Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerdon, 1851)

Herrera Léon Baert Wouter Dekoninck, Henri W., Causton, Charlotte E., Sevilla, Christian R., Pozo, Paola & Hendrickx, Frederik, 2020, Distribution and habitat preferences of Galápagos ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Belgian Journal of Entomology 93, pp. 1-60 : 42

Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerdon, 1851)

Destructive Trailing Ant ( DEYRUP et al., 2000)

(ANTWEB: CASENT0173269). ( Map 41 )

A cosmopolitan species and a tramp ant (WILSON & TAYLOR, 1967; ESPADALER, 2005; WETTERER, 2015). This invasive ant was recorded for the first time in 1998 on Floreana ( PEZZATTI et al., 1998), however, studies of museum material showed it was already collected in 1992 from Baltra. Trichomyrmex destructor is a scavenger species found in dry and humid areas and distributed on four islands of the archipelago. It is abundant in the disturbed places of Baltra as well as in the urban zone and surrounding area in Floreana ( PEZZATTI et al., 1998; VON AESCH & CHERIX 2005; HERRERA & CAUSTON, 2010). Workers have been observed feeding on insects, birds and dead animals in the arid zone of Baltra Island. Nests can be found under rocks where long columns of workers transport the food. Trichomyrmex destructor was observed attending Ceroplastes spp. , and aphids on plants of Sida ciliaris L. On Baltra it was observed monopolizing honeydew produced by I. purchasi and displacing other introduced ants like P. longiconris and T. melanocephalum from branches of Acacia insulae –iacobi Riley and P. aculeata .

Recently, T. destructor was collected from the humid agricultural area of Isabela in leaf–litter under trees of I. edulis , and on Floreana in crops of A. comosus and M. esculenta . Trichomyrmex destructor is considered a pest in tropical and subtropical areas of the old world ( WETTERER, 2009b), and is considered a threat for the insect fauna of the Galápagos Islands ( VON AESCH & CHERIX 2005; CAUSTON et al., 2006, HERRERA & CAUSTON, 2010).

Figures

Map 41. Distribution of Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerdon, 1851).