Check List 19(6): 801-819, doi: 10.15560/19.6.801
They arrived and don’t stop coming: an update on the distribution of exotic ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in continental Ecuador
Jefferson Salazar-Basurto‡§|, Adrián Troya¶, Francisco Romero‡, Alexander L. Wild#, Alex Pazmiño-Palomino‡‡ Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad, Quito, Ecuador§ Way to Development Corporation, CORWAYD, Quito, Ecuador| Laboratorio de Entomología Agencia de Regulación y Control Fito y Zoosanitario, AGROCALIDAD, Quito, Ecuador¶ Escuela Politécnica Nacional, Quito, Ecuador# University of Texas, Austin, United States of America
Corresponding author: Alex Pazmiño-Palomino ( alex.pazmino@biodiversidad.gob.ec ) Academic editor: Livia Pires do Prado © Jefferson Salazar-Basurto, Adrián Troya, Francisco Romero, Alexander L. Wild, Alex Pazmiño-Palomino. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Citation:
Salazar-Basurto J, Troya A, Romero F, Wild AL, Pazmiño-Palomino A (2023) They arrived and don’t stop coming: an update on the distribution of exotic ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in continental Ecuador. Check List 19(6): 801-819. https://doi.org/10.15560/19.6.801 |  |
Abstract
We present an updated list of introduced ants to continental Ecuador, and compile records of occurrence, as well as map the distribution of 15 exotic species. We analyzed specimens in entomological collections and data from AntWeb, GBIF and iNaturalist. Among these, we add two new records for the country: Cardiocondyla mauritanica Forel, 1980 and Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius, 1793). The former is also the first record for South America, while the finding of the latter shows how little we know about introduced tramp ants. In addition, we add site records for nine species: Cardiocondyla emeryi Forel, 1881, Cardiocondyla minutior Forel, 1899, Cardiocondyla wroughtonii (Forel, 1890), Linepithema humile (Mayr, 1868), Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851), Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus, 1758), Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802), Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793), and Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander, 1846). Based on our previous fieldwork observations, it appears that our understanding of exotic species richness is still in its early stages.
Keywords
Adaptation, biological invasions, citizen science, human disturbance, invasive species, tramp ants