Ecology and Taxonomy of Ants

RESUMEN. Las hormigas son un grupo importante de insectos en los ecosistemas terrestres por características como su diversidad y abundancia. En el Estado de México son pocos los estudios realizados en relación a la familia Formicidae, mientras que para la Sierra de Guadalupe no se cuenta con este tipo de información, a pesar que enfrenta una continua presión ambiental al estar cerca de la zona urbana, con la información derivada de este tipo de estudios se puede planificar un mejor manejo de áreas naturales puesto que las hormigas responden rápidamente a los cambios ambientales, por tal motivo, el objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir con datos como la riqueza de especies, abundancia y equidad de hormigas a través de material recuperado de necrotrampas colocadas durante un año. Se obtuvieron 6 primeros registros de hormigas para la sierra de Guadalupe así como el primero (Temnothorax andrei) para el Estado de México. En cuanto a la abundancia Camponotus atriceps, especie que tuvo el mayor valor, se asocia muchas veces con la perturbación de sitios, por lo que podría estar revelando parte de las presiones a las que se enfrenta la Sierra de Guadalupe.
Palabras clave: Temnothorax andrei, Nuevo registro, NTP-80, Riqueza de especies, Equidad.

The Myrmecofauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the State Park, Sierra de Guadalupe, Coacalco, State of Mexico.
Abstract. Ants are an important group of insects in terrestrial ecosystems due to their diversity and abundance. In the State of Mexico, there are few studies conducted in relation to the Formicidae family, while Sierra de Guadalupe does not have this type of information, despite it faces a continuous environmental pressure due to its proximity to the urban area. With derived information of this type of studies can be planned a better management of natural areas because ants respond quickly to environmental changes, for this reason the objective of this study is to contribute with data such as species richness, abundance and equitability of ants through material recovered from necrotraps (NTP-80) placed for a year. Among the results obtained there are 6 first records of ants for the Sierra de Guadalupe and the first (Temnothorax andrei) for the State of Mexico. Regarding the abundance Camponotus atriceps, species that had the highest value, is often associated with the disturbance of sites, so it could be revealing part of the pressures facing the Sierra de Guadalupe.
Key words: Temnothorax andrei, First record, NTP-80, Species richness, Equitability.

We describe and illustrate the venom apparatus and other morphological characters of the recently described Martialis heureka ant worker, a supposedly specialized subterranean predator which could be the sole surviving representative of a highly divergent lineage that arose near the dawn of ant diversification. M. heureka was described as the single species of a genus in the subfamily, Martialinae Rabeling and Verhaagh, known from a single worker. However because the authors had available a unique specimen, dissections and scanning electron microscopy from coated specimens were not possible. We base our study on two worker individuals collected in Manaus, AM, Brazil in 1998 and maintained in 70% alcohol since then; the ants were partially destroyed because of desiccation during transport to São Paulo and subsequent efforts to rescue them from the vial. We were able to recover two left mandibles, two pronota, one dismembered fore coxa, one meso-metapropodeal complex with the median and hind coxae and trochanters still attached, one postpetiole, two gastric tergites, the pygidium and the almost complete venom apparatus (lacking the gonostylus and anal plate). We illustrate and describe the pieces, and compare M. heureka worker morphology with other basal ant subfamilies, concluding it does merit subfamilial status.

With 55 genera and 1,611 species currently described, the ants collectively referred to as “Poneromorphs” globally correspond to those subfamilies that formerly represented tribes of the subfamily Ponerinae, prior to the supra-generic classification of Formicidae by Bolton, published in 2003. This artificial grouping aggregates a large set of taxa that are now contained within the
subfamilies Amblyoponinae, Ectatomminae, Heteroponerinae, Paraponerinae, Ponerinae (in its modern sense) and Proceratiinae. These ants share a great diversity in native environments and possess many morphological and behavioural characteristics that lead to them being considered “basal” or “primitive”. This book presents a set of original studies and literature reviews that focus on different areas of knowledge, such as taxonomy, genetics, cytogenetics, morphology, pharmacology, behavioural sciences, agronomy, ecology, biogeography and biomonitoring.

