5 replies to this topic

[MC Wren]

On antmaps, if you click on New York, it lists Camponotus sericeiventris rex as a native species of New York. Why is this?!

[MC Wren]

Anybody know?

[Cameron C. Thomas]

AntMaps pulls data from museum collections as well as literature sources. I believe this record is likely due to a publication from William Wheeler on C. sericeiventris from the 1930s in which stowaway workers were collected in New York from a ship. From the article text:

 

"Occasionally this ant is introduced into the United States on fruit boats. Mann found specimens of sericeiventris in a restaurant at Palo Alto, California, and I have received two specimens of rex, taken by Mr. F. M. Schott in New York City on a boat from Panama. In both cases the specimens probably arrived as stowaways in bunches of bananas."

 

Wheeler WM (1931) The ant Camponotus (Myrmepomis) sericeiventris Guérin and its mimic. Psyche 38:86-98.

 

 

[Nathant2131]

AntMaps pulls data from museum collections as well as literature sources. I believe this record is likely due to a publication from William Wheeler on C. sericeiventris from the 1930s in which stowaway workers were collected in New York from a ship. From the article text:

 

"Occasionally this ant is introduced into the United States on fruit boats. Mann found specimens of sericeiventris in a restaurant at Palo Alto, California, and I have received two specimens of rex, taken by Mr. F. M. Schott in New York City on a boat from Panama. In both cases the specimens probably arrived as stowaways in bunches of bananas."

 

Wheeler WM (1931) The ant Camponotus (Myrmepomis) sericeiventris Guérin and its mimic. Psyche 38:86-98.

I wonder why they were listed as native, then. 

[MC Wren]

I really need to check out the bananas in my local supermarket! I wonder what ants I could find. I have found what I believe to be Hypoponera opacior in a greenhouse before, after all.

[Cameron C. Thomas]

 

AntMaps pulls data from museum collections as well as literature sources. I believe this record is likely due to a publication from William Wheeler on C. sericeiventris from the 1930s in which stowaway workers were collected in New York from a ship. From the article text:

 

"Occasionally this ant is introduced into the United States on fruit boats. Mann found specimens of sericeiventris in a restaurant at Palo Alto, California, and I have received two specimens of rex, taken by Mr. F. M. Schott in New York City on a boat from Panama. In both cases the specimens probably arrived as stowaways in bunches of bananas."

 

Wheeler WM (1931) The ant Camponotus (Myrmepomis) sericeiventris Guérin and its mimic. Psyche 38:86-98.

I wonder why they were listed as native, then. 

 

 

Probably just a simple mistake. If you think about it, the GABI database--from which AntMaps pulls its data--is a massive endeavor that is compiling records of ant species across the entire planet. It's a work in progress, and with that much data, there are bound to be mistakes here and there.