Updated list of ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) recorded in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, with a discussion of research advances and priorities

Abstract

Updated list of ant species (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) recorded in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil, with a discussion of research advances and priorities. A first working list of ant species registered in Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil was published recently. Since then, many studies with ants have been conducted in the state. With data compiled from published studies and collections in various regions of the state, we present here an updated list of 366 species (and 17 subspecies) in 70 ant genera in Santa Catarina, along with their geographical distribution in the seven state mesoregions. Two hundred and seven species are recorded in the Oeste mesoregion, followed by Vale do Itajaí (175), Grande Florianópolis (150), Norte (60), Sul (41), Meio Oeste (23) and Planalto Serrano (12). The increase in the number of records since 1999 results from the use of recently adopted sampling methods and techniques in regions and ecosystems poorly known before, and from the availability of new tools for the identification of ants. Our study highlights the Meio Oeste, Planalto Serrano, Sul and Norte mesoregions, as well as the deciduous forest, mangrove, grassland and coastal sand dune ecosystems as priority study areas in order to attain a more complete knowledge of the ant fauna in Santa Catarina State.<br>Lista atualizada das espécies de formigas (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) registradas no Estado de Santa Catarina, sul do Brasil, com discussão sobre avanços e prioridades na pesquisa. Uma lista de espécies de formigas registradas em Santa Catarina foi publicada recentemente. Desde então, diversos estudos com formigas foram realizados em várias regiões do Estado. Neste trabalho, compilamos os dados de trabalhos publicados e de coletas avulsas, e apresentamos uma lista atualizada das espécies de formigas, com menção à distribuição geográfica nas sete mesorregiões de Santa Catarina. São registradas atualmente 366 espécies (e 17 subespécies) de formigas em 70 gêneros no território do Estado de Santa Catarina, sendo que a região Oeste apresenta o maior número de registros (207 espécies), seguida do Vale do Itajaí (175), Grande Florianópolis (150), Norte (60), Sul (41), Meio Oeste (23) e Planalto Serrano (12). O aumento no número de registros em relação à lista de 1999 deve-se principalmente à incorporação recente de métodos de coleta diferenciados e à realização de coletas em regiões e ecossistemas outrora subamostrados, além da disponibilidade de novas ferramentas de identificação. Nosso estudo aponta as mesorregiões Meio Oeste, Planalto Serrano, Sul e Norte, assim como os ecossistemas Florestas Estacionais Deciduais, Mangues, Campos e Restingas, como prioritárias para o aperfeiçoamento do banco de dados da mirmecofauna catarinense

Simple does not mean poor: grasslands and forests harbor similar ant species richness and distinct composition in highlands of southern Brazil

“…The sources used for species-level identification were: Acromyrmex -Gonçalves ( New species records were checked against the most recent checklist for Santa Catarina (Ulysséa et al 2011) and the literature published afterwards.…”

“…Silva & Lopes 1997, Freitas et al 2014, Silva & Brandão 2014. Comparatively little is known about highland mixed forests and grasslands (Ulysséa et al 2011), which only recently started to be systematically investigated (Pinheiro et al 2010, Dröse et al 2017, Franco & Feitosa 2018. We contributed to fill this knowledge gap with the first standardized assessment on the forest-grassland mosaic found in the highlands of the state of Santa Catarina, as a part of the "Programa de Pesquisa em Biodiversidade (PPBio) da Mata Atlântica" (Atlantic Forest Research Program on Biodiversity).…”

Ant assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) associated to environments of a rural property in the extreme western region of the state of Santa Catarina

“…The richness of ants found in the studied rural property represents 33.3% of the ant fauna currently known for the western region of Santa Catarina (ULYSSÉA et al, 2011;LUTINSKI et al, 2013a;LUTINSKI et al, 2017). This study represents the first survey of ants made in the municipality of Palma Sola, as well as it constitutes the first ant survey performed within a rural environment in the region.…”

“…On the other hand, the recorded species belonging to the genera Dorymyrmex and Linepithema are characteristic of anthropogenic environments (ULYSSÉA et al, 2011;LUTINSKI et al, 2013a) and exert strong dominance over food sources. The occurrence of D. brunneus in the CC, TC and PR environments supports the findings of Lutinski et al (2014), which also observed the association of this species with anthropogenic environments.…”

“…Chemical defense and mutualism are commonly observed in the relationships between these species and other organisms (SILVESTRE et al, 2003;BACCARO et al, 2015). Camponotus rufipes and C. sericeiventris are species widely distributed in the state of Santa Catarina (ULYSSÉA et al, 2011), common in anthropogenic environments (LUTINSKI et al, 2013a). The ability to colonize open and anthropogenic environments may explain the positive association of C. rufipes with the CC and TC environments.…”