TY - JOUR
T1 - Foraging ecology and behaviour of the ponerine ant Ectatomma opaciventre Roger in a Brazilian savannah
AU - Pie, M. R.
N1 - Funding Information:
This manuscript has been considerably improved by comments from D. Calleri, V. Fourcassié, M. O. Moura, P. S. Oliveira and two anonymous referees. I also thank C. E. G. Patto for providing figure 1 and M. C. R. Pie for the assistance with figures 2 and 4. This study was funded by grants from the Fundac¸ão Coordenac¸ão de Aperfeic¸oamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Brasilia, Brazil.
PY - 2004/3/20
Y1 - 2004/3/20
N2 - This study provides a detailed account of the foraging behaviour of the ponerine ant Ectatomma opaciventre in a 'cerrado' savannah in south-east Brazil. Our observations suggest that this species has an exclusively diurnal foraging pattern. Feeding habits included both predation and scavenging, with termite workers and leaf-cutting ants as the most important food items. Contrary to all other Ectatomma species studied to date, no liquid food such as hemipteran honeydew or plant nectar was collected. Foragers showed clear individual foraging area fidelity. Workers of E. opaciventre employed a typical individual foraging strategy, i.e. there was no co-operation between foragers in the search for or retrieval of food, neither by tandem running nor by trail laying. Nest density was considerably lower than in other Ectatomma (0.015 nests per m2). The observed mean distance to the nearest neighbouring nest was 5.85m, with a significant tendency toward over-dispersion. Nests were more frequently found in specific microhabitats, which may suggest active choice of nesting site by founding queens.
AB - This study provides a detailed account of the foraging behaviour of the ponerine ant Ectatomma opaciventre in a 'cerrado' savannah in south-east Brazil. Our observations suggest that this species has an exclusively diurnal foraging pattern. Feeding habits included both predation and scavenging, with termite workers and leaf-cutting ants as the most important food items. Contrary to all other Ectatomma species studied to date, no liquid food such as hemipteran honeydew or plant nectar was collected. Foragers showed clear individual foraging area fidelity. Workers of E. opaciventre employed a typical individual foraging strategy, i.e. there was no co-operation between foragers in the search for or retrieval of food, neither by tandem running nor by trail laying. Nest density was considerably lower than in other Ectatomma (0.015 nests per m2). The observed mean distance to the nearest neighbouring nest was 5.85m, with a significant tendency toward over-dispersion. Nests were more frequently found in specific microhabitats, which may suggest active choice of nesting site by founding queens.
KW - Cerrado
KW - Foraging behaviour
KW - Nest density
KW - Path fidelity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=1042303013&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=1042303013&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/0022293021000041699
DO - 10.1080/0022293021000041699
M3 - Article (journal)
AN - SCOPUS:1042303013
SN - 0022-2933
VL - 38
SP - 717
EP - 729
JO - Journal of Natural History
JF - Journal of Natural History
IS - 6
ER -