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Uncovering the evolutionary history of the subfamilies Ectatomminae and Heteroponerinae, or ectaheteromorphs, is key to understanding a major branch of the ant tree of life. Despite their diversity and ecological importance, phylogenetic relationships in the group have not been well explored. One particularly suitable tool for resolving phylogeny is the use of ultraconserved elements (UCEs), which have been shown to be ideal markers at a variety of evolutionary time scales. In the present study, we enriched and sequenced 2,127 UCEs from 135 specimens of ectaheteromorph ants and investigated phylogeny using a variety of model-based phylogenomic methods. Trees recovered from partitioned maximum-likelihood and species-tree analyses were well resolved and largely congruent. The results are consistent with an expanded concept of Ectatomminae that now includes the subfamily Heteroponerinae new synonym and its single tribe Heteroponerini new combination. Eleven monophyletic groups are recognized as genera: Acanthoponera, Alfariastatus revived, Boltonia Camacho and Feitosa new genus, Ectatomma, Gnamptogenys, Heteroponera, Holcoponerastatus revived, Poneracanthastatus revived, Rhytidoponera, Stictoponerastatus revived, and Typhlomyrmex. The new phylogenetic framework and classification proposed here will shed light on the study of Ectatomminae taxonomy and systematics, as well as on the morphological evolution of the groups that it comprises.

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 5.85 m, with a significant tendency toward over-dispersion. Nests were more frequently found in specific...

It has been recently suggested that the C-value paradox, the lack of an obvious association between organismal complexity and genome size, can result simply from biases in insertion and deletion rates—the DNA loss hypothesis. This hypothesis has been heavily criticized, particularly because its evidence, a negative relationship between genome size and DNA loss rate, is based on a highly selective use of the available data. In this study it is shown that the even the most favorable interpretation of the data favoring the DNA loss hypothesis is largely an artifact of phylogenetic nonindependence, supporting the assertion made by other authors that the mechanisms underlying genome size evolution might be more complex than envisioned by the DNA loss hypothesis.

It has been recently suggested that the C-value paradox, the lack of an obvious association between organismal complexity and genome size, can result simply from biases in insertion and deletion rates--the DNA loss hypothesis. This hypothesis has been heavily criticized, particularly because its evidence, a negative relationship between genome size and DNA loss rate, is based on a highly selective use of the available data. In this study it is show that even the even the most favorable interpretation of the data favoring the DNA loss hypothesis is largely an artifact of phylogenetic nonindependence, supporting the assertion made by other authors that the mechanisms underlying genome size evolution might be more complex than envisioned by the DNA loss hypothesis.

Leaf-cutting ants are well-known insects due to their remarkable activity as herbivores and the considerable economic damage they cause to many crops. The identification of season and time of day when leaf-cutting ants are most active is an important tool, not just to understand the foraging ecology of these ants, but also to optimize their control in plantation areas where they were pests. Thus, the aims of this study are to evaluate the daily foraging activity of leaf-cutting ant species of the genus Acromyrmex, which occur in forest plantations in Southern Brazil. Foraging activity of Acromyrmex crassispinus (Forel) and Acromyrmex subterraneus subterraneus (Forel) were correlated with weather conditions, and it was more intense during spring and summer. Workers that forage at night are significantly heavier than workers that forage during the day. This study showed that A. crassispinus and A. subterraneus subterraneus did not forage at temperatures below 10-11°C. Then, the use of granulated baits to control these leaf-cutting ants species where they were pests should be done just under favorable conditions of temperature for Acromyrmex foraging activity (over 12°C), to ensure maximum collection of baits by ants and the least left-over baits.