Ant fauna was investigated in the Bogor Botanic Garden (Kebun Raya Bogor), West Java, Indonesia, by the following sampling methods: (1) collection of ants on tree trunks, (2) collection of litter ants using a handy sifter, (3) pitfall traps, (4) sugar baits, (5) collection of ants on bamboo shoots, (6) searching for colonies, (7) collection of foraging workers. In all, 216 species representing all the subfamilies known from the Oriental region were collected in 1985 and between 1990 and 1998. After intensive collections in 1995 and 1997, the cumulative number of ant species was still increasing slowly in 1998. The ant fauna was compared with the results from other sites in Southeast Asia, and those of preliminary surveys made by us in four national parks in West Java, i.e., Ujung Kulon and Pangandaran (lowland forests), and Gunung Halimun and Gunung Gede (mountain forests). Species composition in the Bogor Botanic Garden was similar to that of lowland rainforests in West Java, but remarkably different from mountain forests.Key words: ants / diversity / Indonesia / sampling method / fauna / Leptanilla Ants are one of the most dominant terrestrial animal groups in the tropics (Wilson, 1990). Most ants are predators so that they may have an important function in tropical ecosystems. In spite of the importance of studying biology and ecology of tropical ants, our knowledge of them is still scanty and fragmental. Even their taxonomy, basic to the study of every aspect of biology, is desperately incomplete (Ogata, 1992). Especially in the Oriental tropics, myrmecofauna has been rarely investigated after the pioneer works by F. Smith, C. Emery, A. Fore1, and W. M. Wheeler in the late 19th and early 20th century. Beside the importance of their function in ecosystem, ants are now regarded to be useful insects as an indicator of biodiversity (e.g., Andersen, 1990;Majer & Beeston, 1996; Abensperg-Traun et ai., 1996;Longino & Colwell, 1997; Lawton et ai., 1998 (Rosciszewski, 1995;Yamane, 1997; Yamane et ai., 1996;Chung & Maryati, 1996; Briihl et ai., 1998), though solid information on the ant fauna has not yet been available for any place in Indonesia (but see Dammermann, 1948 for the Krakataus). We have collected ants from several sites in West Sumatra and West Java during our researches on population dynamics of phytophagous insects and social organization and ecology of several ant species (see other papers in this volume, and those cited in this paper). As a first report of our myrmecofaunal survey in Indonesia, we will give a list of ants collected in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, discuss the relative efficiency of different sampling methods, and compare ant faunas of Asian tropical forests.The Bogor Botanic Garden is a famous tropical botanic garden established in early 19th, being one of the most attractive places to tourists in West Java. Several ant researchers already visited the Bogor Zoological Museum which was situated in the botanic garden, and collected ants there for taxonomic studies (e.g.,...
A colony of the rare myrmicine ant, Calyptomyrmex sp., was collected in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, Indonesia. Laboratory observation suggested that the species is a highly specialized predator of arthropod eggs. Workers fed on arthropod eggs and often showed larval hemolymph feeding. The queen never fed directly on prey eggs but took nutrients mainly through oral trophallaxis from workers.Key words: ant / prey specialization / egg predation Most ant species are generalist predators, although some species show remarkable specialization on certain prey animals (Holldobler & Wilson 1990). Specialized predation on arthropod eggs has been known in a few ponerine genera, Discothyrea, Proceratium, and Plectroctena (Brown, 1979;Masuko, 1986) and myrmicine ants, Stegomyrmex vizottoi (Diniz & Brandao 1993), Oligomyrmex (= Erabomyrma) nevermanni and 0. (= E.) urichi (Wilson, 1986;Holldobler and Wilson, 1990). Among them, Proceratium, Discothyrea, and Stegomyrmex are exclusive egg predators; the former two genera feed on spider eggs and Stegomyrmex vizottoi predates on spirobolid millipede eggs (Brown, 1957(Brown, , 1979Masuko, 1986;Dejean & Dejean, 1998;Diniz & Brandao, 1993). Ants in the myrmicine genus Calyptomyrmex are, in spite of their wide tropical distribution, very rare, and therefore, nothing is known about their biology and feeding habits (Baroni Urbani, 1975;Bolton, 1981). Fortunately, I collected one colony of Calyptomyrmex sp. in Indonesia, and revealed that it is a highly specialized egg predator.A colony of Calyptomyrmex sp. (colony code FI95-404) was collected in the Bogor Botanic Garden, West Java, Indonesia. This species awaits description. Voucher specimens are deposited at the Bogor Zoological Museum. The colony was kept in an artificial nest in a laboratory to study feeding behavior and food preference. To know their feeding habits, I gave the colony diluted sugar water and several kinds of soil animal including centipedes, termites, isopods, springtails, eggs and adults of spiders and earwigs. This experiment was repeated four times. Feeding behavior of ants was observed for five hours over five days under a dissecting binocular microscope. Additionally, feeding habit of the dealated queen was recorded on video for 2 to 6 hours per day over 5 days (total 24 hours). During the observation of feeding behavior, several eggs of earwigs were always found in the nest chamber. 406F. ITO Queens and workers were dissected under the microscope after the last observation to check ovarian development.The colony contained one dealate queen, 40 workers, and some immatures. In the nest chamber, we found five arthropod eggs. In all experiments, only the eggs of spiders and earwigs were brought into the nest chamber. A forager held an egg with its forelegs and grasped it with its mandibles. Then the egg was carried into the nest chamber. When the egg was too large to hold, a worker rolled it with mandibles and fore-and mid-legs. In the nest chamber, prey eggs were deposited near brood, which was usua...
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