Joe MacGown
Currently, 31 exotic species, plus the hybrid fire ant Solenopsis invicta x richteri, are known to occur in Mississippi. 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 Mississippi (arranged alphabetically)
Brachymyrmex obscurior Forel (Introduced-Neotropics, pest)
Brachymyrmex patagonicus Mayr (introduced-Argentina, Neotropics, pest)
Brachyponera chinensis Emery (introduced-China, Japan, pest)
Camponotus planatus Roger (introduced-Central America, pest)
Camponotus tortuganus Emery (introduced?-possibly native, pest)
Cardiocondyla wroughtonii (Forel) (introduced-Asia?)
Cyphomyrmex rimosus (Spinola) (introduced-Neotropics)
Hypoponera opaciceps (Mayr) (introduced-Brazil)
Hypoponera punctatissima (Roger) (introduced-Europe?, pest)
Linepithema humile (Mayr) (introduced-Argentina, pest)
Monomorium floricola (Jerdon) (introduced-Old World Tropics-India & Southeast Asia, pest)
Monomorium pharaonis (Linnaeus) (introduced-Africa?, pest)
Nylanderia fulva (Mayr) (introduced, pest)
Nylanderia vividula (Nylander) (introduced?-Mexico?, nuisance pest)
Odontomachus haematodus (Linnaeus) (introduced-South America)
Poneracantha triangularis (Mayr) (introduced-Neotropics?)
Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) (introduced-Old World Tropics-Africa?, pest)
Pheidole navigans Forel (introduced- South America)
Pheidole obscurithorax Naves (introduced-Argentina)
Pseudomyrmex gracilis (Fabricius) (introduced-Mexico or Central America, pest?)
Solenopsis invicta Buren (introduced-Brazil, pest)
Solenopsis invicta x richteri (introduced, pest)
Solenopsis richteri Forel (introduced-Argentina, pest)
Strumigenys epinotalis Weber (introduced-Central and/or South America)
Strumigenys hexamera (Brown) (introduced-Japan)
Strumigenys margaritae Forel (introduced - Neotropics)
Strumigenys membranifera Emery (introduced-Old World Tropics-Europe)
Strumigenys silvestrii Emery (introduced-South America)
Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius) (introduced-Indo-Pacific area, pest)
Tetramorium bicarinatum (Nylander) (introduced-Old World Tropics-SE Asia, pest)
Tetramorium immigrans Santschi (introduced-?, 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.
