Formicidae Insects Research of China Based on Bibliometrics

To clear future direction of Formicidae insects research of China, the career of myrmecology in China were reviewed through bibliometrics method. Totally, 1084 literatures on Formicidae insects research of China from 1758 to 2018 were selected. The developing trends in China and abroad were analyzed, the hotspots were summarized, and the future directions were proposed. The results show that the researches of foreigners mainly focus on taxonomy, and the investigations in China distributed in the 7 subjects of applied entomology, insect taxonomy, insect ecology & geography, insect biochemistry, insect cytology, ancient insect fossil, and entomological summary. From 1858 to date, foreign researchers and travelers continuously came to China collecting and surveying Chinese ant species. And the Chinese ant species were revised from 1940 to 1984. After 1985, the researches of foreigners expended to ant ecology beside taxonomy. From 1758 to 1940, there was no Chinese set foot in Formicidae insects research. China began her first research on Formicidae insects in 1941, the investigations restricted in applied entomology and insect taxonomy from 1941 to 1984. The flourishing period of Formicidae insects research in China started after 1985, 3 hot directions were presented: taxonomy became hotspot of basic research, the control of Solenopsis invicta became hotspot of applied entomology since invasion of the fire ant to China mainland, and ant community & species diversity, mutualism between ants & other insects, and ant fauna & species distribution patterns became hotspots of insect ecology and geography. Meanwhile, the probes of molecular systematics, biochemistry, cytology and fossil of ants have started. Based on the conclusion, the main directions were proposed for Formicidae insects research of China in future.