Distribution and habitat preferences of Galápagos ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
Author
Herrera Léon Baert Wouter Dekoninck, Henri W.
Author
Causton, Charlotte E.
Author
Sevilla, Christian R.
Author
Pozo, Paola
Author
Hendrickx, Frederik
text
Belgian Journal of Entomology
2020
93
1
60
journal article
302430
10.5281/zenodo.13710313
83b9d93e-6482-4509-82e7-d477e479612b
2295-0214
13710313
2612CE09-F7FF-45CD-B52E-99F04DC2AA56
Hypoponera opacior
(Forel, 1893)
(ANTWEB: CASENT0173297). (
Map 45
)
Found in the tropical and subtropical Americas (
KEMPF
, 1972
;
BRANDÃO
,1991
;
BOLTON
et al
., 2006
). It was possibly introduced to
Galápagos
through human commerce and now occurs on six islands (
SALOMON
&
MICKHEYEV
, 2005;
HERRERA
et al.,
2014
). This species was reported for the first time in 2014 and is known from humid zones in natural and disturbed areas (
HERRERA
et al.,
2014
). However, examinations of museum material showed that it was already collected in 1987 near the agricultural zone in
Isabela
Island. This species has been found in leaf litter in humid areas, in herb layers (composed of
P. conjugatum
,
H. glutinosa
,
E. pilosa
,
A. subspicata
,
Rhynchospora
sp.
,
C. asiática
,
S. setosa
), ferns (
P. aquilinum
) and mosses. Some samples have been collected from native forests of
P. floribunda
and invaded areas infested by
P. guajava
. In cultivated areas
H. opacior
is recorded on crops of
S. officinarum
and
M. paradisiaca
.