Exotic Ants of South Carolina
Joe MacGown
Currently, 16 exotic species are known to occur in South Carolina. The exotic ants listed below are thought to have originated from a variety of regions including Central and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia (Deyrup et al. (2000) and McGywnn (1999).
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 South Carolina (arranged alphabetically)
Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr (introduced-Argentina, Neotropics, pest)
Hypoponera opaciceps (Mayr) (introduced-Brazil)
Lasius alienus (Foerster) (introduced?-Europe)
Lasius flavus (Fabricius) (introduced?-Europe)
Linepithema humile (Mayr) (introduced-Argentina, pest)
Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus) (introduced-Africa?, pest)
Pachycondyla chinensis Emery (introduced-China, pest)
Paratrechina bourbonica (Forel) (introduced-Old World Tropics, pest )
Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Africa?, pest)
Pyramica membranifera (Emery) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Europe)
Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius) (introduced-Neotropics, pest)
Solenopsis invicta Buren (introduced-Brazil, pest)
Technomyrmex difficilis Forel (introduced, pest-previously misidentified as T. albipes (Smith), see Wetterer, 2008)
Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) (introduced-Old World Tropics-SE Asia, pest)
Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus) (introduced?-Europe, pest)
Tetramorium lanuginosum Mayr (introduced-Old World Tropics-SE Asia?, pest)
Deyrup, M., S. Cover, and L. Davis. 2000. Exotic ants in Florida. Transactions of the American Entomological Society 126 293-325.
McGywnn, T. P. 1999. The worldwide transfer of ants: geographical distribution and ecological invasions. Journal of Biogeography 26: 535-548.
Wetterer, J. K. 2008. Technomyrmex difficilis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae (in the West Indies). Florida Entomologist 91: 428-430.
Return to: [MEM] [Formicidae Front Page] [Faunal Lists] [South Carolina Ants] [South Carolina Pest Ants]
For questions or comments about this page or about ants, contact Joe MacGown: jmacgown@entomology.msstate.edu