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European Fire Ants On Mount Desert Island, Maine: Population Structure, Mechanisms Of Competition And Community Impacts Of Myrmica Rubra L. (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), Jeffrey Garnas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the early to mid-201h century, Mvrmica rubra Latreille established in various communities in Maine, mostly along the coast. Since its establishment, the ant has spread both locally via vegetative colony budding and regionally via human commerce to no fewer than 30 Maine communities, including one inland site. Studies were undertaken in the summer of 2002 to address questions of the ants' population structure in its introduced range by testing for intercolony aggression within and between local infestations. Using captive nests maintained in their original nest soil, M. rubra was tested against its close neighbors, neighbors of lorn within the …