Paper
Annotated checklist of the ants on the idaho national laboratory (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Published 2007 · W. H. Clark, P. Blom
Sociobiology
12
Citations
1
Influential Citations
Abstract
Many invertebrates, including ants, tunnel and nest in soils. Because of these habits they are potentially important at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) where they may tunnel into and disturb buried waste. Ants are very important components of the desert ecosystem based on their distribution, habitat preferences, food habits, and relative abundance. For these reasons the ant taxa present at the INL were investigated. A cursory survey of the ants at the site was published in 1971 which reported 22 species. A more thorough examination was needed. Our research in the northeastern portion of the Snake River Plain at the INL from 1986 to 1996 produced thousands of ant collections, of which 1,115 (mostly nest series) are used in this manuscript. These collections contained 46 species in 19 genera from three subfamilies. This more than doubles the number of the species previously reported from the INL. Of the ant species found, 18 (39 %) are considered rare on the site, 12 (26 %) are present but not common, 11 (24 %) are common, and only five ( 11%) are found to be abundant. All but three ant genera known for the state of Idaho can be found at the INL. Additionally, four species collected during this research are reported from Idaho for the first time: Liometopum luctuosum, Formica gynocrates, Formica spatulata, and Myrmica sp. Formicoxenus diversipilosus was only found within the nests of the Formica rufa group, Formicaplanipilis and Formica sabnitens. These represent newhost records for the species. Formicoxenus hirticornis was found nesting with the thatch ants: Formica planipilis, Formica ciliata, Formica laeviceps, and Formica subnitens, all of which represent new host records for this species. The goal of this investigation is to provide a more thorough survey of the INL ant fauna for both biodiversity and waste management purposes. The objectives were: 1) to produce an updated checklist of the INL ants, 2) to summarize the pertinent published information and literature on the INL ants, and 3) to present keys, distribution maps, illustrations, and ecological information on each taxon. This information should allow for the identification of ants encountered at the site and be of use to ecologists and other scientists working at the site. Much new information concerning the biology, ecology, and natural history of many of the species found on INL is presented. The literature on the ants of the INL is summarized. This work paves the way for more detailed ecological studies of the INL ant fauna.
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