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Within the last decade, checklists of the ant fauna of several European countries have been published or updated. Nevertheless, no ant checklists have hitherto been published for the principality of Andorra, a small landlocked country located in the eastern part of the Pyrenees. This work presents a critical list of the ant species of Andorra based on a review of the literature and on the biological material we collected during several field campaigns conducted in Andorra since the year 2005. Seventy-five species belonging to 21 genera of Formicidae were recorded. Nine species were recorded for the first time in Andorra: Aphaenogaster gibbosa (Latreille, 1798), Camponotus lateralis (Olivier, 1792), Camponotus piceus (Leach, 1825), Formica exsecta Nylander, 1846, Lasius piliferus Seifert, 1992, Tapinoma madeirense Forel, 1895, Temnothorax lichtensteini (Bondroit, 1918), Temnothorax niger (Forel, 1894), Temnothorax nigriceps (Mayr, 1855). The most speciose genera were Formica Linnaeus, 1758 and Temnothorax Forel, 1890 with 14 and 12 species, respectively. The ant fauna of Andorra is mostly dominated by Central European species (some are typical cold climate specialists); however species belonging to the Mediterranean ant fauna were also found. This can be explained by the particular geographic situation of Andorra which is characterized by a high mountain Mediterranean climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study provides a detailed account of the natural history and foraging biology of the ponerine ant Dinoponera gigantea in a rainforest in north Brazil. The species nests on the ground and the colonies contain 70-96 workers. Ant activity is negatively correlated with temperature, and is more intense at dawn and dusk. Foragers leave the nest independently and search for food individually on the leaf litter, within ca 10 m around the nest. Workers are opportunistic feeders that collect seeds and fruits, and hunt for live prey as well as scavenge for dead animal matter. The dry weight of food items ranges from <10 mg (spiders, insect parts) to >400 mg (seeds, fruits). There is no nestmate recruitment during the search for or retrieval of food, irrespective of food type and size. Foragers have a high directional fidelity, and ants from neighbouring colonies may engage in ritualized territorial contests at the border of their foraging areas. The foraging ecology of D. gigantea is compared with other ponerine species living in tropical forests, as well as with other ant groups showing similar behavioural patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]