Geographic Range
Tetramorium immigrans
are ants in the subfamily
Myrmicinae
. Commonly known as pavement ants, they are native to Europe and the Mediterranean.
They appeared in American cities sometime in the 19th century or earlier. Despite
not being native to the United States, pavement ants are currently very common. Their
range is fragmented and difficult to define.
- Biogeographic Regions
- nearctic
- palearctic
Habitat
Pavement ants form colonies under stones, debris, and other objects. Commonly found
near urban areas, they may live near pavement, roads, parks, construction areas, and
inside of buildings. They get their name from their tendency to create nests in areas
near pavement.
- Habitat Regions
- temperate
- Terrestrial Biomes
- savanna or grassland
- forest
- mountains
- Other Habitat Features
- urban
- suburban
- agricultural
Physical Description
Pavement ants average about 0.8 mm in length. They are dull and dark brown to blackish.
They are rarely reddish colored. Queen ants are slightly larger than workers and males.
Pavement ants are notably difficult to differentiate from other species in their genus.
Their identifying characteristics are their 11 to 12-segmented antennae, three-segmented
antennae club, and two-segmented waist. Females have a thick black median stripe.
- Sexual Dimorphism
- sexes colored or patterned differently
Development
Pavement ants go through the same stages of development as other ants in the genus Tetramorium .
Reproduction
Pavement ants are a eusocial species. Only one to several females mate, while all
the other females do not.
- Mating System
- eusocial
Pavement ants are known to hybridize with the species
Tetramorium caespitum
. The hybrid offspring they produce are fertile and able to reproduce.
- Key Reproductive Features
- sexual
- fertilization
- oviparous
Multiple generations of female pavement ants take care of the young.
- Parental Investment
- female parental care
Behavior
Pavement ants are a colonial species that behave differently depending on their role.
Workers collect and retrieve supplies and food. Queen pavement ants are responsible
for reproduction. Males do not do much work. Pavement ants live on the ground and
leave the nests to gather resources.
Communication and Perception
Like other ants, pavement ants use pheromones, acoustic, and tactile feedback for
communication. They use acoustic, tactile, pheremones, and visual feedback for perception.
Food Habits
Pavement ants are omnivorous. They consume dead and live insects, seeds, and plant
sap. Indoors, they may feed on various household foods such as grease, nuts and seeds,
crackers, cheese, honey, meat, and bread. They seem to prefer meat and grease.
Pavement ants eat plants, meat, and insects. When outdoors, they eat dead and live
insects, seeds, and plant sap. Indoors, they may eat various household foods such
as grease, nuts and seeds, crackers, cheese, honey, meat, and bread. They seem to
prefer eating meat and grease.
- Primary Diet
- omnivore
- Animal Foods
- insects
- Plant Foods
- seeds, grains, and nuts
- sap or other plant fluids
Predation
Many species of the genus
Tetramorium
, including pavement ants, are cryptic.
- Anti-predator Adaptations
- cryptic
Ecosystem Roles
Another species of the family
Myrmicine
,
dark guest ants
are social parasites of pavement ants. They form mixed colonies by invading the nests
and using the resources of the pavement ants. The pavement ants often don't even notice
the intruders.
- Dark quest ants ( Anergates atratulus )
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Pavement ants may be considered pest species. They tend to nest near gardens, homes,
and other human structures. Pavement ants are known to feed on garden plants and enter
buildings to gather food.
- Negative Impacts
- household pest
Conservation Status
Pavement ants are not currently undergoing any conservation efforts.
Other Comments
In older literature, pavement ants may be called
Tetramorium caespitum
.
Additional Links
Contributors
Deena Hauze (author), Animal Diversity Web Staff.
- Nearctic
-
living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.
- introduced
-
referring to animal species that have been transported to and established populations in regions outside of their natural range, usually through human action.
- Palearctic
-
living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.
- native range
-
the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.
- temperate
-
that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).
- tropical savanna and grassland
-
A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.
- savanna
-
A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.
- temperate grassland
-
A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.
- forest
-
forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.
- mountains
-
This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.
- urban
-
living in cities and large towns, landscapes dominated by human structures and activity.
- suburban
-
living in residential areas on the outskirts of large cities or towns.
- agricultural
-
living in landscapes dominated by human agriculture.
- eusocial
-
the condition in which individuals in a group display each of the following three traits: cooperative care of young; some individuals in the group give up reproduction and specialize in care of young; overlap of at least two generations of life stages capable of contributing to colony labor
- sexual
-
reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female
- fertilization
-
union of egg and spermatozoan
- oviparous
-
reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.
- female parental care
-
parental care is carried out by females
- motile
-
having the capacity to move from one place to another.
- colonial
-
used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- visual
-
uses sight to communicate
- tactile
-
uses touch to communicate
- acoustic
-
uses sound to communicate
- chemical
-
uses smells or other chemicals to communicate
- cryptic
-
having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.
- omnivore
-
an animal that mainly eats all kinds of things, including plants and animals
References
Cordonnier, M., G. Escarguel, A. Dumet, B. Kaufmann. 2020. Multiple mating in the context of interspecific hybridization between two Tetramorium ant species. Heredity , 124: 675–684. Accessed September 15, 2020 at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41437-020-0310-3 .
MacGown, J., R. Whitehouse. 2017. "Tetramorium immigrans Santschi, 1927 (=Tetramorium caespitum (Linnaeus, 1758)) "pavement ant"" (On-line). Ants (Formicidae) of the Southeastern United States. Accessed September 15, 2020 at https://mississippientomologicalmuseum.org.msstate.edu/Researchtaxapages/Formicidaepages/genericpages/Tetramorium_immigrans.htm .
Wagner, H., W. Arthofer, B. Seifert, C. Muster, F. Steiner, B. Schlick-Steiner. 2017. Light at the end of the tunnel: Integrative taxonomy delimits cryptic species in the Tetramorium caespitum complex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Myrmecological News , 25: 95-129.
Wagner, H., C. Karaman, V. Aksoy, K. Kiran. 2018. A mixed colony of Tetramorium immigrans Santschi, 1927 and the putative social parasite Tetramorium aspina sp.n. (Hymenoptera: Formicid. Myrmecological News , 28: 25-33. Accessed September 15, 2020 at https://doi.org/10.25849/myrmecol.news_028:025 .
Zhang, Y., T. Vitone, C. Storer, A. Payton, R. Dunn, J. Hulcr, S. McDaniel, A. Lucky. 2019. From Pavement to Population Genomics: Characterizing a Long-Established Non-native Ant in North America Through Citizen Science and ddRADseq. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution , 7: 1-10. Accessed September 15, 2020 at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00453/full .