Solenopsis abdita Thompson (Formicidae: Myrmicinae) new to Britain

Abstract

The ant genus Solenopsis Westwood, 1840, includes over 200 currently recognised species and subspecies. About 20 larger predatory species are called 'fire ants', while the rest are mostly small, inconspicuous species commonly known as 'thief ants'. Several fire ant species have established populations outside their native Solenopsis ranges, where they can be a major pest, e. g., the Red imported fire ant (S. invicta Buren, 1972). In contrast, few thief ants have been recorded outside their native ranges and none are known as significant pests. Here, we report a New World (Florida) thief ant, Solenopsis abdita Thompson, 1989, with an established population in the artificially-heated greenhouse at The Eden Project, Cornwall, England. This is the earliest known record of S. abdita in Europe. We provide a suite of measurements, high-resolution images, and diagnostic morphological characters useful to help others identify this species.