Solenopsis globularia Smith, 1858

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 : 31

Solenopsis globularia Smith, 1858

(ANTWEB: CASENT0173279). ( Map 29 )

An ant reported from southeastern United States, Central America, Caribbean islands and parts of South America ( PACHECO & MACKAY, 2013). Solenopsis globularia is a species of uncertain origin in Galápagos. The first specimens were collected in 1899 in Española, Genovesa and Isabela islands (WHEELER, 1919, 1924). Now present on 34 islands and islets, it is the most widely distributed ant in all vegetation zones of the archipelago – though it seems to prefer natural, dry habitats. Solenopsis globularia has rarely been found in urban areas. Nests can be found under rocks and under small logs on sandy beaches. It has been found feeding on extrafloral nectaries of O. echios and J. thouarsii (WHEELER, 1924; MEIER, 1994). It has also been recorded visiting flowers of O. megasperma and C. lutea ( BOADA, 2005) .

This species has been collected in natural and dry areas, open dry deciduous forest dominated by B. graveolens , rocky soil with little leaf litter covered with herbs, under piles of leaves of R. mangle , A. germinans , C. pyriformis and between patches of Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L. Solenopsis globularia was also found in areas dominated by C. scouleri , Acacia rorudiana Christoph. , herbs layer ( P. pauperum , M. aspera , Oxalis sp. , P. galapagoensis , D. procumbens ), shrubs ( P. juliflora , C. lutea , C. leucophlyctis , A. echinocephala ), and in areas with S. virginicus and I. triloba along small lagunas under tidal influence (coast of Fernandina). In the humid highlands, all records are from areas cultivated with B. oleracea var. italica or C. annuum .

Figures

Map 29. Distribution of Solenopsis globularia Wheeler, 1919.