The most-studied ants, an update

trail1c

My earlier list of the most-studied ant species contained a few omissions.  Here is a more inclusive list:

Ant species sorted by number of BIOSIS-listed publications, 1984-2008

The Top 10 Species Publications
Solenopsis invicta 984
Linepithema humile 343
Lasius niger 250
Formica rufa 167
Atta sexdens 163
Formica polyctena 160
Solenopsis geminata 151
Myrmica rubra 142
Monomorium pharaonis 121
Atta cephalotes 112
The Rest

Publications
Oecophylla smaragdina 111
Solenopsis richteri 110
Pheidole megacephala 104
Tetramorium "caespitum" 93
Formica fusca 92
Myrmica ruginodis 88
Pogonomyrmex barbatus 87
Lasius flavus 87
Wasmannia auropunctata 79
Atta laevigata 79
Pogonomyrmex rugosus 79
Leptothorax acervorum 75
Myrmica scabrinodis 70
Formica lugubris 69
Acromyrmex octospinosus 67
Formica cunicularia 65
Messor barbarus 62
Myrmica sabuleti 62
Anoplolepis gracilipes 60
Formica sanguinea 60
Formica exsecta 60
Formica pratensis 60
Atta colombica 60
Paraponera clavata 58
Eciton burchellii 54
Tapinoma melanocephalum 54
Lasius fuliginosus 54
Formica truncorum 48
Polyergus rufescens 48
Ectatomma tuberculatum 48
Myrmecia pilosula 47
Temnothorax albipennis 45
Paratrechina longicornis 44
Formica rufibarbis 43
Ectatomma ruidum 43
Cataglyphis bicolor 42
Cataglyphis cursor 41
Camponotus floridanus 41
Camponotus rufipes 40

I did not comprehensively list every species below 40 publications, but I did tally a few out of curiosity:

Camponotus rufipes 40
Iridomyrmex purpureus 39
Camponotus pennsylvanicus 39
Camponotus herculeanus 39
Tapinoma sessile 38
Formica cinerea 38
Lasius alienus 35
Formica japonica 34
Oecophylla longinoda 34
Myrmica lobicornis 32
Harpagoxenus sublaevis 32
Plagiolepis pygmaea 31
Technomyrmex "albipes" 31
Pachycondyla villosa 29
Tapinoma nigerrimum 28
Pogonomyrmex badius 28
Tetramorium bicarinatum 28
Pogonomyrmex californicus 27
Temnothorax curvispinosus 26
Polyergus breviceps 25
Formica subsericea 24
Lasius neoniger 22
Aphaenogaster cockerelli 20
Harpegnathous saltator 18
Ponera coarctata 14
Lasius japonicus 14

The updated list retains the same defining characteristics as the earlier one: the most studied species tend to be either trampy or European. Data and methods are here.

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