Exotic Ants of Florida
Joe MacGown
In the southeasten United States, Florida far and away leads the other states with 68 exotic species. This is not surprising as much of Florida is encircled by the ocean and has many entry points at various ports. Additionally, a large portion of Florida is subtropical, and introduced ants from tropical localities appear to prosper there. The exotic ants listed below are thought to have originated from a variety of regions including Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, and Asia (Deyrup et al. (2000).
Clicking on a species name will lead to a page with further information and photographs of that species. Although species pages are at various levels of progress, most pages now have representative photographs of at least workers of the species. In addition to the photographs of ants taken by Joe MacGown at the Mississippi Entomological Museum (MEM), many photos are used, with permission, from AntWeb, a web site about ants of the world with amazing photos. Another site with photographs of ants is "Discover Life." The Discover Life site provides a list of North American ants with photos at "Kinds of Ants , Ants of North America Page". On each individual MEM species page, a link is provided (at the bottom of the page) for that species on both the AntWeb site and the Discover Life ant site. Additionally, many of the species found in this list can be identified using the identification keys found on this web site.
Exotic Ants of Florida (arranged alphabetically)
Anochetus mayri Emery (introduced-Neotropics)
Brachymyrmex minutus Forel (Introduced-West Indies)
Brachymyrmex obscurior Forel (Introduced-Neotropics, pest)
Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr (introduced-Argentina, Neotropics, pest)
Brachymyrmex sp-01 (previously identified as B. brevicornis) (Introduced?-Central & South America?)
Camponotus planatus Roger (introduced-Central America, pest)
Camponotus sexguttatus Fabricius (introduced-West Indies, pest)
Camponotus tortuganus Emery (introduced? pest)
Cardiocondyla emeryi Forel (introduced-Old World Tropics-Africa, pest?)
Cardiocondyla nuda (Mayr) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Australia?, pest?)
Cardiocondyla venustula Wheeler (introduced-Old World Tropics?, pest?)
Cardiocondyla wroughtonii (Forel) (introduced-tropical Asia & Australia, pest?)
Cardiocondyla sp.-01 (introduced-probably Old World Tropics, pest?)
Cephalotes varians (Smith) (introduced?)
Crematogaster obscurata (Emery) (introduced-Southern South America)
Cyphomyrmex minutus Mayr (introduced?-West Indies, Carribean)
Cyphomyrmex rimosus (Spinola) (introduced-Neotropics)
Eurhopalothrix floridana Brown and Kempf (introduced? Mexico)
Gnamptogenys triangularis (Mayr) (introduced-Neotropics?)
Hypoponera opaciceps (Mayr) (AL, FL, GA, LA, MS, NC, SC) (introduced-Brazil)
Hypoponera punctatissima (Roger) (introduced-Europe?, pest)
Lasius alienus (Foerster) (introduced-Europe)
Leptogenys manni Wheeler (introduced, South America)
Linepithema humile (Mayr) (introduced-Argentina, pest)
Monomorium destructor (Jerdon) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Africa or India?, pest)
Monomorium ebeninum Forel (introduced-West Indies)
Monomorium floricola (Jerdon) (introduced-Old World Tropics-India & Southeast Asia, pest)
Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus) (introduced-Africa?, pest)
Myrmelachista ramulorum Wheeler (Introduced-Neotropics)
Ochetellus glaber (Mayr) (introduced-Australia)
Odontomachus haematodus (Linnaeus) (introduced)
Odontomachus ruginodis Smith (introduced-West Indies)
Pachycondyla stigma (Fabricius) (introduced-uncertain-pantropical tramp, pest?)
Paratrechina bourbonica (Forel) (introduced-Old World Tropics, pest )
Paratrechina guatemalensis (Forel) (Introduced-Central America, pest??)
Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Africa?, pest)
Paratrechina pubens Forel (introduced-Neotropics, pest)
Paratrechina vividula (Nylander) (introduced?-Mexico?, nuisance pest)
Pheidole flavens Roger (introduced-Neotropics)
Pheidole megacephala Fabricius (introduced-Old World Tropic-Africa?, pest)
Pheidole moerens Wheeler (introduced- Greater Antilles,Puerto Rico?)
Pheidole obscurithorax Naves (introduced-Argentina)
Platythyrea punctata (Smith) (introduced)
Prionopelta antillana Forel (introduced-Lesser Antilles or Central America)
Pseudomyrmex cubaensis (Forel) (introduced?-Greater Antilles, Bahamas)
Pseudomyrmex elongatus (Mayr) (introduced?-Costa Rica, Jamaico)
Pseudomyrmex gracilis (Fabricius) (introduced-Mexico or Central America, pest?)
Pyramica eggersi (Emery) (introduced-Central or South America)
Pyramica gundlachi (Roger) (introduced-Central or South America)
Pyramica hexamera (Brown) (introduced-Japan)
Pyramica margaritae (Forel) (introduced-Neotropics)
Pyramica membranifera (Emery) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Europe)
Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) (introduced?-Neotropics, pest)
Solenopsis invicta Buren (introduced-Brazil, pest)
Strumigenys emmae (Emery) (introduced--Old World Tropics)
Strumigenys lanuginosa Wheeler (introduced-Mexico or Central America)
Strumigenys rogeri (Emery) (introduced-Africa)
Strumigenys silvestrii Emery (introduced-South America)
Tapinoma litorale Wheeler (introduced?)
Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius) (introduced-Old World Tropics, pest)
Technomyrmex sp. cf. albipes (Smith) (introduced-Old World Tropics, pest)
Temnothorax allardycei (Mann) (introduced-Cuba, Bahamas)
Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) (introduced-Old World Tropics-SE Asia, pest)
Tetramorium caldarium (Roger) (introduced-Indo-Pacific region, pest)
Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr (introduced-Old World Tropics-SE Asia?, pest)
Tetramorium simillimum (F. Smith) (introduced-Old World Tropics, pest)
Trachymyrmex jamaicensis (Andre) (introduced-West Indies)
Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) (introduced-South America, pest)
Deyrup, M., S. Cover, and L. Davis. 2000. Exotic ants in Florida. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 126 293-325.
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For questions or comments about this page or about ants, contact Joe MacGown: jmacgown@entomology.msstate.edu