Notas sobre interações competitivas envolvendo formigas poneromorfas

Abstract

Observations on competitive interactions involving poneromorph ants-We present a series of behavioural observations obtained from fi eld observations concerning interspecifi c interactions of poneromorph ants in an attempt to answer what the potential competitors for this group of ants are. We analysed this using artifi cial groupings of species with similar ecologies, interacting in space and time, overlapping in their ecological niches and sharing resources with other species of syntopic ants. Observation and analysis of behavioural actions and reactions of Hymenoptera in the fi eld is not a simple task and requires a lot of insight, predictability, imagination and even luck. However, in the eyes of an expert, the observed records can provide new meanings to pre-established concepts and allow reinterpretation of certain behaviours. Th is can oft en provide answers to something that is not visible or measurable by the observer. Th e records analysed were made by the authors at diff erent times, over more than twenty years. We applied fi eld observation protocols at various sites in Brazil, including the Cerrado vegetation types, Deciduous Forest, Pantanal, Caatinga, Chaco and Atlantic Rainforest. Th e discontinuous periods of fi eld expeditions totalled approximately 200 hours of observation. Several interactions were fi lmed and photographed successfully during this period, and hundreds of fi eld notes were amassed. Th e fi rst phenomenon that we investigated was the existence of interspecifi c aggressive behaviour at baits, against a backdrop of direct competition for the established resource. We then categorized the observed behavioural acts into action and reaction of interacting species. When we found dominance at the food supply, we investigated how it took place? We asked what behavioural categories, foraging strategies and

Litter Surface Temperature: A Driving Factor Affecting Foraging Activity in Dinoponera lucida (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

“…We conducted active visual survey in a 30 m × 30 m plot to locate D. lucida workers (19º 09' 14.5" S, 40º 04' 14.0" W) from September 29 to October 2, 2017. We used sardines as bait along the worker's route (Silvestre et al, 2015). We located three nests by following workers carrying the bait back to the nests.…”