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Ecology of some lesser-studied introduced ant species in Hawaiian forests

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Abstract

Invasive ants can have strong ecological effects on native arthropods, but most information on this topic comes from studies of a handful of ant species. The ecological impacts of the many additional introduced ‘tramp’ ant species are largely unknown. In mesic upland forests of O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, ten species of introduced ants were found on four species of understory trees. However, these ants were generally uncommon and occurred at relatively low densities in this habitat type. The most common and abundant ant was Plagiolepis alluaudi, which favored the native tree Pipturus albidus. Ecological effects of ants on arthropods were found to be modest, with overall arthropod community composition not significantly different between ant-occupied and ant-free trees. Most taxonomic groups were similar in abundance and richness between ant-occupied and ant-free trees, except adventive Coleoptera, adventive Hemiptera, and Lepidoptera were less abundant on ant-occupied trees, and adventive Coleoptera and adventive Hemiptera also had lower richness on ant-occupied trees. Among Lepidoptera, caterpillars of two endemic groups had significantly lower incidences on trees with higher ant abundances, while other caterpillars did not. Arthropod trophic structure was largely unaffected, except that chewing herbivores comprised a smaller fraction of biomass on ant-occupied trees. While overall ecological effects were weak in comparison to prior results involving other ant species in Hawai‘i, some of the impacts suggest that higher densities of these introduced ant species could result in similar interactions with arthropods as those of the better-studied invasive ant species.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the O‘ahu Army Natural Resources Program for funding and assistance with field work. The Department of Forestry and Wildlife and the Natural Area Reserve System of the Hawai‘i Department of Land and Natural Resources also provided funding and research and access permits. B. Aiu, P. Albaneze, R. Alexander, C. Berman, P. Henderson, T. Ho, J.W. Kim, S. Kimmons, C. Lai, C. Lozoya, P. Maher, R. Mierzejewski, J. Ocenar, C. Ogura-Yamada, J. Smith, K. Takaba, B. Wattron, and H. Xu helped with sample sorting and identification. W. Haines assisted with Lepidoptera identifications, and D. Polhemus, L. Leblanc, G. Bennett, K. Arakaki, G.A. Samuelson and B. Kumashiro assisted with other arthropod identifications. The Bernice P. Bishop Museum and the UH Insect Museum provided access to collections.

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  1. Department of Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences, University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, 3050 Maile Way, Gilmore 310, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA

    Paul D. Krushelnycky

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Correspondence to Paul D. Krushelnycky.

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Krushelnycky, P.D. Ecology of some lesser-studied introduced ant species in Hawaiian forests. J Insect Conserv 19, 659–667 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-015-9789-y

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