Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Collected during the 2017 William H. Cross Expedition in the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas
Joe A. MacGown, Steven Wang, JoVonn Hill, and Ryan Whitehouse
Uploaded on 10 August 2017
The 2017 William H. Cross Expedition was held from 19 to 24 June 2017 at the Ouachita Mountains Biological Station (OMBS) in Polk County, Arkansas. We focused our collecting efforts on the beautiful mountainous Ouachita Mountains Biological Station, but also collected at various sites in the Ouachita National Forest, Queen Wilhelmina State Park, and Stone Road Glade Natural Area.
The Ouachita National Forest, the oldest national forest in the southern United States, occupies 1,784,457 acres (7,221 km2) and includes most of the Ouachita Mountains. The Ouachita Mountains Biological Station is an education and research center located within the national forest that was established in 1962. The station encompasses about 600 acres with elevations ranging from 369 to 622 meters. Overall, the forest community is mixed pine hardwood dominated by shortleaf pine, post oak, black oak, blackjack oak, southern red oak, and sweetgum and dogwood, downy serviceberry, American hornbeam, eastern hophornbeam, and winged elm being common understory trees.
Participants of this year's expedition included MEM employees Richard Brown (director), Terry Schiefer (curator), Joe MacGown (Research Technician), JoVonn Hill (Research Scientist), Ryan Whitehouse (Research Associate), and summer workers Luis Santiago (PhD student), Juan Santiago (undergrad, Puerto Rico), Kyhl Austin (undergrad, Davison University, TN), and Steven Wang (high school student, Houston, TX). Also present during most of the week were Jeff Pittman (OMBS Manager), Laurence Hardy (OMBS Director of the Board), Brad McPherson (OMBS board member), and Vicky Lefevers (OMBS board member).
We collected 63 species of ants during the trip, including five species not previously reported for Arkansas: Brachyponera chinensis (Emery), Hypoponera inexorata (Wheeler), Strumigenys angulata Smith, Strumigenys creightoni Smith, and Syscia augustae Wheeler.
For introduced species, a note is made in parentheses, and new state records are indicated by the asterisk symbol (*). Collecting localities follow species names in brackets. OMBS = Ouachita Mountains Biological Station, ONF = Ouachita National Forest, QWSP = Queen Wilhelmina State Park, and SRG = Stone Road Glade Natural Area.
The list presented is arranged alphabetically by genus.
Aphaenogaster carolinensis Wheeler [OMBS, ONF, QWSP]
Aphaenogaster fulva Roger [OMBS]
Aphaenogaster lamellidens Mayr [OMBS, SRG]
Aphaenogaster tennesseensis (Mayr) [OMBS]
Brachymyrmex depilis Emery [OMBS, ONF, QWSP]
*Brachyponera chinensis (Emery) (Introduced) [SRG]
Camponotus americanus Mayr [QWSP]
Camponotus castaneus (Latreille) [OMBS]
Camponotus chromaiodes Bolton [OMBS]
Camponotus nearcticus Emery [OMBS, ONF, QWSP]
Camponotus pennsylvanicus (DeGeer) [OMBS, QWSP]
Camponotus subbarbatus Emery [ONF]
Colobopsis impressa Roger [OMBS]
Crematogaster ashmeadi Mayr [ONF, SRG]
Crematogaster lineolata (Say) [OMBS, ONF]
Crematogaster minutissima Mayr [OMBS]
Crematogaster pilosa Emery [OMBS, SRG]
Discothyrea testacea Roger [OMBS, ONF]
Dolichoderus taschenbergi (Mayr) [ONF]
Forelius sp.-01 [QWSP, ONF]
Formica biophilica Trager [ONF]
Formica dolosa Buren [OMBS]
Formica pallidefulva Latreille [QWSP]
Formica subsericea Say [ONF]
*Hypoponera inexorata (Wheeler) [OMBS]
Hypoponera opacior (Forel) [OMBS, ONF, QWSP]
Lasius americanus Emery [QWSP, SRG]
Monomorium minimum (Buckley) [OMBS, ONF]
Myrmecina americana Emery [OMBS, ONF, QWSP, SRG]
Myrmica punctiventris Roger [QWSP]
Myrmica pinetorum Wheeler [ONF]
Neivamyrmex opacithorax (Emery) [OMBS]
Neivamyrmex pilosus (F. Smith) [OMBS]
Nylanderia faisonensis (Forel) [OMBS, QWSP]
Nylanderia terricola (Buckley) [OMBS, ONF]
Pheidole dentata Mayr [OMBS]
Pheidole dentigula Smith [OMBS, ONF, SRG]
Pheidole tysoni Forel [SRG]
Ponera pennsylvanica Buckley [OMBS, ONF, QWSP, SRG]
Prenolepis imparis (Say) [QWSP]
Proceratium crassicorne Emery [ONF]
Proceratium pergandei (Emery) [ONF]
Solenopsis carolinensis Forel
Solenopsis invicta Buren (Introduced) [OMBS, ONF, SRG]
Stigmatomma pallipes (Haldeman) [OMBS]
Strumigenys abdita Wesson & Wesson [ONF]
*Strumigenys angulata Smith [OMBS]
*Strumigenys creightoni Smith [ONF]
Strumigenys clypeata Roger ([OMBS]
Strumigenys laevinasis Smith [OMBS]
Strumigenys louisianae Roger [OMBS, SRG]
Strumigenys missouriensis Smith [OMBS]
Strumigenys ohioensis Kennedy & Schramm [ONF]
Strumigenys ornata Mayr [OMBS, QWSP, SRG]
Strumigenys reflexa Wesson & Wesson [ONF]
Strumigenys rostrata Emery [OMBS, QWSP]
Strumigenys talpa Weber [OMBS]
*Syscia augustae Wheeler [OMBS]
Tapinoma sessile (Say) [OMBS, ONF]
Temnothorax curvispinosus (Mayr) [OMBS, ONF, QWSP]
Temnothorax pergandei (Emery) [OMBS]
Temnothorax longispinosus (Roger) [ONF]
Trachymyrmex septentrionalis (McCook) [OMBS]
