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Research Synopsis:
Qualitative observations made by Deyrup (1994) indicate
that exotics on SS appear primarily in disturbed habitats and are likely
having little effect on terrestrial arthropods in undisturbed areas. The
primary objectives of my research is to determine whether fire ant species
are indeed restricted to disturbed habitats and assess potential impacts
of fire ant invasion on terrestrial arthropod communities. This work is of
importance for several reasons. First, it will provide insight into the
distribution of these aggressive fire ant species and also provide an
indication as to the impacts on other terrestrial biota. In addition, this
project can provide unique data that will be useful in making control or
management decisions regarding invasive fire ant species on SS.
References:
Allen, C. R., R. S. Lutz,
S. Demarais. 1995. Red imported fire ant impacts on northern bobwhite
populations. Ecological Applications 5(3): 632-638.
Deyrup,
M. A. 1994. Biogeographical survey of the ants of the island of San
Salvador, Bahamas.
Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium on the Natural History of the
Bahamas. San Salvador, Bahamas.
Deyrup,
M. A. 1998. Composition of the ants fauna of three Bahamian islands. Proceedings
of the Seventh Symposium on the Natural History of the Bahamas. pp.
23-31, San Salvador, Bahamas.
Morrison, L. W. 1998. A
review of Bahamian ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) biogeography. Journal
of Biogeography 25: 561-571.
Porter, S. D., D. A.
Savignano. 1990. Invasion of polygyne fire ants decimates native ants and
disrupts arthropod community. Ecology 71(6): 2095-2106.
Stiles, J. H., R. H. Jones.
2001. Top-down control by the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis
invicta). Am. Midl. Nat. 146: 171-185.
Wheeler,
W. M. 1905. The ants of the Bahamas, with a list of known West Indian
species. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History
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The ant fauna of the Bahamas have been well
surveyed by the early collections of Wheeler (1905) and more recently on San
Salvador (SS) by Deyrup (1994) - click on the map to the left to see where
SS is. It has been suggested that the ant fauna on SS
likely contain no endemic species, with Florida and Cuba being the likely
source of the vast majority of ant species found on the island. Of the 44
species found on SS (ant identification), 14 species are considered exotics (Deyrup, 1994). Two
exotics from South America are of particular interest for this study, Solenopsis
invicta and Solenopsis geminata. These species of exotic
fire ants (see fire ants) have spread throughout the Southern United States
as well as parts of Australia, Puerto Rico, the Hawaiian Islands and the
Bahamas (Cook, 2002; Porter & Savignano, 1990; Morrison, 1998).
