All Across North Africa: The Non-Native Longhorn Crazy Ant Paratrechina longicornis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in Libya and Tunisia
The longhorn crazy ant Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille, 1802) is one of the most widespread ant species worldwide due to human-mediated introductions. It is particularly successful in tropical and subtropical regions across all continents and has become widespread in the Mediterranean, where it is usually detected in heavily disturbed sites. Southern Europe seemingly represents the northern limit for outdoor populations in this region. Here we report the first data from Libya and Tunisia, bridging the only major distribution gap in North Africa. Specimens were collected from one Libyan and 15 Tunisian sites from 2003 to 2025. The range of P. longicornis is virtually continuous from Morocco to China. Despite its cosmopolitan range, very little is known about the interactions with native ants or other organisms.
Authors
- Mattia Menchetti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0707-7495)
- Antonio Alicata (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7762-2420)
- Enrico Schifani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0684-6229)
- Wala Oueslati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1143-4942)
- Saïd Nouira
Institutions
- University of Parma (IT)
- University of Catania (IT)
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (ES)
- Tunis El Manar University (TN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Sociobiology
- Published
- 2025-08-07
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v72i3.11799
- Primary Topic
- Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00