The 2005 ESA Annual Meeting and Exhibition
December 15-18, 2005
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Please note: Recorded presentations are still being processed and added to the site daily. If you granted permission to record and do not see your presentation, please keep checking back. Thank you.

Saturday, December 17, 2005
D0491

Abundance and distribution of pest ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the Pacific Northwest and Great Basin

Jeffrey Weier, jweier@spraguepest.com and Robert Andrews, Bobby@spraguepest.com. Sprague Pest Solutions, PO Box 2222, Tacoma, WA

Ants have become a significant issue in the structural pest control industry. Information regarding the ranges and abundance of these insects is not always well documented. We had our service technicians collect ants samples from in and around structures that Sprague Pest Solutions services (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and Northeast Nevada). These samples were identified and the identification linked to the address where they were collected. This information was then entered into a Geographical Information System (GIS) (ArcView) and occurrence maps were created that grouped samples by zip code. Relative abundance was reported by the number of times each species was collected in each county. Although the collection methods may be biased, the information will provide the beginnings of a database for ant occurrence in this geographic region which will provide direction for education and research efforts.


Species 1: Hymenoptera Formicidae Camponotus modoc (Carpenter ant)
Species 2: Hymenoptera Formicidae Tapinoma sessile (Odorous house ant)
Species 3: Hymenoptera Formicidae Tetramorium caespitum (Pavement ant)
Keywords: species distribution