Contribution to the Current Knowledge of Ant Communities (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Xerophitic Scrubland of Southeast Durango, Durango

Abstract

In order to assess the species richness and diversity of ants in a xerophitic scrubland, a total of three areas were monitored in the Southeast of Durango within the municipalities of Nombre de Dios and Durango. Specific richness, relative abundance as well as Shannon's, Simpson's and Pielou's indices of the ant community were obtained. A total of 19 species from 15 genera within four subfamilies were collected: Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Pseudomyrmicinae and Dolichoderinae. The subfamily with the greatest species richness was Myrmicinae (seven species), while Pseudomyrmicinae had the lowest richness with only two species. Dolichoderinae showed the highest relative abundance (76.5% of the total sample). Four new records of two genera were obtained for the State: Carebara and Linepithema and two species: Atta texana and Myrmecocystus mendax. Shannon's diversity index reached H' = 1.36, Pielou's evenness index was J' = 0.46 and Simpson's index was λ = 0.38. Further targeted studies are required with different sampling techniques in order to obtain a more detailed listing of ants and increase our knowledge on this group of insects in the study region, which shows high diversity potential.

Hormigas (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) de Durango, México

“…Hinojosa-Ontiveros et al (2013) encontraron un total de 32 especies en cuatro municipios de Durango, de las cuales cuatro fueron nuevos registros para éste, aumentando así el número de especies registradas, además indican que en esta parte del país se requieren más estudios dirigidos y recolectas para incrementar el estado del conocimiento acerca de esta familia. Más recientemente, González-Castillo et al (2014), en una recolecta en dos municipios de este estado, pertenecientes a la ecorregión Elevaciones Semiáridas Meridionales, encontraron 15 especies dentro de 15 géneros pertenecientes a cuatro subfamilias. Dada la importancia de ampliar la información acerca de este grupo de insectos para el Estado, esta investigación tuvo como objetivo conocer la mirmecofauna asociada a las diferentes ecoregiones de Durango.…”