Search

Background This paper presents an updated list of soil ants of the Colombian Amazon collected in three different river basins: the Amazon, the Caquetá and the Putumayo. The list includes 10 subfamilies, 60 genera and 218 species collected from TSBF monoliths at four different depths (Litter, 0 - 10 cm, 10 - 20 cm and 20 - 30 cm). This updated list increases considerably the knowledge of edaphic macrofauna of the region, due to the limited published information about soil ant diversity in the Colombian Amazon region. New information This is the first checklist of soil ant diversity of the Colombian Amazon region. Six new records of species for Colombia are exposed: Acropyga tricuspis (LaPolla, 2004), Typhlomyrmex clavicornis (Emery, 1906), Typhlomyrmex meire (Lacau, Villemant & Delabie, 2004), Cyphomyrmex bicornis (Forel, 1895), Megalomyrmex emeryi (Forel, 1904) and Myrmicocrypta spinosa (Weber, 1937), most of them corresponding to subterranean ants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ants are effective at moving seeds toward their nests, something that may benefit the seeds. We evaluated whether seed movements that may be useful for the rehabilitation of degraded pastures in Colombia can be enhanced by local ants. An artificial aril was prepared and then evaluated in six open cattle pasture farms. Twenty paper disks (each holding seeds with an artificial aril, honey, tuna oil, and control) were set up along linear transects at each farm, and monitored five times in 48 hours. A total of 340 out of 480 seeds were moved from the experimental units by ants. Seeds with tuna oil and an artificial aril were removed twice as frequently as the control and honey smeared seeds. Ectatomma ruidum, Solenopsis geminata, and Pheidole sp. removed the majority of seeds. Advantages of the artificial aril over tuna oil are discussed. This inexpensive technique can enhance seed movement by generalist ants in degraded pastures, likely contributing to regeneration and ecological rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small cockroach Attaphila paucisetosa, a myrmecophilic species, was recently reported in nests of the leafcutter ant Atta cephalotes in Southwestern Colombia. We carried out both behavioral bioassays and field observations to learn more about this cockroach-myrmecophilous association. When we excavated the nests of A. cephalotes did not found cockroaches out of the anthills. We collected all lifecycle stages of At. paucisetosa (ootheca, nymphs, male and female adults) inside of fungus chambers of the leafcutter ants' nests. In lab, we observed that At. paucisetosa recognized artificial trails of A. cephalotes as well as worker ants. Our results show that At. paucisetosa is recognized by A. cephalotes workers as an intruder, triggering aggressive behavior, but the aggressiveness reduced in the presence of the ants' fungus. Also, the cockroach may use foraging trails and its attachment abilities to ride on foraging ant, facilitating the entrance to the stablished colonies, but the cockroach must take risks (from being mutilated or killed) since it is recognized as an intruder, so it takes advantage of its small size to try to find refuge in the fungus crevices, taking recognition profile hydrocarbons from the ants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Colombiana de Entomología is the property of Universidad del Valle and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this paper is to actualize the taxonomy of Dorymyrmex, by addressing problems at both the genus and the species levels. We also explore the taxonomy and distribution of Dorymyrmex in Colombia. We list, diagnose, and key nine species in the country, including three new species: Dorymyrmex amazonicus n. sp. Cuezzo & Guerrero, Dorymyrmex xerophylus n. sp. Cuezzo & Guerrero, and Dorymyrmex tuberosus n. sp. Cuezzo & Guerrero. We provide a detailed description of these new species based on the worker caste and, where possible, other castes. All localities where Dorymyrmex was collected or cited in the literature were mapped to provide a graphical view of its range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria is the property of Agrosavia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Landslides and gullies are two common manifestations of land degradation in the densely populated Colombian Andes. In these unstable areas, further mass movements pose a serious threat to local populations and cause off-site environmental damage through sedimentation, pollution, and increased flooding. A novel approach for restoring severely eroded slopes combines the use of stabilization structures made with stalks of Guadua angustifolia Kunth, Poaceae (bamboo), with high-density planting of species that exhibit quick growth and sprouting. This study compared the vegetation and ground-dwelling ant assemblages of 10 pairs of gullies, each pair formed by one enhanced and one untreated or control gully, 6-8 years after restoration or abandonment. The restoration treatment had significant effects on the complexity of vegetation. Average values for plant species richness, basal area, stem density, foliage density index, and total vegetation volume were 11.6, 140, 30, 11.5, and 15.6 times larger, respectively, in enhanced than in control gullies. Mirroring the differences in vegetation, average ant species richness was significantly larger (13 vs. 7.6 species per gully), and a higher proportion of ant species nested within enhanced than control gullies (52.5 vs. 30%). While control gullies were dominated by generalist ants such as Ectatomma ruidum and Linepithema angulatum, enhanced gullies had more specialized ground-dwelling species, normally associated with high plant cover and abundant leaf litter such as Octostruma balzani and Heteroponera inca. We conclude that this restoration strategy promotes a fast recovery of vegetation and the ground-dwelling ant fauna in these tropical mountains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study α and β diversity patterns of five leaf litter arthropod groups (ants, predatory ants, oribatid mites, spiders and other arachnids) were described and compared in 39 sampling patches of a transformed landscape in southwestern Colombia, that represented five vegetation types: secondary forest, riparian forest, giant bamboo forest, pasture and sugarcane crop. It was also assessed whether some taxa could be used as diversity surrogates. A total of 6,765 individuals grouped in 290 morphospecies were collected. Species richness in all groups was lower in highly transformed vegetation types (pasture, sugarcane crop) than in native ones (forests). In contrast, there were no clear tendencies of β diversity among vegetation types. Considering sampling patches, 0.1-42% of the variation in α diversity of one taxonomic group could be explained from the α diversity of another, and 0.2-33% of the variation of β diversity of a given taxon was explained by that in other groups. Contrary to recent findings, we concluded that patterns of α diversity are more congruent than patterns of β diversity. This fact could be attributed to a sampling effect that promotes congruence in α diversity and to a lack of a clear regional ecological gradient that could promote congruent patterns of β diversity. We did not find evidence for an ideal diversity surrogate although diversity patterns of predatory ants had the greatest congruencies. These results support earlier multi-taxon evaluations in that conservation planning should not be based on only one leaf litter arthropod group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]