Two new ant species records are reported for the Hawaiian Islands. Specimens for both species were first collected in the spring of 2000 by K-12 students and classes as part of an ongoing survey for the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger), on Hawai‘i Island. Discovery of the little fire ant on Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i (Conant & Hirayama, 2000) elicited survey and control activities by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA) and stimulated the creation of a traveling educational curriculum through the University of Hawai‘i. Intermediate and high school students collected ants from their backyard environment with the goal of finding additional infestations of W. auropunctata. One of us (DSG) analyzed and identified all ants in these samples, which contained the two species new to Hawai‘i, and mapped their distributions. Details of this program will be reported elsewhere (D. Gruner, unpubl.). Concurrently, HDOA (RAH. & MEC) discovered one of these ant species during surveys on the island of O‘ahu

Chun, Marianne

Gruner, Daniel

Heu, Ron

Digital Repository at the University of Maryland

NUMBER 74, 78 pages 20 June 2003BISHOP MUSEUM PRESSHONOLULUBISHOP MUSEUMOCCASIONAL PAPERSRECORDS OF THEHAWAII BIOLOGICAL SURVEYFOR 2001–2002PART 2: NOTESNEAL L. EVENHUISANDLUCIUS G. ELDREDGE, EDITORSPhasioormia pallida should thus be deleted from the Hawaiian checklist.Ormia ochracea is a phonotactic parasite of crickets. Most flies have auditory organslocated in the antennae that are adapted to detecting mating calls and wing beats in the100 to 500 Hz range. Ormia flies have specialized auditory organs on the prosternum(similar in structure to orthopteran tympanal organs) that are used to cue in to the high-frequency (above 3 kHz) call of the male cricket (Robert et al., 1992). The ormiine crick-et parasite is not native to Hawai‘i nor is the cricket (Teleogryllus oceanicus), upon whichthe fly is a parasite here. It is thought that the parasite was introduced to Hawai‘i alongwith an alien cricket, possibly in the cricket “pet trade” (crickets are kept as pets by someAsians). AcknowledgmentThanks to Nigel Wyatt who kindly provided access to the tachinid types in BMNH.Literature CitedEvenhuis, N.L. 1995. Confusion in paradise. Tachinid Times 8.Nishida, G.M. 1997. Hawaiian terrestrial arthropod checklist. Third edition. Bishop Mus.Tech. Rep. 12, iv + 263 p.———. 2002. Hawaiian terrestrial arthropod checklist. Fourth edition. Bishop Mus. Tech.Rep. 22, iv + 313 p.Preston, D.J. [1993]. Notes and exhibitions: Phasioormia pallida Townsend. Proc.Hawaii. Entomol. Soc. 31[1992]: 16.Robert, D., J. Amoroso & R.R. How. 1992. The evolutionary convergence of hearing ina parasitoid fly and its cricket host. Science 258: 1135–1137.Simmons, L.W. & M. Zuk. 1996. Age structure of parasitized and unparasitized popula-tions of the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Ethology 98(3-4): 333–340.Zuk, M., L.W. Simmons & L. Cupp. 1993. Calling characteristics of parasitized andunparasitized populations of the field cricket Teleogryllus oceanicus. Behav. Ecol.Sociobiol. 33: 339–343.Two ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) new to the Hawaiian IslandsDANIEL S. GRUNER (Department of Zoology and Ecology, Evolution and Conservation BiologyGraduate Program, University of Hawai‘i at Mänoa, 2538 The Mall/Edmondson Hall, Honolulu,Hawai‘i 96822, USA; email: dgruner@hawaii.edu), RONALD A. HEU (Plant Pest Control Branch,Division of Plant Industry, Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture, 1428 South King Street, Honolulu,Hawai‘i, 96814, USA) & MARIANNE E. CHUN (Plant Quarantine Branch, Hawai‘i Department ofAgriculture, 701 Ilalo St., Honolulu, Hawai‘i, 96813, USA)Two new ant species records are reported for the Hawaiian