Détails de cette espèce dans Cauca River Valley Statut: Indigène
Statut d'envahissement: Envahissant
Occurrence: Établi(e)
Source: Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacón 2003 Date d'introduction:
Mode d'Introduction: Notes sur l'espèce pour cette localité:
The little fire ant (Wasmannia auropunctata) is particularly common and easy to identify and collect. A sampling of ant richness in 14 Colombian dry forest fragments found a highly significant negative correlation between the abundance of W. auropunctata and the richness of the ant community. Additionally, a significant positive relationship was found between the abundance of W. auropunctata and the number of ant-plant associations in most of the forest fragments. The study concluded that the abundance of the little fire ant could be used as an indicator of low diversity ant communities in dry forest fragments of the Cauca river valley of Colombia (Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacón 2003). Notes sur la gestion de l'espèce dans cette localité:
Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacón (2003) speculate that increased the linked phenomena of high W. auropunctata density and decreased ant diversity might be related to the intense management of forests in south Colombia, where the level of industrialised sugar cane monocultures is increasing. The improvement of land use in parts of its native range could prevent population explosions of the ant and reduce the likelihood of spread to new locations. Notes sur la localité:
Tropical dry forest in Colombia is one of the most endangered habitats in the country because of the intensive habitat fragmentation that it has suffered in the last decades. Currently, more than two hundred ant species are known from the region, among which the Myrmicinae is the most abundant and species-rich group (Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacón 2003).
In the disturbed forest where abundant remains of twigs, leaf litter and logs are available on the ground, the accelerated increase of W. auropunctata could be favored, because it efficiently exploits this type of nesting substrate (Torres 1984, Ulloa-Chacón and Cherix 1990, in Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacón 2003). Impacts:
Compétition: W. auropunctata is widely distributed throughout South America and is able to displace the local myrmecofauna. The positive relation between W. auropunctata abundance and ant-plant associations in understory vegetation reinforces the belief that W. auropunctata is highly able to exploit and monopolise resources such as extrafloral nectar, refuges within vegetation, and honeydew residues from Homopteran insects, and prevent other ant species from utilising these resources successfully (Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacón 2003).
Économique/Subsistance: Colonises disturbed and agricultural areas, sometimes becoming an economic problem (Fowler et al. 1990, in Armbrecht and Ulloa-Chacón 2003). Dernière mise à jour: 8/05/2006 11:38:41 a.m.
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