ISSN:
1420-9098
Keywords:
Key words:Aenictus, army ants, ant community, Borneo.
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
Notes:
Summary: In a rain forest at the foot of Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo, we observed the food habits of Aenictus laeviceps and A. gracilis and surveyed the effects of A. laeviceps on the general ant community. We collected totals of 2,360 and 6,268 prey units, respectively, from seven A. laeviceps and six A. gracilis colonies; ants constituted 99.9% of all prey units. Dominant prey genera were Camponotus (48.2% in wet weight), Pseudolasius (20.8%), and Polyrhachis (15.2%) in A. laeviceps and Technomymex (52.1%), Paratrechina (22.4%), and Crematogaster (11.9%) in A. gracilis. A. laeviceps primarily hunted larger ground ants with small- or medium-sized colonies; in contrast, A. gracilis frequently foraged on smaller arboreal ants with larger colonies. Of the total wet weight of prey ants, brood constituted 88.7% in A. laeviceps and only 68.7% in A. gracilis. This was probably because workers of A. gracilis were quicker in behavior and hunted adult workers more frequently than A. laeviceps. While 98.5% of the prey units were transported by single workers of A. gracilis, 71.5% were carried by up to 20 A. laeviceps workers. The numbers of ant colonies and species were significantly smaller in laeviceps-raided quadrats than in controls. This was mostly due to the escape of ants that nested under litter and had relatively larger colonies. Large colonies usually influence the foundation and establishment of incipient small colonies.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s000400050007
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