Islands. Specimens for bothspecies were first collected in the spring of 2000 by K-12 students and classes as part ofan ongoing survey for the little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger), on Hawai‘iIsland. Discovery of the little fire ant on Hawai‘i and Kaua‘i (Conant & Hirayama, 2000)elicited survey and control activities by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture (HDOA)and stimulated the creation of a traveling educational curriculum through the UniversityRecords of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001–2002—Part II: Notes 35of Hawai‘i. Intermediate and high school students collected ants from their backyard envi-ronment with the goal of finding additional infestations of W. auropunctata. One of us(DSG) analyzed and identified all ants in these samples, which contained the two speciesnew to Hawai‘i, and mapped their distributions. Details of this program will be reportedelsewhere (D. Gruner, unpubl.). Concurrently, HDOA (RAH. & MEC) discovered one ofthese ant species during surveys on the island of O‘ahu.Voucher specimens are deposited at the Bishop Museum (BPBM), the Department ofAgriculture (HDOA) in Honolulu, the California Academy of Sciences (CAS), LosAngeles County Museum of Natural History (LACM), and Harvard University Museumof Comparative Zoology (MCZ).Solenopsis sp. New state recordSpecimens of a minute, slow-moving, yellowish brown ant were collected from samplesof seashore paspalum grass and soil from a golf course in Ewa, O‘ahu, in October 2000by HDOA staff. Neil Reimer (HDOA Plant Quarantine) and one of us (MEC) identifiedthis ant as a species of Solenopsis new to Hawai‘i. Specimens collected by students inHilo and Hawaiian Beaches in May 2000 and March 2001 were later confirmed as thesame Solenopsis species. Workers of Solenopsis sp. are yellowish with a light brown abdomen. They are justunder 1 mm in length, and individuals are monomorphic (Fig. 1). Solenopsis sp. are incon-spicuous and not easily found. Foraging worker ants have been collected from nearshoresoils and grasses, under debris along a parking lot curb, and from several peanut butterbaited chopstick collections. We collected two queens from a single excavated nest inHawaiian Beaches Estates on the island of Hawai‘i (6 Oct 2002). The nest was underneatha large boulder, 6–12 cm deep in damp soil. The queens were sent to Brian Fisher (CAS),but without further determination. Two other Solenopsis species are widespread and common in the Hawaiian Islands:S. geminata (Fabricius), a fire ant known for its painful stings; and S. papuana Emery, atiny dark brown species slightly larger than this species. These ants are related to the redimported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren, an aggressive and serious pest of agricultur-al, urban, and native environments found in parts of the mainland U.S. but not in Hawai‘i(Nishida, 2002). Though they have stingers, no complaints on tiny stinging ants have beenreported for the two smaller species. Solenopsis papuana was the most common ant reported from more than 220 studentcollections on east Hawai‘i, occurring in over half the samples. Students collected the newSolenopsis from only 3 localities tightly clustered within 200 m in Hilo. We later collect-ed the ant from another series of locations within a small radius in Hawaiian Beaches. Thediscrete geographical range of this species, coupled with its distinctive color, behavior,and smaller size, indicates this species is indeed different than the species currently knownas S. papuana in the islands. Several experts examined specimens but were unable todetermine the identity of this species. It is cryptogenic and may be undescribed.Infestations of Solenopsis sp. have been found at a site in Pearl City 8.5 km awayfrom the original golf course