1. Invasive Ant Biology and Identification
Allan Burne
Pacific Biosecurity, Victoria University of Wellington

2. This Workshop Overview Outcomes
Ant Biology-life cycle reproduction and dispersal
Ant anatomy and characters
Types of ants (subfamilies)
The Pacific Invasive Ant (PIA)key
Using the microscope
Identification resources
Knowledge of ant biology including life cycle reproduction and dispersal
Understanding of ant anatomy and characters used for identification
Understanding of the different types of ants
Familiarity with the PIA Key
Ability to use the microscope
Knowledge of Identification resources

3. Part 1. Ant Biology-life cycle reproduction and dispersal
Invasive Ant Biology and Identification
Part 1. Ant Biology-life cycle reproduction and dispersal

4. Three types of Ant QUEEN MALE WORKER
Queens are usually larger than workers. New queens in most species are winged and often fly to meet mates and form new colonies.
Workers are the caste of ants that are most commonly seen. They forage for food and other resources for the nest and also look after brood in the nest. Some ant species have different types of workers called subcastes. These subcastes may differ in size or shape and perform different nest functions.
Males are usually the same size as workers and are typically winged. Males are produced in time for the breeding season and do not usually survive long after mating.
WORKER

5. Killing workers does not kill nests!
The ants most commonly seen are workers
They do not produce eggs
Queens produce all the eggs
Queens are well protected and rarely seen
Killing workers with products such as Mortein will not solve your problems with ants. The ants that are most commonly seen are workers, which are sterile and do not lay eggs. Eggs are laid by one or more queens, which typically live below ground and are well protected. In order to kill a nest you must kill the queen. This can be achieved using low doses of poison incorporated in attractive baits. The workers find these baits and take them back to the nest, where they are fed to the queen and her young.
Image: cdn.physorg.com

6. Ant life cycle
The life cycle is the same as a butterfly’s: egg, larva pupa, adult
Eggs and pupae do not need to eat.
Some species produce their young once a year, others throughout the year and others again produce queens and males at one time and workers at another. It is important to know where the ants are in their life cycle for management to be successful. There is no point baiting if there are no larvae being fed.
Image: Ask a Biologist website

7. Dispersal Seasonal Winged queens (alates) Budding Photo:B. M. Drees.
Budding, is the name given to a form of ant dispersal where one or more (typically) wingless queens leave the nest with a group of workers and moves over ground to a new location where they start a new nest. Budding may occur in response to a disturbance. It is important when delimiting or monitoring to minimise disturbance to nests as much as possible to avoid triggering a budding response.
Photo:B. M. Drees.
Photo:A.Bockoven.

8. Jump Dispersal Nests may also be moved around unintentionally
Ants can move in to vehicles overnight.
Movement from HIGH RISK to HIGH VALUE areas
These images show the engine and door of a car, which was parked on an ant nest in an infested area overnight. The security of the engine and door panels offer excellent nesting spots for ants. In the space of 12 hours the ants colonised the vehicle. When the vehicle moved to its new destination it took the ants with it and they likely established there too.
It is important to check vehicles moving from high risk infested areas to high value areas such as where people live, store food or conservation areas.
Photos: Pestcemetry.com

9. Movement from HIGH RISK to HIGH VALUE areas
Movement controls are necessary to prevent invasive ant infestations from spreading. This is especially the case when goods or vehicles are routinely moved between high risk (invaded) areas and high value (conservation or residential) areas. A good example of this is the copra warehouse in Ronton Kiritimati. Copra provides and ideal nesting place for invasive ants such as the YCA. When the copra is moved the ants are too. If infested materials were to be moved from Ronton to motu tabu, the environmental damage would be severe.
Photo:

10. Part 2. Ant anatomy and Diagnostic Characters
Invasive Ant Biology and Identification
Part 2. Ant anatomy and Diagnostic Characters

11. Ant Anatomy
Illustration: Wikimedia

12. Part 3. Types of Ant (subfamilies)
Invasive Ant Biology and Identification
Part 3. Types of Ant (subfamilies)

13. It is impossible to know every ant!
Figure: C. Moreau et al., 2006
This diagram illustrates how may types of ant there are. The coloured bars on the right represent the 16 different subfamilies. The horizontal lines represent the different genera in each subfamily. There are too many species in each genus to display in a diagram like this. There are more than species of ants around the world – more than any one person could know or identify. Keys can be used to identify ants and starting by identifying what you have found to a subfamily will help make the job easier.

14. Ant subfamilies 16 subfamilies
Four of concern in the Pacific: Myrmicinae, Ponerinae, Formicinae, Dolichoderinae
Separated by morphological characters
Myrmicinae
A Morphological character is the name given to the different forms each body part may take. For example the antennae may have twelve segments in one species, but only ten in another. By comparing groups of characters it is possible to narrow down the possibilities to a single species.
Ponerinae
Formicinae
Dolichoderinae
Illustrations: Eli Sarnat

15. Ant Anatomy Illustration: Wikimedia
The number and shape of waist segments an ant possesses is a quick diagnostic character used to differentiate subfamilies.
Illustration: Wikimedia

16. Which subfamily?

17. Which subfamily?
Two petiole segments
Myrmicinae

18. Which subfamily?

19. Which subfamily? Ponerinae
Constriction between 1st and 2nd segments of the gaster
Ponerinae

20. Which subfamily?

21. Which subfamily?
Acidopore present
Formicinae

22. Which subfamily?

23. Which subfamily? Dolichoderinae
Similar characters to Formicinae, but no Acidipore
Dolichoderinae

24. Part 4. The pacific invasive ant key
Invasive Ant Biology and Identification
Part 4. The pacific invasive ant key

25. The Pacific Invasive Ant (PIA) key
Step by step identification of the most common invasive ants in the Pacific
Videos of ant behaviour

26. Part 5. Using the Microscope
Invasive Ant Biology and Identification
Part 5. Using the Microscope

27. Using the microscope

28. Part 6. Identification Resources
Invasive Ant Biology and Identification
Part 6. Identification Resources

29. What to do if you find something
Report to
An individual report a find to ALD
ALD Division
ALD report the find to the NPPO
NPPO = National Plant Protection Organization Officer
Pacific Biosecurity will also supply a list of ant identification resources in the Pacific Invasive Ant Toolkit
NPPO*
The NPPO reports the find to SPC who provide an identification
SPC
IF the Identification reveals a pest a local response plan is activated

30. Identification Resources
Pestnet:
Global Invasive Species Database (GISD):
CABI Invasive Species Compendium:
Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER):
PlantPono:

31. Identification Resources
Pacific Invasive Ant Key (PIAkey):
SPC: MOU with NZ Ministry of Primary Industries Laboratory at Tamaki Campus – ID of Quarantine pests (Contact: Maclean Vaqalo,

32. Record what you have got.
It is important to record the ant species that you find
Record when and where they were found.
Record the action you took
Record the outcome of that action

33. Five key steps to remember
Understanding ant biology is essential for ant control
Identification is achievable using a step by step key
Microscopes assist in identification
Always record what you find and what you did about it
When something suspicious is found follow process
Photo: THEM!