Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851)

Barreno, Marissa, López, Myriam Arias de, Pazmiño-Palomino, Alex & Molina-Moreira, Natalia, 2025, A first overview of ant diversity in mangroves along the Ecuadorian coast, Revista Brasileira de Entomologia (e 20240062) 69 (1), pp. 1-16 : 5

Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851) ( Fig. 6 )

Identification: Distinguishable small with its head and gaster dark, contrasting with the rest of the body, which is light brown or yellow, especially the legs and antennae ( Sharaf et al., 2021), setting it apart from other Neotropical Monomorium species.

Comment: One of the most successful invasive species globally, it has been reported in northern Amazonia in Ecuador ( Ryder et al., 2010; Donoso et al., 2017), Galápagos ( Herrera et al., 2024), the dry forest in the southwest and the Chocó of the northern coast ( Salazar-Basurto et al., 2023). It forms polygynous and polydomous colonies, facilitating rapid dispersion into new ecosystems. Additionally, its small size allows it to exploit any crevice for nest formation ( Wetterer, 2009a).

Figures

Figure 6 Monomorium floricola.a) lateral view, b) full face view, and c) dorsal view of worker. Images by Alex Pazmiño. Scale 0.5 mm.