Biogeographia – The Journal of Integrative Biogeography

Sporadic sampling over the last decade in the Canary Islands has yielded three added non-native species. One new: Monomorium sahlbergi Emery, 1898 from Los Cristianos (Tenerife); and two recovered: Hypoponera ergatandria (Forel, 1893) from Caldera de Taburiente and Puntagorda (La Palma) and Trichomyrmex destructor (Jerdon, 1851) from San Andrés (Tenerife). In addition, Tapinoma cf. simrothi Krausse, 1911, recently recorded in Fuerteventura, was found in Gran Canaria and is proposed as a cryptogenic species. None currently appears to pose a significant invasive threat. A century after being collected there, and despite having been officially deleted from the BioCan Catalogue, T. destructor is still established at the Playa de las Teresitas (San Andrés; Tenerife). The number of non-native ant species in the Canary Islands has risen to 32, with an exponential trend in recent decades.