Foraging Activity and Trophic Spectrum of Red AntPogonomyrmex barbatusSmith, 1858, in Productivity-Contrasted Microenvironments

Abstract

Foraging strategies can be influenced by many factors such as abundance, availability, and toxicity of the resources. In arid zones, the distribution and productivity of plants also act as additional factors that affect foraging strategies. Twenty colonies of Pogonomyrmex barbatus ants were studied in an arid zone of central Mexico to evaluate the trophic niche breadth in two sites with contrasting productivities in terms of their diversity and amount of resources during two seasons. The results suggest that when the resources are abundant as in the rainy season, the trophic niche breadth is reduced in sites with high productivity and, in the same sites, the trophic niche breadth increases when the resources are limited as in the dry season. In contrast, the trophic niche breadth is similar in both conditions of resource availability (i.e., rainy and dry seasons) at sites with low productivity. During the dry season, populations of P. barbatus showed a similar foraging behavior in sites with high and low productivity. Thus, the particular characteristics of a site can significantly affect the foraging strategies of the ants in those environments.

Control químico de Pogonomyrmex barbatus con atrayentes de maíz, en Irapuato, Guanajuato, México

“…Las hormigas granívoras tienen impacto económico y ecológico, ya que son plagas en áreas agrícolas, al transportar semillas de plantas no deseables en campos de cultivo y además, defoliar las plantas cultivadas (Guzmán-Mendoza et al, 2012). Pogonomyrmex barbatus (Smith, 1858) (Formicidae, Myrmicinae) es una hormiga granívora distribuida ampliamente en el centro de México, que construye nidos subterráneos que provocan la pérdida de agua de riego, dificultan el paso de la maquinaria y minan los bordos de almacenamiento de agua (Johnson, 2000).…”

Structural changes over time in individual‐based networks involving a harvester ant, seeds, and invertebrates

“…Such scavenging activity directly impacts the redistribution of nutrients on the ground (MacMahon et al, 2000). The variation in the diet composition of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants (seed-invertebrate balance) seems to be related to primary productivity (Belchior et al, 2012;Guzmán-Mendoza et al, 2012), because in deserts and semi-arid environments resource availability (i.e. plant-derived and animal-derived resources) may vary over time due to water availability (Noy-Meir, 1973).…”

Psocopterans (Psocoptera: Insecta) from Zapotitlán Salinas, Puebla, Mexico: distribution of abundance and seasonality

“…As for the arthropods, particularly the insects, little has been done and there is little documented information (Dávila et al, 2002). Occasional observations indicate that there is a high diversity of scorpions, spiders, ants and termites, but the only groups that have been documented are Hemiptera (Brailovsky et al, 1994(Brailovsky et al, , 1995, Hymenoptera (Rico-Gray et al, 1998;Ríos-Casanova et al, 2004;Guzmán-Mendoza and Castaño-Meneses, 2007;Guzmán-Mendoza et al, 2010, 2012Vásquez-Bolaños et al, 2011), and Lepidoptera, in particular with reference to the edible larvae of Paradirphia fumosa (Saturniidae) (Velázquez et al, 2006). With respect to psocopterans, a total of 125 and 139 species have been recorded in Puebla and Oaxaca respectively, with 17 and 22 endemic species respectively for each state (Mockford and García-Aldrete, 1996; García-Aldrete, pers inf.…”