Authors: Emily Peak, Ashley Fister, Elizabeth Cutler, Daniel Malagon, and Dr. Sharon Bewick
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Sharon Bewick
College: College of Science
Ant species (Formicidae) that are not indigenous to a particular area can be detrimental to both native ant species and other organisms in the surrounding environment. In South Carolina, red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), Argentine ants (Linepithema humile), crazy ants (Nylanderia flavipes), and Asian needle ants (Brachyponera chinensis) are invasives that pose a serious threat to the environmental health of the region.
The purpose of this study is to discover the presence of ant species in the tested locations, as well as examine the impact of alternate trapping methods on species richness. Pitfall and baiting traps were employed throughout the course of four weeks in urban areas of Aiken, Columbia, and Charleston, SC. Ant specimens were collected from propylene glycol samples and identified to the level of genera using a dichotomous key. Asian needle ants and red imported fire ants were present in sampling clusters in Columbia, however, invasives were absent from the samples derived from Aiken and Charleston. Richness was shown to increase steadily in Aiken and Columbia after the making of a species accumulation graph, while it eventually leveled out in Charleston with the addition of more pitfall traps. Baiting proved to accumulate additional invasive ant genera.
Emily Peak 2021 Undergraduate Research Symposium
