Ants that Frequently Colonize Twigs in the Leaf Litter of Different Vegetation Habitats

Authors

  • Tae Tanaami Fernandes Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes
  • Débora Rodrigues Souza-Camapana Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes
  • Rogério Rosa Silva Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi
  • Maria Santina Castro Morini Universidade de Mogi das Cruzes

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v65i2.2742

Keywords:

Atlantic Forest, urban fragment, diversity, nesting, understory

Abstract

Ants often colonize twigs in the leaf litter, but some species use this resource more frequently than others. We analyzed the composition of the community and the diameter of colonized twigs to test if any species had a size preference. Samples were collected in different vegetation habitats (urban parks, eucalyptus plantations and native forests). In each site, all twigs with an ant colony in six 16-m2 plots were collected and measured, and the ants occupying them were identified. For the analyses, we only included species recorded in 10 or more twigs; these species were considered “common inhabitants” of the twigs (approximately 19.7% of the fauna analyzed). Our results indicate that the community is richer and uses a larger number of twigs of different diameters in the native forest. In addition, some species colonized twigs of similar sizes in different vegetation habitats, suggesting possible selection by ants.

   

References

Armbrecht, I., Perfecto, I. & Vandermeer, J. (2004). Enigmatic biodiversity correlations: ant diversity responds to diverse resources. Science, 304: 284-286. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone. 0013146.

Byrne, M. M. (1994). Ecology of twig-dwelling ants in a wet lowland tropical forest. Biotropica, 26: 61-72. doi: 10. 2307/2389111.

Carvalho, K. S. & Vasconcelos, H. S. (2002). Comunidade de formigas que nidificam em pequenos galhos da serapilheira em floresta da Amazônia Central, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Entomologia, 46:115-121. doi: 10.1590/S0085-5626200 2000200002.

Coob, M., Watkins, K., Silva, E.V., Nascimento, I. C. & Delabie, J. H. C. (2006). An exploratory study on the use of bamboo pieces for trapping entire colonies of arboreal ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Sociobiology, 47: 215-223.

Davidson, D. W., Arias, J. A., Mann, J. (2006). An experimental study of bamboo ants in western Amazonia. Insectes Sociaux, 53: 108–114. doi: 0.1007/s00040-005-0843-8.

Debout, G., Schatz, B., Elias, M., Mckey, D. (2007). Polydomy in ants: what we know, what we think we know, and what remains to be done. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 90: 319-348. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8312.2007.00728.x.

Fernandes, T. T., Silva, R. R., Souza, D. R., Araújo, N. & Morini, M. S. C. (2012) Undecomposed twigs in the leaf litter as nest-building resources for ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in areas of the Atlantic Forest in the southeastern region of Brazil. Psyche. A Journal of Entomology, 2012: 1-8. doi: 10.1155/2012/896473.

Hölldobler, B. & Wilson, E. O. (1990).The Ants. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 732 p.

Murnen, C. J., Gonthier, D. J., & Philpott, S. M. (2013). Food webs in the litter: Effects of food and nest addition on ant communities in coffee agroecosystems and forest. Environmental Entomology, 42: 668-676. doi: 10.1603/EN12294.

Pereira, M. P. S., Queiroz, J. M., Souza, G. O. & Mayhé-Nunes, A. J. (2007). Influência da heterogeneidade da serapilheira sobre as formigas que nidificam em galhos mortos em floresta nativa e plantio de eucalipto. Neotropical Biology and Conservation, 2: 161-164.

Souza, D. R., Fernandes, T. T., Nascimento, J. R. O., Suguituru, S. S. & Morini, M. S. C. (2012). Characterization of ant communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in twigs in the leaf litter of the Atlantic rainforest and eucalyptus trees in the southeast region of Brazil. Psyche. A Journal of Entomology, 2012: 1-12. doi: 10.1155/2012/532768.

Souza-Campana, D. R., Silva, R. R., Fernandes, T. T., Silva, O. G. M., Saad, L. P. & Morini, M. S. C. (2017). Twigs in the leaf litter as ant habitats in different vegetation habitats in southeastern Brazil. Tropical Conservation Science, 10: 1-12. doi: 10.1177/1940082917710617.

Suguituru, S. S., Morini, M. S. C., Feitosa, R.M. & Silva, R.R. (2015). Formigas do Alto Tietê. Canal 6: Bauru, 456p.

Suguituru, S. S., Souza, D. R., Munhae, C. B., Pacheco, R. & Morini, M. S. C. (2013). Diversidade e riqueza de formigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) em remanescentes de Mata Atlântica na Bacia Hidrográfica do Alto Tietê, SP. Biota Neotropica, 13: 1-11. doi: 10.1590/S1676-06032013000200013.

Vasconcelos, H. L., Vilhena, J. M. S., Caliri & G. J. A. (2000). Responses of ants to selective logging of a central Amazonian forest. Journal of Applied Ecology, 37: 508-515. doi: 10. 1046/j.1365-2664.2000.00512.x.

Downloads

Published

2018-07-09

How to Cite

Fernandes, T. T., Souza-Camapana, D. R., Silva, R. R., & Morini, M. S. C. (2018). Ants that Frequently Colonize Twigs in the Leaf Litter of Different Vegetation Habitats. Sociobiology, 65(2), 340–344. https://doi.org/10.13102/sociobiology.v65i2.2742

Issue

Vol. 65 No. 2 (2018)

Section

Short Note

License

Sociobiology is a diamond open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to the user or his/her institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

 

    1. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.

 

    1. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

 

  1. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).

Most read articles by the same author(s)