FIVE NEW RECORDS OF ANTS (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) FOR NEBRASKA

Authors

Kristine T. Nemec, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
James C. Tager, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Elizabeth Manley, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Craig R. Allen, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Nemec, K.T., J.C. Trager, E. Manley, J. A. Kalisch, and C. R. Allen. 2012. Five new records of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) for Nebraska. The Prairie Naturalist 44:63–65.

Comments

US government work.

Abstract

Ants are ubiquitous and influential organisms in terrestrial ecosystems. About 1,000 ant species occur in North America, where they are found in nearly every habitat (Fisher and Cover 2007). Ants are critical to ecological processes and structure. Ants affect soils via tunneling activity (Baxter and Hole 1967), disperse plant seeds (Lengyel et al. 2009), prey upon a variety of insects and other invertebrates (Way and Khoo 1992, Folgarait 1998), are often effective primary consumers through their prodigious consumption of floral and especially extrafloral nectar, and honeydew (Tobin 1994), and serve as prey for invertebrates (Gotelli 1996, Gastreich 1999) and vertebrates (Reiss 2001).