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Funnel ants (Aphaenogaster spp., Formicidae) as pasture pests in North Queensland. I.—Ecological background, status and distribution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

G. W. Saunders
G. W. Saunders
Affiliation:
Department of Primary Industries, Queensland, Australia
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Extract

In a study of the incidence of funnel ants (Aphaenogaster spp.) on the Atherton and Evelyn Tablelands of northern Queensland in 1959–61, 422 farms were surveyed, totalling over 98,000 acres of pasture, of which 10.8 per cent. proved to be infested with A. pythia Forel. The ants damage the introduced pasture grasses (Paspalum dilatatum and Pennisetum clandestinum) by removing soil from around their roots to from loose mounds, which smother the closely-grazedsward. Inferior species of grass and deep-rooted weeds are thus encouraged and affected areas become useless for dairying.

The natural habitat of A. pythia is wet sclerophyll forest which occurs in narrow belts fringing the rain forest and in pockets within it; the rain forest does not harbour the ant, but following its clearance and its replacement by pastures, A. pythia has spread out and colonised the latter. In areas of lower annual rainfall (under 50 in.) occupied dry sclerophyll forest and Eucalyptus woodland, A. pythia is replaced by A. longiceps F. Smith. Improved pastures have not been established here, but in the relatively restricted areas of infestation by this species, the large funnel-shaped orifices of its mounds create a hazard to stock.

Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 57 , Issue 3 , November 1967 , pp. 419 - 432
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1967

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