Faunestic Study of Ants with Emphasis on the Health Risk of Stinging Ants in Qeshm Island, Iran
-
J Rafinejad
,
A Zareii
,
K Akbarzadeh
,
M Azad
,
F Biglaryan
,
S Doosti
,
MM Sedaghat
Abstract
Background: Qeshm (26.75N, 55.82E), Iran, is 1500 km² island in the Strait of Hormuz. Qeshm is a free trade zone, acting as an important channel for international commerce, and has been the site of much recent development. There is potential risk of stinging ant attacks for residents and visitors that may occur in the island. The aims of this study were to find out the fauna, dispersion, and some of the biological features of ant species with special attention to those, which can play role on the public health of the island.
Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we surveyed ants around the island using non-attractive pitfall traps and active collection to evaluate potential threats to humans and other species during 2006-2007. All collected specimens were identified using the morphological ant keys.
Results: Only six ant species were found: Pachycondyla sennaarensis (41%), Polyrhachis lacteipennis (23%), Camponotus fellah (16%), Cataglyphis niger (9%), Tapinoma simrothi (7%), and Messor galla (4%).
Conclusion: We were surprised not to find any cosmopolitan tramp ants so often associated with commerce and development. Instead, all six species may be native to the Middle Eastern region. The most common species, P. sennaarensis, has a powerful sting and appears to do well around human habitations. This species may prove to be a serious pest on the island.
Akbarzadeh K, Tirgari S, Nateghpour M, Abaie MR (2006a) The first occurrence of Fire Ant Pachyconcdyla Sennaarensis (Hym: Formicidae), southeastern Iran. P J Biol Sci. 9(4): 606–609.
Akbarzadeh K, Tirgari S, Nateghpour M, Abaie MR (2006b) Medical importance of Fire Ant Pachyconcdyla Sennaarensis in Iranshahr and Sarbaz Counties, south- eastern of Iran. J Med Sci. 6(5): 866–869.
Al-Shahwan M, Al-Khenaizan S, Al-Khalifa M (2006) Black Samsun ant induced anaphylaxis in Saudi Arabia: the first re- port. Saudi Med J. 27(11): 1761–1763.
Astruc C, Julien JF, Errard C, Lenior A (2004) Phylogeny of ants (Formicidae) based on morphology and DNA sequence data. Mol Phylogenet Evol, Available at: www.sciencedirect.com.
Bolton B (1994) Identification of the ant genera of the world. Belknap Press, Harvard,
Bolton B (1995) A New General Catalogue of Ants of the World. Belknap Press, Harvard.
Borror DJ, Triplehorn CA, Johnson NF (1989) An Introduction to the Study of Insects.6th ed. Saunders College Publishing, Phi- ladelphia.
Collingwood CA (1985) Hymenoptera: Fam.Formicidae of Saudi Arabia. Fauna Saudi Arabia. 7: 230-302.
Collingwood CA, Agosti D (1996) Formicidae (Insects: Hymenoptera) of Saudi Arabia (Part 2) Fauna Saudi Arabia 15: 300–385.
Collingwood A, Tigar BJ, Agosti D (1997) Introduced ants in the United Arab Emir- ates. J Arid Environ. 37: 505–512.
Collingwood CA, van Harten A (2001) Ad- ditions to the ant fauna of Yemen. Esp Buche Entomol. 8: 559–568.
Collingwood CA, van Harten A (2005) Fur- ther additions to the ant fauna (Hymen- optera: Formicidae) of Yemen. Zool Mid- dle East. 35: 73–78.
Dejean A, Lachaud JP (1994) Ecology and behavior of the seed eating ponerine Bra- chyponera sennaarensis (Mayr). Insect Soc. 41: 191–210.
Dib G, Guerin B, Banks WA, Leynadier F (1995) Systemic reactions to the Sam- sun ant: an IgE-mediated hypersensitiv- ity. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 96: 465–72.
Emery C (1881) Spedizione Italiana nell' Africa Equatoriale. Risultati Zoologici. Formiche. Ann Mus Civ Stor Nat. 16: 270–276.
Iran access (2007) Cities. Available at: http:// www.iranaccess.com/iraninfo/Cities/qe shmataglance.htm
Mayr G (1862) Myrmecologische Studien. Ver- handlungen der k.k. Verh Zool Bot Ges.12: 649-776.
McGlynn TP (1999) The worldwide transfer of ants: geographical distribution and eco- logical invasions. J Biogeography. 26: 535–548.
Mohammed OB, Hussein HS, Elowni EE (1988) The ant, Pachycondyla senna- arensis (Mayr) as an intermediate host for the poultry cestode, Raillietina tet- ragona (Molin). Vet Res Communica- tion. 12: 325–327.
Moller H (1996) Lessons for invasion theory from social insects. Biol Cons. 78:125-42.
Morrison LW, Porter SD, Daniels E, Kor- zukhin MD (2004) Potential global range expansion of the invasive fire ant, Sole- nopsis invicta. Biol Invasions. 6: 183-191.
Orivel J, Dejean A (2001) Comparative effect of the venoms of ant of the genus Pa- chycondyla (Hymenoptera: Ponerinae). Toxicon. 39: 195–201.
Paknia O (2006) Distribution of the introduced Ponerine ant Pachyconcdyla Sennaaren- sis (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Iran. Myrmecol Nachr. 8: 235–238.
Passera L (1994) Characteristics of Tramp Species. In: Williams DF (Ed). Exotic Ants. Biology, Impact, and Control of In- troduced Species. Westview Press Boul- der CO, p. 23–43.
Wikipedia (2009) Qeshm. Available From:www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qeshm Shattuck SO, Bernet NJ (2001) Australian Ant Online, Copyright CSIRO Australia. Avai- lable at: ttp://www.ento.csiro.au/science/ ants/default.htm
Smith F (1858) Catalogue of Hymenopter- ous Insects in the Collection of the British Museum, 6, Formicidae, London.
Steen CJ, Janniger CK, Schutzer SE, Schwartz RA (2005) Sting reactions to bees, wasps, and ants. Int J Dermatol. 44: 91–94.
Tirgari S, Paknia O, Akbarzadeh K, Nategh- pour M (2004) First report on the pres- ence and medical importance of stinging ant in Southern Iran (Hym: Formicidae: Ponerinae). XXII International Congress of Entomology. Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Tirgari S, Paknia O (2004) Additional records for the Iranian fauna of Formicidae (Hy- menoptera). Zool Middle East. 32: 115-16.
Tirgari S, Paknia O (2005) First record of Ponerine ant (Pachycondyla sennaaren- sis) in Iran and some notes on its ecol- ogy. Zool Middle East. 34: 67–70.
Taylor B (2007) The Ants of (sub-Saharan) Africa. Available at: http://antbase.org/ ants/africa/
Wild AL (2002) The genus Pachycondyla sennaarensis (Hymenoptera; Formici- dae) in Paraguay. Bol Mus Hist Nat Parag. 14(1-2): 1-18.
Williamson M, Fitter A (1996) The varying success of invaders. Ecology. 77: 1661-1666.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 3 No 1 (2009) | |
| Section | Articles | |
| Keywords | ||
| Pachycondyla sennaarensis Public health pests African needle ant Iran | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
