Ant assemblages are almost all related with the vegetation composition and so can provide us important information for conservation strategies, which are especially relevant to an environmentally protected area. We sampled the ant fauna in three different phytophysionomies in order to verify if the composition of ant species is different among the areas, especially because one of the areas is a Rocky Field and there is little information about the ant fauna in this habitat. A total of 8730 individuals were registered and an NMDS analysis showed that the ant assemblies are different at the three phytophysionomies (Rocky Field, Riparian Forest, and Secondary Forest). This study shows that the species that compose the ant assemblies in different phytophysionomies are a reflex of the environment, supporting the hypothesis that the vegetational composition results in different compositions in the ant assembly. Vegetal composition is determinant in the formation of the litter and consequently in the occurrence of ant species that depend on this layer of organic matter for nesting and foraging.

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Despite years of study, it remains unclear if and to what extent the effects of extra-floral nectaries (EFNs) on arboreal ants observed on individual trees scale up to larger spatial scales.Here, we address this issue in Brazilian savanna and tested three predictions: (i) Trees with EFN have higher richness of arboreal ant species than trees without; (ii) Arboreal ant species richness increases with the proportion of total EFN-bearing trees at the site scale, due to a higher occurrence of non-core ant species; (iii) Ant species composition changes with the proportion of EFN-bearing trees at the site scale. We sampled arboreal ants in 32 plots with EFN-bearing trees ranging from 0% to 60% of all trees. We sampled 72 ant species, from which 17 (mostly belonging to Camponotus, Cephalotes and Crematogaster) were identified as core species in at least one of the ant-EFN networks in the 32 plots. Ant species richness was significantly higher on EFN-bearing trees. We identified 11 ant species that preferentially occurred on EFN-bearing trees, all of which were core partners in networks. Species richness at the site scales increased with the proportion of EFN-bearing trees, regardless of tree density and richness; this pattern was due to a higher occurrence of non-core ant species. Finally, species composition also varied with the proportion of EFN-bearing trees. Therefore, we found that the presence of EFNs not only influences arboreal ants on individual trees but also has a substantial effect on the ant-EFN network on a broader community scale. The increase in non-core species site scale reveals that this interaction is unlikely to result in substantially enhanced protection services for EFN-bearing plants.

Different ant species are frequently associated with carcasses during decomposition and they are present from the early until the late postmortem phase. Despite the common presence of Formicidae on carcasses, their role in the decomposition process is generally neglected. Here, we evaluate the effect of ants on Mus musculus decomposition pattern and abundance of associated dipteran fauna in the Neotropical region. We also discussed the role of different ant species in the decomposition process, emphasizing their predatory or necrophagous behaviour. Six carcasses of M. musculus were placed in the field and distributed equally in two treatments: “with ants” and “without ants”. Only in the “without ants” treatment, ants were not allowed to access the carcasses. A total of six ant species were registered on carcasses. The most abundant ant species were Linepithema neotropicum and Pheidole sp., which exhibited an intense predatory behaviour on dipteran larvae, resulting in a delay in the decomposition process. In contrast, Camponotus rufipes workers were observed acting exclusively as necrophagous and their behaviour clearly accelerated the decomposition process on one carcass. Considering the entire decomposition process, the average abundance of adult flies was not different between the two treatments. However, we found a significant difference in the abundance of dipteran larvae between them. Our findings provide a preliminary study about the effect of Neotropical ant species presence on the decomposition pattern. We highlight the contradictory role that different ant species may exhibit on carcasses and how these presented findings could be applied in medico legal reports.

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