collection site in Ewa, O‘ahu, and at four sites separated bymore than 30 km on Hawai‘i. This strongly suggests the ant has been established on bothislands for years. We believe it is more widely distributed in the Hawaiian Islands, but itBISHOP MUSEUM OCCASIONAL PAPERS: No. 74, 200336is unlikely this species will be pestiferous on the scale of its relatives, Solenopsis gemi-nata and S. invicta.Material examined: HAWAI‘I: Hilo, Naniakea St., 19º 41' 27" N, 155º 04' 37" W, 70 m, 2 May2000, peanut butter baits (pbb), T. Benevides of Waiäkea High School (BPBM); Hilo, WaiäkeaIntermediate School, 200 W. Puainako St., 19º41' 45"N 155º04' 52" W 50 m, 24 May 2000, pbb, D.S.Gruner (BPBM); Hawaiian Beaches, Kamanu St., 19º 33' 43" N, 154º 53' 24" W, 15 m, 6 Mar 2001,6 Oct 2002, hand collected, D.S. Gruner (BPBM; CAS; LACM); Hawaiian Beaches, Moana & Pu‘uMakai, 19º 32' 57" N, 154º 57' 24" W, 75 m, 6 Oct 2002, hand collected, D.S. Gruner (MCZ; 2queens: CAS); O‘AHU: ‘Ewa, Oct 2000, R.A. Heu & M. Chun (HDOA); Pearl City 10 Oct 2002,Spam bait trap, R.A. Heu & D.S. Alontaga (HDOA).Pheidole moerens Wheeler New state recordThis little-known ant species was submitted to Neil Reimer and tentatively identified asLeptothorax sp. At that time, no major workers of this species had been collected, so thedimorphic quality of the species was not known. In March 2001 we obtained soldiers froma colony in Hawaiian Beaches and immediately revised the determination to Pheidole sp.Stephan Cover (MCZ) identified the species as Pheidole moerens Wheeler. This speciesis now known from at least eight localities widely distributed in the Puna District ofHawai‘i.Pheidole moerens is native to the Greater Antilles, first described from Puerto Rico(Wheeler, 1908). It has been recorded from other Caribbean islands, such as the VirginIslands, Haiti, the Bahamas, and the Florida keys (Kempf, 1972; Pressick & Herbst, 1973;Deyrup et al., 1988). It is widespread in mainland Florida and several other southeasternstates (Wojcik et al., 1975; Glancey et al., 1976; Deyrup & Trager, 1986, J. Wetterer, pers.comm.), but first collected from the western U.S. (California) in 1995 (Martínez, 1997).The ant was found nesting only around California fan palms, Washingtonia filifera(Lindley) Wendland, in lowland nearshore areas. This suggests an introduction mode tothe Hawaiian Islands similar to that hypothesized for the recently introduced little fire ant,Wasmannia auropunctata (Conant & Hirayama, 2000). In Hawai‘i, W. auropunctata isoften found in nurseries and in association with planted Caryota spp. fishtail palms. Thus,P. moerens probably was imported accidentally with commercial plants and soil for hor-ticulture. Its distribution suggests it has been on Hawai‘i for a number of years.Pheidole moerens is related to two species already widespread in the HawaiianIslands. Pheidole megacephala (Fabricius) was introduced in the 19th century (Smith,1879). It is abundant on all the main islands except Kaho‘olawe, as well as several lee-ward islands. Pheidole fervens Smith is recorded from Kaua‘i, O‘ahu, Maui, and Hawai‘i.Pheidole fervens is more abundant locally in wet regions, such as the Hilo and Puna dis-tricts of Hawai‘i Island, than P. megacephala (D. Gruner, unpubl. observ.). Both are con-sidered aggressive invaders, and detrimental to native arthropods and agriculture in islandand continental systems (Reimer et al., 1993; Hoffman et al., 1999; LaPolla et al., 2000).Five other Pheidole species have been intercepted but not recorded as established in theHawaiian Islands (Nishida, 2002). Pheidole moerens had not been intercepted from orknown as established in any other location in the Pacific. In comparison, P. moerens is notpredicted to be a major new, complementary pest or a high priority for containment oreradication.Soldiers