Notes on biology of Brazilian populations of ants of the Pachycondyla foetida species complex (Formicidae: Ponerinae)

Abstract

In many ant species, newly mated queens can associate themselves with other queens to establish new colonies independent of parenthood (Hagen et al., 1988; Sasaki et al., 1996). In some cases, workers become reproductive and es-Abstract In ant taxonomy, biological studies are especially important to complete the information aiming to identify species belonging to unresolved or confused taxa. Such observations allow the inclusion of biological data with other characteristics of the determined group, something that preserved specimens in collections do not reveal, such as nesting site, foraging time, nuptial flight and especially the relationship between castes, in support of taxonomic analysis and descriptions. Here, nests of three species of the complex P. foetida were observed and collected in three Brazilian localities. Pleometrosis, secondary monogyny and cannibalism were observed for the ant P. inversa. In many ant species, newly mated queens associate with other queens to establish new colonies, independent of parenthood. In the ant genus Pachycondyla, the reproductive structure varies broadly and aggressiveness seems to be an important factor in structuring the organization and reproductive division in the colony. The occurrence of males in nests of P. inversa and P. curvinodis also allowed the description of males. The nuptial flight period was estimated to be August for P. inversa, October for P. villosa and November for P. curvinodis.

Nest Site Selection during Colony Relocation in Yucatan Peninsula Populations of the Ponerine Ants Neoponera villosa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…Neoponera villosa is a generalist arboreal predatory ant [18][19][20] with a wide geographical distribution, from Texas to Argentina [21]. This species occurs both in wet and dry forests [22] and is an opportunistic cavity breeder that nests in dead and live trees, and in bromeliads [17,23,24]. In the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, N. villosa nests mainly in the epiphytic bromeliad Aechmea bracteata (Sw.) Griseb [23,25,26], although other species of Aechmea with the same type of growth are available in this area [27].…”

Land‐use change in the Amazon decreases ant diversity but increases ant‐mediated predation

“…Identification and confirmation of species and morphospecies was made by Mila F. O. Martins. For species and morphospecies, specific published descriptions were used to identify Acromyrmex (Gonçalves, 1961), Acropyga (LaPolla, 2004), Apterostigma (Lattke, 1997), Atta (Goncalves, 1942), Brachymyrmex (Ortiz‐Sepulveda et al, 2019), Camponotus (Mackay, 1997), Carebara (Fernández, 2004), Cephalotes (Andrade & Urbani, 1999), Crematogaster (Blaimer, 2012; Longino, 2003), Discothyrea (Borgmeier, 1954), Dolichoderus (MacKay, 1993), Dorymyrmex (Cuezzo & Guerrero, 2012), Ectatomma (Kugler & Brown, 1982), Gnamptogenys (Camacho et al, 2020), Holcoponera (Camacho et al, 2020), Leptogenys (Lattke, 2011), Linepthema (Wild, 2007), Megalomyrmex (Brandão, 2003), Mycetomoellerius (Mayhe‐Nunes & Brandão, 2002), Ochetomyrmex (Fernandez, 2003), Octostruma (Longino, 2013), Odontomachus (Brown Jr, 1976), Pachycondyla (Fernandes et al, 2014; Mackay & Mackay, 2010; Wild, 2005), Pheidole (Wilson, 2003), Pogonomyrmex (Johnson, 2021), Solenopsis (Pacheco et al, 2013; Pitts et al, 2018), Trachymyrmex (Solomon et al, 2019), and Wasmannia (Longino & Fernández, 2007). In addition, ant specimens from the Coleção Entomológica at Universidade Federal de Lavras (CEUFLA) and Antweb (http://www.antweb.org) were used for comparisons.…”

Filling the gap: a new ant-butterfly symbiosis in the forest canopy

“…They are generalist predators and forage mainly in the canopy collecting at liquid carbohydrate food sources [56][57][58] . This species nests opportunistically in pre-existing cavities in live and dead trees 71,72 ; in the southern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, it preferentially uses the myrmecophytic tank-bromeliad Aechmea bracteata as a nest site [39][40][41]71 . In the A. bracteata microcosmos, a diverse array of specialized and facultative myrmecophiles, mostly antagonists, establish complex trophic interactions with N. villosa 40 .…”