Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata: a new invasive species in the Middle East and its impact on the local arthropod fauna

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Biological Invasions Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata, probably arrived in Israel in ca. 1998 and was identified in 2005; this is the first record of this species from open areas outside the tropics and subtropics. It survives harsher conditions than in its native habitats, with minimal annual temperatures as low as 6°C, and 5–12 consecutive rainless months (under 15 mm rainfall per month). It is now known from 26 localities in Israel, mostly in irrigated gardens. As in other regions where they have invaded, these ants pose a serious threat to local biodiversity. At high densities they displaced almost all the local ant species sampled, affecting population abundances, species richness, and community structure. W. auropunctata seems to have a detrimental effect also on other ground arthropods, judging from the observed decline in spider and beetle abundances. We show here that this tropical species can pose a critical threat to local arthropods at a wider range of climatic conditions than was previously known.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alonso LE, Agosti D (2000) Biodiversity studies, monitoring, and ants: an overview. In: Agosti D, Majer JD, Alonso LE, Schultz TRE (eds) Ants. Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp 1–8

    Google Scholar 

  • Armbrecht I, Ulloa-Chacon P (2003) The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) as a diversity indicator of ants in tropical dry forest fragments of Colombia. Environ Entomol 32:542–547

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bytinski-Salz H (1966) An annotated list of insects and mites introduced into Israel. Isr J Entomol 1:15–48

    Google Scholar 

  • Christian CE (2001) Consequences of a biological invasion reveal the importance of mutualism for plant communities. Nature 413:635–639

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark DB, Guayasamin C, Pazmino O, Donoso C, YPd Villacis (1982) The tramp ant Wasmannia auropunctata: Autecology and effects on ant diversity and distribution on Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos. Biotropica 14:196–207

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collingwood CA (1985) Hymenoptera: Fam. Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna of Saudi Arabia 7:230–302

    Google Scholar 

  • Dan J (1988) The soils of the land of Israel. In: Yom-Tov Y, Tchernov E (eds) The zoogeography of Israel. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 95–128

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (DPI&F) (2006) Country or multicountry feature for distribution records for Wasmannia auropunctata. In: Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG) database. Available via DIALOG. http://www.issg.org/database/species/ecology.asp?fr=1&si=58. Accessed 10 Oct 2008

  • Errard C, Delabie J, Jourdan H, Hefetz A (2005) Intercontinental chemical variation in the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger) (Hymenoptera Formicidae): a key to the invasive success of a tramp species. Naturwissenschaften 92:319–323

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzpatrick MC, Weltzin JF, Sanders NJ, Dunn RR (2007) The biogeography of prediction error: why does the introduced range of the fire ant over-predict its native range? Global Ecol Biogeogr 16:24–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grangier J, Le Breton J, Dejean A, Orivel J (2007) Coexistence between cyphomyrmex ants and dominant populations of Wasmannia auropunctata. Behav Process 74:93–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann BD, Andersen AN, Hill GJE (1999) Impact of an introduced ant on native rain forest invertebrates: Pheidole megacephala in monsoonal Australia. Oecologia 120:595–604

    Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1977) The number of queens: an important trait in ant evolution. Naturwissenschaften 64:8–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hölldobler B, Wilson EO (1990) The Ants. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA (1998) Effect of argentine ant invasions on ground-dwelling arthropods in northern california riparian woodlands. Oecologia 116:252–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Holway DA, Lach L, Suarez AV, Tsutsui ND, Case TJ (2002) The causes and consequences of ant invasions. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 33:181–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Israel Meteorological Service, climate information. Available via DIALOG. http://www.ims.gov.il/IMSEng/CLIMATE. Accessed 24 Jun 2009

  • Jaffe S (1988) Climate of Israel. In: Yom-Tov Y, Tchernov E (eds) The zoogeography of Israel. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 79–94

    Google Scholar 

  • Jourdan H (1997) Threats on pacific islands: the spread of the tramp ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Pac Conserv Biol 3:61–64

    Google Scholar 

  • Jourdan H, Sadlier RA, Bauer AM (2001) Little fire ant invasion (Wasmannia auropunctata) as a threat to New Caledonian lizards: evidences from a sclerophyll forest (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology 38:283–301

    Google Scholar 

  • King JR, Tschinkel WR (2006) Experimental evidence that the introduced fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, does not competitively suppress co-occurring ants in a disturbed habitat. J Anim Ecol 75:1370–1378

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kugler J (1988) The zoogeography of social insects of Israel and Sinai. In: Yom-Tov Y, Tchernov E (eds) The zoogeography of Israel. Dr. W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht, pp 251–275

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Breton J, Chazeau J, Jourdan H (2003) Immediate Impacts of Invasion by Wasmannia auropunctata (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on Native Litter Ant Fauna in a New Caledonian Rainforest. Austral Ecol 28:204–209

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Le Breton J, Delabie JHC, Chazeau J, Dejean A, Jourdan H (2004) Experimental evidence of large-scale unicoloniality in the tramp ant Wasmannia auropunctata (Roger). J Insect Behav 17:263–271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leps J, Šmilauer P (1999) Multivariate analysis of ecological data. Faculty of Biological Sciences. University of South Bohemia, Ceske Bodejovice

