First survey of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of Piauí: filling a major knowledge gap about ant diversity in Brazil

Abstract

Piauí, a Brazilian Northeast state, has been considered one of the most important regions for the presence of new taxa in ants globally, especially considering the ecosystems’ diversity formed by the transition of the three biomes in the state, the Cerrado, Caatinga and the Atlantic Forest. Despite the recent increase in studies of ant diversity in the Neotropical region, Piauí still represents a major knowledge gap regarding its ant fauna. Therefore, this study aimed to increase the knowledge about the ant fauna of the state by generating a list of species with data obtained from the literature, online repositories and collection expeditions to the Serra da Capivara and Serra das Confusões National Parks. A total of 152 species in 52 genera and nine subfamilies were registered from 24 localities in Piauí. Fifty-eight out the 152 species recorded represent new records for the state, eight are new records for the Brazilian Northeast Region, and one consists of a new record for the country. Eleven species are here recognized as new for science. Considering the field expeditions carried out here, this work represents the first standardized study for the ant fauna of Piauí. The species list presented considerably exceeds the current number of species registered for the state so far. From the present 48 records, the number of species for Piauí raises to more than 150 with a tendency to increase with the accomplishment of future field endeavors and advances in the study of the local ants.

Seasonality effect on ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) activity in an ecotonal environment in the state of Piauí, Brazil

“…The most representative genera in this study reflect the results of Jory & Feitosa (2020). These authors also observed Pheidole with the most significant number of species, followed by Solenopsis and Camponotus.…”

“…The subfamily Myrmicinae was dominant in our study, both in the number of species and in the number of genera. The predominance of Myrmicinae is a general pattern in ant studies in natural environments of the Neotropical Region (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990;Santos et al, 2017;Silva et al, 2017;Koch et al, 2019), and the state of Piauí is not an exception (Jory & Feitosa, 2020). This subfamily represents about 50% of the diversity of known ant species (Bolton, 2021), and presents flexible feeding habits, behavioral dominance, and varied reproduction strategies (Fernández, 2003;Silvestre et al, 2003;Hamidi et al, 2017), as well as extreme adaptability to control large ecological niches in the Neotropical region (Fowler et al, 1991).…”

“…Ants are eusocial insects prominent in terrestrial ecosystems because of their wide geographical distribution, abundance, and species richness (Hölldobler & Wilson, 1990;Alonso & Agosti, 2000;Vasconcelos et al, 2001;Jory & Feitosa, 2020). Brazil has the most remarkable diversity of ants in the Americas, and one of the most extensive globally, registering more than half of the species described for the Neotropical Region, which corresponds approximately to 1,500 species distributed in 112 genera (Bolton, 2021).…”

“…In the state of Piauí, northeastern Brazil, 152 ant species distributed in 53 genera and nine subfamilies were reported in 24 sites sampled (Jory & Feitosa, 2020). This state requires prioritization in terms of diversity studies, since it presents an ex-tensive transition zone between three Brazilian biomes, the Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, and Caatinga (Jory & Feitosa, 2020), while only basic information is available on the ant fauna in this region.…”

Avaliação das Interações da Fauna de Formigas em Diferentes Usos do Solo

“…O gênero Pheidole, o mais diverso dentre os gêneros de Formicidae, apresenta 1003 espécies conhecidas pela ciência, e essa elevada diversidade taxonômica no mundo acarreta em grande diversidade local, pois geralmente é o gênero com maior riqueza de espécies em levantamentos da fauna de formigas brasileira (Vicente et al, 2018;Jory & Feitosa, 2020). Entretanto, apesar de apresentar um comportamento onívoro, esse gênero foi apenas observado no bananal e na agrofloresta.…”