Meeting Abstract
Compared to the rest of New England, relatively little is known about the biodiversity of ants in Rhode Island. The sampling has been especially sparse in the county of Providence. To understand more about the species richness and natural history of our home state, we conducted a series of sampling studies to collect and identify the ants on campus at Providence College, and more widely in the region. The first systematic survey involved a longitudinal ten-week pitfall trap collection method. The follow-up surveys involved general collecting, baiting, and leaf-litter sifting. Ants were preserved and sorted in ethanol and select specimens pinned for identification using morphological characteristics, focus-stacked macrophotography, and scientific illustration. Nearly two thousand ants were identified to more than 20 species from four subfamilies: including Ponerinae, Dolichoderinae, Formicinae, and Myrmicinae. We also report the first record in New England, a singleton, of Brachyponera chinensis, an invasive ant previously only collected as far north as New York.