RESUMEN. En este trabajo se enlistan hormigas carroñeras de un bosque de encino en Chapa de Mota, capturadas mensualmente con trampas tipo NTP-80, de agosto de 2014 a julio de 2015. Se recolectaron 394 organismos agrupados en dos subfamilias, cinco géneros y cinco morfoespecies. Myrmicinae tuvo la mayor riqueza con tres morfoespecies. Formicinae fue la más abundante de la cual Camponotus sp., registró el 85% de los organismos. Se obtuvo baja riqueza en diciembre y baja abundancia en enero, lo cual se explica por las bajas temperaturas de esta época del año que limitan la capacidad de las hormigas para obtener recursos. El período de mayor riqueza y abundancia fue agosto-septiembre, debido quizá a la alta productividad de frutos y semillas que son recolectadas por las hormigas durante los meses de lluvia. La riqueza de especies es baja comparada con otros estudios realizados en bosque templado donde emplean trampas de caída, no obstante, la curva de acumulación de especies con el estimador Chao2, sugiere que se obtuvo el 100% de las hormigas carroñeras esperadas. El índice de diversidad más alto se obtuvo en marzo, mientras que en diciembre, mayo y junio se observaron los valores significativamente (P < 0.05) más bajos.

ABSTRACT. We list ants of an oak forest in Chapa de Mota, captured monthly with NTP-80 traps, from August 2014 to July 2015. We collected 394 organisms grouped into two subfamilies, five genera and five morphospecies. Myrmicinae had the highest richness with three morphospecies. Formicinae was the most abundant of which Camponotus sp., recorded 85% of organisms. A low richness was obtained in December and low abundance in January, which is explained by the low temperatures of this season of the year that limit the capacity of the ants to obtain resources. The greatest richness and abundance was obtained in August-September, perhaps due to the high productivity of fruits and seeds that are collected by the ants during the rainy months. The species richness is low compared to other studies carried out in temperate forest where fall traps are used, possibly the trap bait drove away other species present in the study area, however, the accumulation curve with the Chao2 estimator suggests that 100% of the expected carrion ants were obtained. The highest diversity index was obtained in March, while in December, May and June the values were significantly lower (P < 0.05).

The first checklist of genera of Hymenoptera from Espírito Santo state, Brazil is presented. A total of 973 genera of Hymenoptera is listed, of which 555 (57%) are recorded for the first time from this state. Ichneumonoidea and Chalcidoidea are the two superfamilies with the most genera, 241 and 203 respectively. Braconidae, with 141 genera, are the richest family.

Las hormigas son insectos que participan en muchas de las cadenas alimenticias terres­tres; algunas especies son plagas, otras son enemigos naturales de diversos artrópodos. El objetivo de este artículo fue informar sobre los géneros y especies de hormigas presen­tes en el Museo de Insectos de la Facultad de Agronomía [hoy Facultad de Ingeniería y Ciencias (FIC)] de la Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas (MIFA-UAT), así como de los re­gistros para el Estado de Tamaulipas, México. Se determinó taxonómicamente el material de Formicidae del MIFA-UAT y se recopiló in­formación de diversas colecciones y publicaciones en México. Se encontró que, en el Estado de Tamaulipas, los formícidos se han colectado desde hace más de dos décadas, y que esta familia se encuentra representada por nueve subfamilias, 53 géneros y 155 es­pecies y en el MIFA-UAT por ocho subfamilias, 35 géneros y 60 especies. Los géneros con mayor diversidad son Pheidole (20 especies), Pseudomyrmex (12), Neivamyrmex (11), Cam­ponotus (10) y Crematogaster (8). El MIFA-UAT posee casi el 70 % de los géneros de hormi­gas registradas en Tamaulipas.
Ants are insects participating in many of the terrestrial food chains; some species are pests, others are natural enemies of diverse arthropods. The objective of this article was to inform about the genera and species of ants that occurrs in the Insects Museum of the Facultad de Agronomía [today Facultad de In­geniería y Ciencias (FIC)] of the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas (MIFA-UAT) and the records to the State of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Material of Formicidae in MIFA was determi­ned taxonomically and it was compiled information about Formicidae in different collec­tions and publications in Mexico, it was found than in the State of Tamaulipas, ants have been collected for more than two decades and than this family is represented by nine subfamilies, 53 genera and 155 species, and in MIFA-UAT by eigth subfamilies, 35 genera and 60 species. Genera with more diversity are Pheidole (20 species), Pseudomyrmex (12), Neivamyrmex (11), Camponotus (10) and Crematogaster (8). MIFA-UAT contains almost 70% of genera recorded in Tamaulipas.

