr. Edwards. 
The collection includes a number of Berlese funnel samples as well 
as hand-collected specimens, and although only three species are listed, 
it is thought that they represent most, if not all, those present on 
Raoul in 1956. 
Ponera gleadowi Forel 
The systematics and distribution of this ant have been discussed by 
Wilson (1958). P. gleadowi is a widespread species, originally 
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