Ground-Inhabiting Ants Collected in a Mixed Hardwood Southern Appalachian Forest in Eastern Tennessee‪.‬

ABSTRACT--The ant fauna in four eastern Tennessee mixed hardwood forest sites (cove, slope, open, and tornado-damaged) was sampled using pitfall traps during a two-year study. Ground-dwelling ants were collected at the base of three tree species (Quercus alba L., Acer saccharum Marsh, and Liriodendron tulipifera L.) selected based on their suitability as a food source by the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L. Twenty-one species of ants representing four subfamilies (Formicinae, Myrmicinae, Ecitoninae, and Ponerinae) were identified. Significantly greater numbers of ants were collected in the cove site (1,361) than in any other site, and significantly fewer were collected in the slope site (711). Also, species diversity was greater in the slope (0.90) and cove (0.87) sites, respectively, and lowest in the tornado-damaged site (0.70). **********