Species richness of associates of ants in the nests of red wood ant Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

Abstract

Ant nests are rich with various other fauna, and they may be seen as resources for these guest species. We studied the species richness and abundance of ant guests in the nests of Formica polyctena by addressing the resource concentration hypothesis, which predicts that nests in high densities would support higher species richness and abundance of specialised guests. In 12 nests we found 1562 individuals belonging to 70 taxa, of which beetles were the most species rich group. The resource concentration hypothesis was supported, as we found the species richness to be higher in nests with close neighbours. There was no relationship between the abundance of associates and the nearest neighbour distance. Non‐parametric methods were applied for total species richness estimation. These suggest that additional sampling would yield more associate species. In addition, we studied the similarity of the species composition in the nests and how the distance between the nests correlates with it. Overall, nests from the same area appeared to be most similar with each other. A significant negative trend between geographical distance and similarity of the species composition was found when all species and non‐myrmecophiles were tested. For maintaining and conserving high arthropod diversity in temperate and boreal forests, forest management practices preserving dense red wood ant populations should be used if the habitat cannot be protected.

A comparative study of oribatid mite communities in red wood ant Formica polyctena nests and surrounding soil in a Finnish oak forest

“…We believe that as common soil animals within forest the oribatids may be able to choose their habitat spatially in relation to the condition most suitable for each species and therefore enter also to ant nest mounds to exploit the rich resources that those offer. In turn, it has been shown that for nest inhabiting beetles the existence of closely located and well connected nest mounds are essential (Härkönen & Sorvari, ) and the number of myrmecophilic species decreases with increasing mound isolation (Parmentier et al ., ).…”

“…Polygynous (several queens in one nest) and polydomous (form large colonies with a network of several nests) red wood ant F. polyctena was selected as the host ant species, since it is the dominant ant species in southern Finland (Collingwood, ; Seifert, ), and its nest mounds were the most common in the study area. Although F. polyctena shows a preference for coniferous forest, it maintains populations in various habitats including the studied oak forest (Seifert, ; Härkönen & Sorvari, ). Apart from F. polyctena several other mound‐building red wood ants of the F. rufa group occur on Ruissalo: F. lugubris , F. pratensis and F. rufa (J. Sorvari unpubl.…”

“…Several studies provide comprehensive lists of ant‐associated invertebrates revealing a hyper‐diverse environment inside the ant communities (Kistner, ; Hölldobler & Wilson, ; Laakso & Setälä, ; Rettenmeyer et al ., ; Robinson & Robinson, ; Härkönen & Sorvari, ; Parmentier et al ., ). But, some studies have focused only on one specific taxonomic group among ant‐associated organisms such as beetles (Päivinen et al ., , ), spiders (Cushing, ), myriapods (Stoev & Lapeva‐Gjonova, ), earthworms (Laakso & Setälä, ) and mesostigmatid mites (Lehtinen, ; Berghoff et al ., ; Uppstrom & Klompen, ; Campbell et al ., ).…”

Not simply red: Colouration of red wood ant Formica rufa (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) is polymorphic, modular and size-dependent

“…In our study several aspects of the colour patterns were considered, as both the shapes of melaninbased colour morphs, the percentage of melanized area and the Frouz et al, 2016), improve soil properties (Frouz & Jílková, 2008) and affect concentrations of macroelements in tree roots and thus regulate their growth (Ohashi et al, 2007). These insects regulate structure and biodiversity of forest plants and animal communities, contributing to seed dispersal (Gorb et al, 2000) and provide suitable habitats for numerous other invertebrates (Härkönen & Sorvari, 2014;Parmentier et al, 2014;Elo et al, 2016). Red wood ants, like other ants, provide various ecosystem services (Del Toro et al, 2012).…”

First Insight into Microbiome Profiles of Myrmecophilous Beetles and Their Host, Red Wood Ant Formica polyctena (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)—A Case Study

“…We selected six beetle species belonging to five different families: Thiasophila angulata (Erichson, 1837), Leptacinus formicetorum (Märkel, 1841) (Staphylinidae), Dendrophilus pygmaeus (Linnaeus, 1758) (Histeridae), Monotoma angusticollis (Gyllenhal, 1877) (Monotomidae), Ptenidium formicetorum (Kraatz, 1851) (Ptiliidae) and Myrmechixenus subterraneus (Chevrolat, 1835) (Tenebrionidae). All selected species are commonly found inside F. polyctena nests, but they are rather unspecialized in the level of integration into colony [19,20]. Two representatives of Staphylinidae: Thiasophila angulata and Leptacinus formicetorum are predators, actively seeking out early developmental stages of ants (eggs and larvae) and other invertebrates inhabiting nests of red wood ants.…”