Ants
Original title: Formigas
Survey of the seven ant species recorded in Madeira, notably the invasive Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis) introduced from Demerara around 1886–87, which displaced the older native-established Pheidole megacephala, and of the naturalists who studied them.
Seven species of ants have been found in Madeira. The commonest is Iridomyrmex humilis, native to the tropical regions of America and introduced from Demerara in 1886 or 1887. This species, which first appeared in Funchal, is now spread over all or almost all of the low-lying part of the island, reaching altitudes of more than 500 metres in some places. The old Madeiran ant, Pheidole megacephala or Oecophthora pusilla, which is also found in Europe, has gradually disappeared from the island since it was invaded by Iridomyrmex humilis.
No species peculiar to Madeira or Porto Santo (‘holy harbour’) is known, but there are two varieties that appear to be confined to the former island: Plagiolepis pygmaea var. Schmitzii and Tepinoma erraticum var. maderense. Stenamma structor, found more than 40 years ago in the Jardim Municipal (‘municipal garden’), appears to be an introduced species.
Monomorium Salomonis, found in the Savage Islands (Selvagens), does not occur in Madeira, whereas M. carbonarium has been found on this island, at spots not very far from the coast.
Although Dr Oswald Heer published a curious description of Oecophthora pusilla around the middle of the 19th century, it was only much later, thanks to the research of the Revd Father Ernst Schmitz, that the ants of Madeira became properly known. The species collected in our archipelago were dealt with first by Dr Forel (see that entry) and then by the Revd Schmitz, in an article published in the Annaes de Sciencias Naturaes of Porto and reproduced in nos 5,709 and 5,713 of the Diário de Noticias of Funchal in March 1896.
In this article
Time
Years mentioned · 03Place
Places mentioned · 05
1 Abroad
- Demerara
Guyana. Source from which Iridomyrmex humilis was introduced to Madeira.
Demerara, in British Guiana, received mass Madeiran emigration from about 1840, including emigrants after 1846, and was the main export market for Madeiran onions. The Elucidário also records it as the source of the dwarf banana, of entire-leaved sweet potatoes (1845) and of the ant Iridomyrmex humilis, and as the place where Alípio Augusto Ferreira edited O Portuguez.
- Funchal
Where the invasive ant first appeared.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Jardim Municipal
Funchal. Where Stenamma structor was found over 40 years earlier.
The Jardim Municipal is Funchal's public garden, laid out from 1880 on the grounds of the former Franciscan convent in the parish of São Pedro. It is bounded by Rua do Conselheiro to the west and Rua Hermenegildo Capelo to the south, and stands next to the Scottish church. It holds the monument to the first Lisbon–Madeira aviators and the bust of João Fernandes Vieira, and it was hit in both bombardments of Funchal.
- Porto Santo
Has no peculiar ant species.
An island of the archipelago, settled alongside Madeira and forming one of the three captaincies. It has always constituted a single parish, dedicated to Nossa Senhora da Piedade, whose church was repeatedly sacked. The Elucidário records the Moorish pirate raid of 1617, its own Misericórdia and a rainwater channel built on this drought-prone island.
- Savage Islands
Funchal · Selvagens. Where Monomorium salomonis was found.
A small uninhabited island group, politically part of the Madeira archipelago. The Elucidário covers its geography, geology, fauna, ownership history and legends of hidden treasure, including Shackleton's treasure plans, and notes the annual hunting of shearwaters and rabbits. It is the only remaining home of the limpet Patella vulgata and was studied by naturalists such as Lowe and Garreta.
People
People mentioned · 04- Alberto Artur Sarmentob. 1878
Author of a 1937 study of Madeiran ants cited as further reading.
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Myrmecologist who first studied the ant species collected in the Madeira archipelago.
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Priest-naturalist whose research first made Madeira's ants properly known; he published an article on them in 1896.
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Naturalist who published a description of the ant Oecophthora pusilla in the mid-nineteenth century.