Le formiche nocive negli ecosistemi a Quercus suber della Sardegna

During the biennium 2009-2010, a survey on the pest status of some ant species was conducted in some cork-oak stands of the North of Sardinia. In the first year 5 species of arboricolous ants were collected by direct sampling from a number of trees randomly chosen. Although they are not very common species, workers of Camponotus fallax (Nylander, 1856) and Camponotus truncatus (Spinola, 1808) were collected inside little twigs and in other refuges. Crematogaster scutellaris (Olivier, 1792) was the most common species as its presence was detected in every tree. Camponotus vagus (Scopoli, 1763) was observed primarily in old trees and in rotten wood among roots and its pest status has not been seen yet as it rarely builds its nest in productive trees. Serious damages caused by Lasius brunneus (Latreille, 1798) were observed on cork bark of young plants.