Diet and Spatial Pattern of Foraging in Ectatomma opaciventre ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

616 Sociobiology Vol. 58, No. 3, 2011 periods than closer areas. This would explain the higher number of individual foraging pathways of E. opaciventre closer to the nest. Therefore, foraging strategies seem to depend upon several ecological variables, such as the distribution of food resources in time and space, food size and quality, competition, and predation. A colony must then have a spatial pattern of foraging to collect food effectively and minimize the chance of competition, in order to assure less energy waste and a greater input of resources in the shortest time. CONCLUSION The diversity of prey collected by E. opaciventre in the area studied was low, most probably because of the poor variety of species in the degraded environment and because the observations were carried out in the dry season. Collecting other ant species as the major part of its diet was likely due to the abundance and high richness of individuals belonging to several subfamilies of Formicidae in the area studied. The foraging trails of E. opaciventre presented a pattern similar to those observed in other Ectatomminae studied. With a sinuous profile and directional fidelity, these trails avoid competition with other nests and lead to a better division of the resources explored. Although most trips were unsuccessful, the foragers did not stray too far from the nest, nor did they spend too much time foraging. Since the area was dominated by grass, intense sunlight and heat was present, which could have caused the ants physical exhaustion if they had extended the time spent outside the nest. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) for the financial support. REFERENCES Azevedo, D.L.O. 2009. O papel das rotas e da obtenção de informações sobre a eficiência no forrageio de Dinoponera quadriceps em ambiente natural. Tese de mestrado em Psicobiologia pela Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal/RN, 83p. Baader, A. P. 1996. The significance of visual landmarks for navigation of the giant tropical ant, Paraponera clavata (Formicidae, Ponerinae). Insectes Sociaux, 43: 435-450. Beckers, R., S. Goss, J.L. Deneubourg, & J.M. Pasteels 1989. Colony size, communication and ant foraging strategy. Psyche, 96: 239-256.
Tofolo, V.C. et al. — Spatial Pattern of Foraging in E. opaciventre Bolton, B. 1995. A new general catalogue of the ants of the world. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 504 p. Bonser, R., P.J. Wright, S. Bament & U.O. Chukwu 1998. Optimal patch use by foraging workers of Lasius fuliginosus, L. niger and Myrmica ruginodis. Ecological Entomology 23: 15-21. Brown-Jr, W.L. 1958. Contributions toward a reclassification of the Formicidae. II Tribe Ectatomminae (Hymenoptera). Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard 118: 175-362. Buchkreimer, E.M. & K. Reinhold 2008. Sector fidelity – an advantageous foraging behavior resulting from a heuristic strategy. Behavioral Ecology 19: 984-989. Del-Claro, K. & P.S. Oliveira 1999. Ant-homoptera interactions in a neotropical savanna: the honeydew-producing treehopper Guayaquila xiphias (Membracidae) and its associated ant fauna on Didymopanax vinosum (Araliaceae). Biotropica 31: 135-144. Deneubourg, J.L., S. Goss, J.M. Pasteels, D. Fresneau & J.-P. Lachaud 1987. Self-organization mechanisms in ant societies (II): learning in foraging and division of labor. Experimentia Supplementum 54: 177-196. Fernández, F. 1991. Las hormigas cazadoras del genero Ectatomma (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en Colombia. Caldasia 16:551-564. Fourcassié, V. & P.S. Oliveira 2002. Foraging ecology of the giant Amazonian ant Dinoponera gigantea (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Ponerinae): activity schedule, diet and spatial foraging patterns. Journal of Natural History 36: 2211-2227. Fourcassié, V., A. Henriques & C. Fontella 1999. Route fidelity and spatial orientation in the ant Dinoponera gigantea (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a primary forest: a preliminary study. Sociobiology 34: 505-524. Franks, N.R. & C.A. Fletcher 1983. Spatial patterns in army ants foraging and migration: Eciton burchelii on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 12: 261-270. Fresneau, D. 1985. Individual foraging and path fidelity in a ponerine ant. Insectes Sociaux, 32: 109-116. Giannotti, E. & V.L.L. Machado 1992. Notes on the foraging of two species of ponerine ants: food resources and daily hunting activities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). Bioikos 6(1,2): 7-17. Gordon, D.M. 1995. The development of an ant colony’s foraging range. Animal Behavior 49: 649-659. Harkness, M.L.R. & R.D. Harkness 1976. Functional differences between individual ants Cataglyphis bicolor. The Journal of Physiology 25: 124-125. Harrison, J.S. & J.B. Gentry 1981. Foraging pattern, colony distribution, and foraging range of the Florida harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex badius. Ecology 62: 1467-1473. Hölldobler, B. 1976. Recruitment behavior, home range orientation and territoriality in harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 1: 3-44. Hölldobler, B. & E.O. Wilson 1990. The ants. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 732p. 617
Page 1 and 2: 607 Diet and Spatial Pattern of For
Page 3 and 4: Tofolo, V.C. et al. — Spatial Pat
Page 9: Tofolo, V.C. et al. — Spatial Pat
Page 13: Tofolo, V.C. et al. — Spatial Pat

Diet and Spatial Pattern of Foraging in Ectatomma opaciventre ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?