Argentine ant: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Argentine ant lives – recorded in 12 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Linepithema humile
Group	Bees, wasps & ants
Found in	12 countries
Continents	Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania, South America
Class	Insect
Order	Hymenoptera
Family	Formicidae

Where does the Argentine ant live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Argentine ant in 12 countries and territories across Africa, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America. Wikidata gives its range as: South America. In Australia, Chile, Spain, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

United States
Portugal (introduced)
Australia (introduced)
Spain (introduced)
France (introduced)
Chile (introduced)
Argentina
South Africa (introduced)
Italy
Mexico (introduced)
New Zealand (introduced)
Brazil

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the Argentine ant?

The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is an insect in the order Hymenoptera and the family Formicidae, genus Linepithema. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Argentine ant

The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile, formerly Iridomyrmex humilis) is an ant native to northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil. This invasive species was inadvertently introduced by humans on a global scale and has become established in many Mediterranean climate areas, including South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Easter Island, Australia, the Azores, Europe, Hawaii, and the continental United States. Argentine ants are significant pests within agricultural and urban settings, and are documented to cause substantial harm to communities of native arthropods, vertebrates, and plants within their invaded range.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Argentine ant (revision 1379898265), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q645538 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).