and minor workers of Pheidole moerens are significantly smaller than bothcongeners. The minor worker, light brown in color, is 1.5–1.75 mm in total body length.The major worker is slightly larger, 2.5–2.75 mm in length, somewhat darker, and with aRecords of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001–2002—Part II: Notes 37larger and broader head as is characteristic with the genus Pheidole. The frons surface ofthe major worker is moderately reticulate (Fig. 2a), intermediate to the smooth P. mega-cephala and the rugose P. fervens. The thorax is densely reticulate (Fig. 2b); both the larg-er species are moderately smooth.Material examined: HAWAI‘I: Kea‘au, Ha‘a Pl., 19º 37' 50" N, 155º 02' 08" W, 80 m, 7 Feb2001, pbb, R. Badua of Kea‘au High School (BPBM); Hawaiian Paradise Park, Kaloli Dr. & 2nd Ave,19º 36' 43" N, 154º 57' 37" W, 30 m, 7 Feb 2001, pbb, S. Sheffield of Kea‘au High School (BPBM);Hawaiian Paradise Park, 5th Ave, 19º 35' 50" N, 154º 57' 05" W, 25 m, 7 Feb 2001, pbb, S. Schulteof Kea‘au High School (BPBM); Hawaiian Paradise Park, Paradise Dr. & 13th Ave, 19º 35’ 14” N,154º 57' 47" W, 50 m, 6 Feb 2001, pbb, T. L. Mabry of Kea‘au High School (BPBM); HawaiianParadise Park, Mäkua Dr. & 20th Ave, 19º 34' 02" N, 154º 57' 37" W, 60 m, 7 Feb 2001, pbb, S. Iskoof Kea‘au High School (BPBM); Hawaiian Beaches, Maiko St., 19º 32' 46" N, 154º 54' 16" W, 60 m,6 Feb 2001, pbb, K. Kekauoha of Kea‘au High School (BPBM); Hawaiian Beaches, Papai St., 19º33' 38" N, 154º 53' 27" W, 15 m, 2 May 2000, pbb, N. Keohuhu of Pähoa High School (BPBM);Hawaiian Beaches, Kamanu St, 19º 33' 43" N, 154º 53' 24" W, 15 m, 3 May 2000, pbb, A. Dresslerof Pähoa High School; 6 Mar 2001, 6 Oct 2002, hand collected, D.S. Gruner (BPBM; LACM; MCZ;CAS); Hawaiian Paradise Park, Kaloli Dr. & 2nd Ave, 19º 36' 52" N, 154º 57' 51" W, 45 m, 6 Oct2002, pbb, D.S. Gruner (BPBM); Hawaiian Beaches, Hawaiian Beaches Park, Manini St., 19º 32' 56"N, 154º 54' 12" W, 75 m, 6 Oct 2002, pbb, D.S. Gruner (BPBM); Pähoa, May 2000, pbb, anonymousof Pähoa High School (BPBM).AcknowledgmentsWe are grateful to K-12 students and teachers from Waiäkea Intermediate, Waiäkea High,Kea‘au High, and Pähoa High & Intermediate Schools for their sampling efforts provid-ing the majority of these new records. Student collections and research by D. Gruner wasBISHOP MUSEUM OCCASIONAL PAPERS: No. 74, 200338Fig. 1: Scanning electron micrographs of Solenopsis sp.; a) head, b) lateral thorax.a bsupported by NSF DUE-9979656 to the Center for Conservation Research and Trainingof the University of Hawaii at Mänoa, and by the Environmental Leadership Program.R.A. Heu and M. Chun thank S. Delizo for his help in providing soil samples on O‘ahu.Surveys were supported and funded in part by the USDA-APHIS CooperativeAgricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) Program. We are indebted to Dennis Kunkel who pre-pared the scanning electron micrographs used as figures. Neil Reimer provided the initialdiagnosis of new records; Stephan Cover identified species to the level reported here; EdWilson, Brian Fisher, Roy Snelling, James Trager, William Mackay, and KatsuyukiEguchi also examined specimens.Literature CitedConant, P., & C. Hirayama. 2000. Wasmannia auropunctata (Hymenoptera: Formic-idae): established on the Island of Hawai‘i. Bish. Mus. Occas. Pap. 64: 21–22.Deyrup, M., N. Carlin, J. Trager, & G. Umphrey. 1988. A review of the ants of theFlorida Keys. Florida Entomol. 71: 163–176.Deyrup, M., & J. Trager. 1986. Ants of the Archbold Biological Station, HighlandsCounty, Florida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Florida Entomol. 69: 206–228.Glancey, B.M., D.P. Wojcik, C.H. Craig, & J.A. Mitchell. 