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Solenopsis geminata

Ro Ka‘ati

Tropical Fire-Ant

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General Information

COMMON NAMES: Tropical Fire-Ant, Thief Ant, Fire Ant, Ginger Ant

TRADITIONAL NAMES: Ro Ka‘ati (RR), Rō Kāti (MG), Rō Kakati (MK MT), Rō Katikati (AK), Loa (TS), Roa (TW)

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE C.America - s.USA; EXOTIC EXOTIC circumtropical (incl. Vanuato - Cooks) and subtropical

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; Land, lowlands, horticultural - coastal

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Poisonous sting - serious

KEY FEATURES: Colony a slightly raised mound of soil showing holes and runways. When disturbed "major workers" emerge to defend teh colony. They hold on with their strong teeth (mandibles) while slinging repeatedly. The reaction is usually immediate and painful, and some people have a greater reaction. WORKERS are sterile females and are of two types: major and minor.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
+++	P	P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Solenopsis geminata (Fabricius, 1804)
SYNONYMS: Atta geminata [O]; Atta rufa

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Hymenoptera; Apocrita; Aculeata; Vespoidea; FORMICIDAE, Myrmicinae

More Information

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Poisonous sting - serious. Comments: NBSAP - Aitutaki (ants spp, 3 of 10 animal pests), NBSAP - Mauke (ants spp. 10 of 10 animals), NBSAP - Mitiaro (ants spp. 3 of 9 animals), NBSAP - Atiu (this sp. 4 of 4 wild pests)

GENERAL NOTE: Tramp species = Certainly distributed by recent human commerce. Distribution: pantropical and subtropical.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: Wheeler1914; Unknown1924; Wilder1925; Clark1937; specimens+photo, queen+male+majors+minors, Tupapa, 12/2003, G.McCormack with ID as Solenopsis geminata, ID confirmed Neil Reimer (Hawaii DoA) 5/2004. Mangaia: TaylorDSIR.

References:
Special Reference: PM79, W&T67,

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
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