Five New Records of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)
The Prairie Naturalist 44(1):63–65; 2012 FIVE NEW RECORDS OF ANTS (HYMENOPTERA: Formica incerta, F. montana, F. pallidefulva, Lasius FORMICIDAE) FOR NEBRASKA—Ants are ubiquitous interjectus, L. neoniger, Myrmica americana, M. and influential organisms in terrestrial ecosystems. About brevispinosa, Nylanderia parvula, Pheidole pilfera pilfera, 1,000 ant species occur in North America, where they are Ponera pennsylvanica, Prenolepis imparis, Solenopsis found in nearly every habitat (Fisher and Cover 2007). Ants molesta, and Tapinoma sessile. K. T. Nemec [KTN] are critical to ecological processes and structure. Ants collected all ant specimens. For each record, the person affect soils via tunneling activity (Baxter and Hole 1967), who determined the identity of the specimen is preceded by disperse plant seeds (Lengyel et al. 2009), prey upon a the abbreviation “det.” Voucher specimens are either variety of insects and other invertebrates (Way and Khoo located at the Nebraska State Museum [NSM] or with KTN. 1992, Folgarait 1998), are often effective primary Aphaenogaster rudis Enzmann is common in deciduous consumers through their prodigious consumption of floral woodlands and nests in soil, under stones or logs, in and especially extrafloral nectar, and honeydew (Tobin decaying wood, leaf litter, hollow stems of plants, or under 1994), and serve as prey for invertebrates (Gotelli 1996, bark at bases of trees (Smith 1979). Like most members of Gastreich 1999) and vertebrates (Reiss 2001). Aphaenogaster, it is not characteristic of prairies (Trager In Nebraska, ants have been the subject of relatively few 1998), but may be found in prairie remnants or restorations in-depth analyses, including theses (Bare 1929, Henzlik that are adjacent to deciduous trees (Kittelson et al.
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