The ManhattAnt: Identification and Dietary Ecology of a Recently Introduced Urban Ant in New York City, Lasius emarginatus

Disciplines

Integrative Biology

Abstract (300 words maximum)

New York City has been the site of introduction for some of North America’s most damaging invasive pests, from the chestnut blight to the Asian long-horned beetle. Despite these cautionary examples, there has been no formal research on a newly introduced ant species that was tentatively identified as a European ant species, Lasius cf. emarginatus. Since its discovery in 2011, L. cf. emarginatus has become among the most common urban ant species in New York City. This ant’s discovery made national headlines and produced the memorable nickname the “ManhattAnt.” Despite the ManhattAnt’s prevalence and media attention, it has not been formally identified and there has been little research on its success in New York City. In contrast to other urban exploiting ant species, the ManhattAnt does not appear to be feeding on human food waste. Instead, we hypothesized that the ManhattAnt may be exploiting a novel urban niche space by feeding on hemipteran-produced honeydew in the canopies of urban street trees. First, to confirm the identity of the ManhattAnt, we used a combination of numeric morphology-based alpha taxonomy (NUMOBAT) and DNA sequencing to identify specimens collected in New York City. Next, to determine whether the ManhattAnt is foraging in the canopies of street trees, we compared the weights of ascending and descending workers foraging on street trees. Our morphologic and genetic data find strong support that the ManhattAnt in New York City is European ant species Lasius emarginatus. Likewise, our data comparing the weights of foraging workers support our hypothesis that L. emarginatus workers are foraging in the canopies of street trees in New York City.

Academic department under which the project should be listed

CSM - Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology

Primary Investigator (PI) Name

Clint Penick

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The ManhattAnt: Identification and Dietary Ecology of a Recently Introduced Urban Ant in New York City, Lasius emarginatus

New York City has been the site of introduction for some of North America’s most damaging invasive pests, from the chestnut blight to the Asian long-horned beetle. Despite these cautionary examples, there has been no formal research on a newly introduced ant species that was tentatively identified as a European ant species, Lasius cf. emarginatus. Since its discovery in 2011, L. cf. emarginatus has become among the most common urban ant species in New York City. This ant’s discovery made national headlines and produced the memorable nickname the “ManhattAnt.” Despite the ManhattAnt’s prevalence and media attention, it has not been formally identified and there has been little research on its success in New York City. In contrast to other urban exploiting ant species, the ManhattAnt does not appear to be feeding on human food waste. Instead, we hypothesized that the ManhattAnt may be exploiting a novel urban niche space by feeding on hemipteran-produced honeydew in the canopies of urban street trees. First, to confirm the identity of the ManhattAnt, we used a combination of numeric morphology-based alpha taxonomy (NUMOBAT) and DNA sequencing to identify specimens collected in New York City. Next, to determine whether the ManhattAnt is foraging in the canopies of street trees, we compared the weights of ascending and descending workers foraging on street trees. Our morphologic and genetic data find strong support that the ManhattAnt in New York City is European ant species Lasius emarginatus. Likewise, our data comparing the weights of foraging workers support our hypothesis that L. emarginatus workers are foraging in the canopies of street trees in New York City.