Survey costs and a lack of taxonomists are often the main impediments to biodiversity inventories. The use of a higher-taxon approach that is efficient in representing species patterns within a short period of time is one way to overcome these constraints, especially if these responses are consistent at various spatial scales and sampling techniques. Here, we evaluated whether the use of pitfall trapping or Winkler extraction influenced the utility of genus as a surrogate to predict patterns of species richness and composition related to environment. The study sites were spread along 10 degrees of latitude, covering phytophysiog-nomies with different topographic characteristics. We recorded 450 ant species/morphospe-cies distributed in 70 genera. Pitfall-traps captured a larger proportion of species (77–98%) and genera (71–100%) per site. Genus was efficient in predicting variations in richness, and assemblage composition detected at the species level, using pitfall-traps or Winkler extractors. The higher-taxon approach saved approximately 40% of the surveys costs. The negative effect of the species-genus ratio was detected only on species composition, but it did not affect the quality of predictions using genera. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that genus can be used as a proxy for broader sets of species independent of sampling technique or environmental heterogeneity. The use of pitfall-traps or Winkler extractors for genus-level identification proved to be cost-efficient and time-efficient and should work well in other regions requiring conservation effort and monitoring programs.

The members of Dorylinae are dominant predators in tropical and subtropical terrestrial ecosystems. The most cryptic army ant genus of the New World is Cheliomyrmex. The only species recognized until now for the Amazon Brazilian Basin is C. andicola, recorded in the state of Acre. We provided the first records of Cheliomyrmex megalonyx to Brazil in the Amazon Basin. The major worker of Cheliomyrmex megalonyx was collected in the state of Rondônia while the minor was found in the state of
Amazonas. These records suggest that more efforts are needed to reveal the diversity, distribution and biology of these cryptic ants.

Camponotus senex (Fr. Smith 1858) and Camponotus textor Forel, 1899 are commonly confused species in the New World tropics. We provide morphological characteristics based on the larvae and adults, behavioural differences, together with evidence from molecular markers (cuticular hydrocarbon profiles, venom differences, nuclear ri-bosomal ITS-1 and mtDNA COI sequence comparisons) to separate the two species, demonstrating the are not immediately closely related. In conclusion we suggest new reliable morphological characters which can benefit from deeper phenetic analysis, and support the contextual usefulness of non-morphological tools in resolving sib-ling ant species.

In four different localities in the Brazilian Amazon we registered raids of army ants (Nomamyrmex esenbeckii). The prey were ants of the genera Atta, Odontomachus and Camponotus and termites of the genus Nasutitermes. The behavior of the army ant and its prey were registered. Our observations expand the number of prey recorded in the literature. It is possible that the dietary regime of these army ants is more flexible than previously believed and is related to food availability.

"This study aimed to determine how the richness and composition of ant species behaves with changes in the recovery process of a gully erosion. The study area has 0.9 hectares subdivided into three sections called sector: “A”, “B” and “C”. For the definition of the sectors, erosive and natural restoring were taken as the base level of activity. Four transects were laid systematically throughout the area and surrounding compound with forest and grassland. Each transect had three “pitfall trap” ten meters apart
from each other, with catches of ants were held in rainy and dry seasons. Analysis of variance was applied to compare the number of ant species per plot captured and Scott-Knott test 5% for comparison of means. To verify the similarity of species between environments it was performed an analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and ordering of environments a “Nonmetric Multidimensional Scaling” (NMDS). We captured 74 species of ants inside and around the gully erosion. The more degraded environment and initial stage of regeneration, showed greater richness of ant species. The composition of ant species was different between the recovery environments and around. The parameters of ant communities analyzed, richness and composition species were influenced by the regeneration of the area, indicating that ants can be used as bioindicators of gullies recovery."

One important strategy to conciliate forest conservation and economic development is the use of reduced-impact logging techniques. Here we evaluated the effects of low-intensity forest management on ant assemblages and vegetation structure in a managed area in the southeast of Acre State, Brazil. Ground-dwelling and arboreal ants, and several forest-structure descriptors were sampled in nine paired areas located in control (unlogged) and logged areas in 2005, 2007 and 2009. None of the forest structure predictors were related with either the treatment or the time since logging. However, some ant assemblage’ descriptors were related with logging activities. Arboreal and ground-dwelling ant species richness was similar between unlogged and logged areas, but more ground-dwelling ant
species were found in areas logged in 2005 compared with areas logged in 2009. Ground-dwelling ant assemblage composition differed between treatments (logged and unlogged) and year of logging, but species composition heterogeneity was similar between areas. Arboreal ant assemblage composition was not related with treatment and year of logging, but assemblage composition was more heterogeneous in managed areas, suggesting that species that forage on the understory vegetation may be more resilient than grounddwelling species. The general results of functional group approach suggest that changes of species composition between control and managed areas are more related with differences in ant species occurrence than ant species richness. Selective logging had limited effect on both vegetation descriptors and ant assemblage structure, suggesting that the conciliation of impact reduction techniques with low intensity extraction seems a promising alternative
for sustainable logging activity in tropical forests.