1976. Ants of MobileCounty, AL, as monitored by bait transects. J. Georgia Entomol. Soc. 11: 191–197.Hoffman, B.D., A.N. Andersen, & G.J.E. Hill. 1999. Impact of an introduced ant onnative rain forest invertebrates: Pheidole megacephala in monsoonal Australia.Oecologia 120: 595–604.Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 2001–2002—Part II: Notes 39Fig. 2: Scanning electron micrographs of Pheidole moerens Wheeler; a, head of major worker, b,lateral thorax.a bKempf, W.W. 1972. A study of some Neotropical ants of genus Pheidole Westwood. I.(Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Stud. Entomol. 15: 449–464.LaPolla, J.S., D. Otte, & L.A. Spearman. 2000. Assessment of the effects of ants on Ha-waiian crickets. J. Orthop. Res. 9: 139–148.Martínez, M.J. 1997. The first record of the ant Pheidole moerens Wheeler from thewestern United States (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pan-Pac. Entomol. 73: 46.Nishida, G.M., editor. 2002. Hawaiian terrestrial arthropod checklist. Fourth edition.Bishop Mus. Tech. Rep. 22, ix + 313 p.Pressick, M.L., & E. Herbst. 1973. Distribution of ants on St. John, Virgin Islands.Caribb. J. Sci. 13: 187–197.Reimer, N.J., M.-L. Cope, & G. Yasuda. 1993. Interference of Pheidole megacephala(Hymenoptera: Formicidae) with biological control of Coccus viridus (Homoptera:Coccidae) in coffee. Env. Entomol. 22: 483–488.Smith, F. 1879. Descriptions of new species of aculeate Hymenoptera collected by theRev. Thos. Blackburn in the Sandwich Islands. J. Linn. Soc. Lond. Zool. 14: 674–685.Wheeler, W.M. 1908. The ants of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Bull. Am. Mus. Nat.Hist. 24: 117–158.Wojcik, D.P., W.A. Banks, & W.F. Buren. 1975. First report of Pheidole moerens inFlorida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). U. S. Dep. Agric. Coop. Econ. Insect Rep. 25:906.An immigrant darkling beetle new to Hawaii (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae)WARREN E. STEINER, JR. (Department of Systematic Biology, Entomology Section, National Museumof Natural History, NHB-187, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560-0187, USA; email:steiner.warren@nmnh.si.edu)A recent collection of beetles suspected to be a new introduction to Hawai‘i has solved atwenty-year-old question of identification. On the western coast of Kaua‘i in 1982, I tooka single specimen belonging to the Middle American genus Ulus Horn (Coleoptera:Tenebrionidae) but because it was an abraded female, it lacked characteristics that wouldallow specific identification and I was hesitant to report its discovery. Species of the relat-ed genus Blapstinus and other opatrine genera are established in the islands (Nishida1994) and are well represented in collections, but no Hawaiian specimens of Ulus werebeing found. Now, with new material from O‘ahu listed below, the species has been iden-tified as Ulus hirsutus Champion. This is the first report of the insect in the HawaiianIslands and its agricultural pest status.Ulus hirsutus Champion New state recordRecently collected specimens and data were forwarded to Natalia J. Vandenberg, Sys-tematic Entomology Laboratory, USDA, and to me from Bernarr Kumashiro, HawaiiDepartment of Agriculture, and G.A. Samuelson, Bishop Museum. Dr. Asher Ota, ento-mologist at Hawaii Agriculture Research Station, provided information on the occurrenceand feeding of the beetles, as quoted from B. Kumashiro, below. My fieldwork in 1982was assisted by Margaret S. Collins, Marianne Early and Dennis Chun.BISHOP MUSEUM OCCASIONAL PAPERS: No. 74, 200340

Two ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) new to the Hawaiian Islands

https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/1903/7111/1/Gruner%26%262003.pdf

Two ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) new to the Hawaiian Islands

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Digital Repository at the University of Maryland