    Google Scholar 

  • Longino JT (2000) What to do with the data. In: Agosti D, Majer JD, Alonso LE, Schultz TRE (eds) Ants. Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, pp 186–203

    Google Scholar 

  • Lowe S, Browne M, Boudjelas S (2000) 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species. Aliens 12:S1–S12

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubin YD (1984) Changes in the native fauna of the Galapagos Islands following invasion by the little red fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata. Biol J Linn Soc 21:229–242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGlynn TP (1999) The worldwide transfer of ants: geographical distribution and ecological invasions. J Biogeogr 26:535–548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meier RE (1994) Coexisting patterns and foraging behavior of introduced and native ants (Hymenoptera Formicidae) in the Galapagos Islands (Ecuador). In: Williams DF (ed) Exotic ants: biology, impact and control of introduced species. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 174–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Ness JH, Bronstein JL (2004) The effects of invasive ants on prospective ant mutualists. Biol Invasions 6:445–461

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orivel J, Grangier J, Foucaud J, Le Breton J, Andrès FX, Jourdan H, Delabie JHC, Fournier D, Cerdan P, Facon B, Estoup A, Dejean A (2009) Ecologically heterogeneous populations of the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata within its native and introduced ranges. Ecol Entomol 34:504–512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Passera L (1994) Characteristics of tramp species. In: Williams DF (ed) Exotic ants: biology, impact and control of introduced species. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 23–43

    Google Scholar 

  • Romanski A (2001) Introduced species summary project: little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata). Columbia University, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Roque-Albelo L, Causton C (1999) El Nino and introduced insects in the Galapagos Islands: different dispersal strategies, similar effects. Noticias de Galapagos 60:36–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders NJ, Gotelli NJ, Heller NE, Gordon DM (2003) Community disassembly by an invasive species. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 100:2474–2477

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz DC, Simberloff D (1997) Biological invasions: a growing threat. Issues Sci Technol 13:33–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1981) Biometry: the principles and practice of statistics in biological research. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco

    Google Scholar 

  • Symondson WOC, Sunderland KD, Greenstone MH (2002) Can generalist predators be effective biocontrol agents? Annu Rev Entomol 47:561–594

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tennant LE (1994) The ecology of Wasmannia auropunctata in primary tropical rainforest in Costa Rica and Panama. In: Williams DF (ed) Exotic ants: biology, impact and control of introduced species. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 80–90

    Google Scholar 

  • ter Braak CJF , Šmilauer P (2002) CANOCO reference manual and CanoDraw for Windows user's guide: software for canonical community ordination (version 4.5). Microcomputer power, Ithaca, New York, USA

  • Ulloa-Chacon P, Cherix D (1990) The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata R. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). In: Vander Meer RK, Jaffe K, Cedeno A (eds) Applied myrmecology: a world perspective. Westview Press, Boulder, pp 281–289

    Google Scholar 

  • Vonshak M, Dayan T, Foucaud J, Estoup A, Hefetz A (2009) The interplay between genetic and environmental effects on colony insularity in the clonal invasive little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata. Behav Ecol Sociobiol. doi:10.1007/s00265-009-0775-9

  • Welk E, Schubert K, Hoffmann MH (2002) Present and potential distribution of invasive garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) in North America. Divers Distrib 8:219–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wetterer JK, Porter SD (2003) The little fire ant, Wasmannia auropunctata: Distribution, impact, and control. Sociobiology 42:1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams DF (1994) Exotic ants: biology, impact and control of introduced species. Westview Press, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • World Meteorological Organization (WMO) web site on World City Forecasts, Climatology and Weather Observations. Available via DIALOG. http://www.worldweather.org/webapps/search.jsp. Accessed 7 Dec 2008

Download references

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Uri Roll for the field and GIS assistance; to Matan Ben-Ari for the field and laboratory assistance and to David Meir, Ariella Gotlieb and Erez Maza for field assistance. We thank Prof. Jacques H. C. Delabie and Dr. Bernhard Seifert for helping to identify the ant species, the late Dr. Gershom Levi for spider identifications and Prof. Vladimir Chikatunov for beetle identifications. We also wish to thank Prof. David Wool, Tal Levanony and Efrat Gavish-Regev for statistical advice, and Dr. Shai Meiri and Prof. Dan Simberloff for their useful comments to early drafts of the manuscript. We thank the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the Israeli Ministry of Science, Culture and Sport for supporting the National Collections of Natural History at Tel Aviv University as a biodiversity, environment, and agriculture research knowledge center, and the Jordan Valley Regional Council for their support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, 69978, Israel

    Merav Vonshak, Tamar Dayan, Armin Ionescu-Hirsh, Amnon Freidberg & Abraham Hefetz

Authors
  1. Merav Vonshak
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tamar Dayan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Armin Ionescu-Hirsh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Amnon Freidberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Abraham Hefetz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Merav Vonshak.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Vonshak, M., Dayan, T., Ionescu-Hirsh, A. et al. The little fire ant Wasmannia auropunctata: a new invasive species in the Middle East and its impact on the local arthropod fauna. Biol Invasions 12, 1825–1837 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9593-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-009-9593-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation