An Allegheny Mound Building Ant (Formica exectoides). Photo by Gary Alpert.
Mass Audubon’s Conservation Science Division is creating a sanctuary monitoring program that will allow us to measure the ecological integrity, as it were, of our Commonwealth. (Read a pdf of the full article from Connections magazine) How do you measure changes in an ecosystem? One common method is to choose certain organisms and study them over time. Crucial to effective monitoring is choosing the right groups of organisms to study. They should: - be common, widespread, and easy to sample
- occur in a wide spectrum of habitats
- play a role in a variety of ecological niches
- not contain so many species as to overwhelm the would-be monitors
Of the groups we ultimately picked to thoroughly survey and monitor—plants, birds, herps (reptiles & amphibians), odonates (dragonflies and damselflies), and ants—the last probably meet these criteria best.
Ants are:
- Abundant—roughly equivalent in dry weight to the human population, representing 20 to 30 percent of the total animal biomass in many ecosystems;
- Everywhere—occurring in virtually all terrestrial habitats as well as some aquatic ones;
- Versatile—Serving as ecological players with major roles as predators, scavengers, and herbivores;
- Influential—the world’s prime earth movers (at least equal to earthworms in this region);
- Reliable—their colonies tend to be stable for long periods;
- Sensitive to environmental changes—making them excellent ecological indicators; and
- Not dauntingly diverse—with only about 100 species known in Massachusetts.
Ants of Massachusetts Project Goals
- To describe and quantify patterns of distribution and abundance of ants across Massachusetts
- To provide a baseline from which to assess long-term effects of climate change on species distribution
- To develop a set of indicator species to be used to determine efficacy of ongoing and proposed management strategies and to reveal effects of future disturbances and habitat degradation
- To compare with ongoing or planned quantitative surveys of birds and plants at Mass Audubon and Trustees of the Reservations sites
- To lay the groundwork and develop capacity within Mass Audubon and Trustees of the Reservations for future sampling of additional sites and of the same sites in future years.
Other organizations that are assisting with ant research goals, in addition to Mass Audubon and Harvard Forest, include The Trustees of Reservations, the University of Vermont, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard.
Ants You May Already Know (and Love?)
 Sugar ant (aka odorous house ant) (Tapinoma sessile). Tiny. Common and widespread in a variety of habitats, including beaches, fields, and houses. Gives off smell of rotten coconut.
Carpenter ant (Camponotus pennsylvanicus). This species is bane to owners of wood-frame houses because it excavates its living quarters in damp wood, and can cause major structural damage. Viewed more broadly, however, it plays a critical role in the breakdown of dead wood in forest ecosystems. Also a favorite food of pileated woodpeckers. Find out more about Carpenter Ants.
Allegheny Mound Ant (Formica exectoides). Takes up to two years to build a mound three feet high with tunnels that extend three feet underground. Uses formic acid to clear surrounding vegetation. Tends aphids for their “honeydew” and also preys on small arthropods.
Cornfield ant (aka Labor Day ant) (Lasius neoniger). An ant of open habitats, including lawns and sidewalks, this abundant, mound-building species gets one of its common names from the mass nuptial flights that typically occur in late August and early September. A scavenger and perhaps a predator in the nests of terns and diamondback terrapins.
Aphaenogaster rudis. The ant found most commonly in our Massachusetts surveys, it inhabits forests, grasslands, and rocky areas. A great seed disperser, upon which many of our spring ephemeral wildflowers depend. Seed dispersal is one of the major ecosystem services ants provide.
| Aphaenogaster rudis adults with larvae and seeds. Photo animalpictursarchive.com |  |
Pavement ant (Tetramorium caespitum). Nests under sidewalks, stones, and pavement, and within crevices in houses. Native to Europe, but introduced to North America in the 1700s. Gives off an odor of banana oils as a defense.
Learn More About Ants
Books
Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson, 1994, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. A lushly illustrated, large-format introduction to ants and the study of ants written in an accessible style.
Ants of North America: A Guide to the Genera by Brian L. Fisher and Stefan P. Cover, 2007, University of California Press. Not exactly a field guide, but with comprehensive keys to the genera, “diagnostic remarks,” and notes on distribution and ecology. Illustrated with excellent photographs of specimens.
The Ants by Bert Hölldobler and Edward O. Wilson, 1990, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. The definitive work on the ants of the world and the world of ants, this hefty, abundantly illustrated volume won a Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. It is a work of rigorous science, but written in a highly readable style.
Teacher Resources
Katherine Bennett, a fifth-grade teacher in Ashburnham, and Aaron Ellison have developed a website for K-6 teachers to use with their students to learn about ants.
Lord of the Ants classroom activity, from PBS's Nova.
Play Nova's Amazing Ants Game, and learn about several unique species of ants.
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