Seasonal Studies of an Isolated Red Imported Fire Ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Population in Eastern Tennessee

Abstract

Seasonal studies on a 1,200-ha isolated infestation of Solenopsis invicta Buren located in McMinn County, TN, were initiated in 1993 and continued through 1997. Winter survivability was evaluated and compared with a southern Mississippi site. The impact of S. invicta on local myrmecofauna was compared with a Tennessee non-infested site. Data collected over four winters indicate that consecutive days at a low ambient air maximum temperature is more indicative of S. invicta winter survivability than minimum temperature. After significant S. invicta mortality the first winter (1993–1994), we did not find significant differences in ant species diversity between the S. invicta infested Tennessee site and a similar, but non-infested site, 32 km away. Species commonly collected in the S. invicta infested site included Forelius pruinosus Roger, an unnamed Forelius sp., Paratrechina terricola (Buckley) and Pheidole vinelandica Forel.