First Record of the Exotic Ant Hypoponera ergatandria in Italy: Indoor Alate Swarms and Stinging Queens

Abstract

Until recently, Hypoponera ergatandria was commonly misidentified as H. punctatissima, both of which are widespread tramp ant species. Today, H. ergatandria has been recorded in eleven European countries, while most existing H. punctatissima records are doubtful. Its geographic origins, like in the case of H. punctatissima, remain unclear. Here, we present the first record of H. ergatandria in Italy, which also hosts H. punctatissima. We report on a large swarm of alate queens from the basement of a building in the city of Teramo, Central Italy. As reported in Florida under the name H. punctatissima, the species seems capable of producing surprisingly large alate swarms, and alate queens can become a nuisance due to their stinging ability against humans. However, Hypoponera stings are not known to pose any public health threat. Furthermore, H. ergatandria and H. punctatissima are not known to have any ecological impact and are usually confined to a very scattered distribution in Europe.

Keywords

• alien species
• Ponerinae
• Cryptic species
• indoor pests