Three new exotic species of ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) for Madeira, with comments on its myrmecofauna

By

Guillem, Rhian
Bensusan, Keith

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2022

Original Publication

MycoKeys

Volume

91

Pages

321--333

Subjects

Cardiocondyla obscurior , exotic , invasive , Lepisiota capensis , Madeira , myrmecofauna , Pheidole navigans

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers 2011-

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.91.81624

 

Abstract

Three new exotic species of ants are recorded for the Macaronesian island of Madeira:Cardiocondyla obscuriorWheeler, 1929,Lepisiota capensis(Mayr, 1862) andPheidole navigansForel, 1901. The well-known invasivePheidole megacephalais now rare on Madeira, possibly because of competition withP. navigans. We did not come across the Argentine ant –Linepithema humile, which was once very common in the Funchal area. Despite extensive searching, the presumed endemicTemnothorax wollastoni(Donisthorpe, 1940) remains unknown other than from the type material. Presence, abundance and extinction of invasive and exotic ants are dynamic processes and we stress the importance of continuous sampling.