Morphological Characteristics of Cave and Surface-dwelling Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Puting Buhangin, Prosperidad, Agusan Del Sur
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55927/eajmr.v2i3.3441Keywords:
Ants, Caves, Environment, Formicidae, MorphologyAbstract
In this study, it was hypothesized that morphological differences were evident between the surface-dwelling and cave ant faunas. There were 9 species of ants found in the study area, namely; Aenictus sp., Anoplolepis gracilipes, Aphaenogaster sp., Carebara sp., Crematogaster sp., Hypoponera sp., Odontoponera sp., Polyrhachis sp., and Tetramorium sp. In this study, limited ant species are present in the cave; in fact, only one species of ant, Aphaenogaster sp., was found in the cave entrance. This study identified no morphological changes between surface-dwelling and cave ants. For accurate data, this research recommends more studies on cave ant morphology.
References
Agosti, D., Majer, J. D., Alonso, L. E., & Schultz, T. R. (2000). Standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity. Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, (9), 280.
AntWeb. Version 8.81. California Academy of Science, online at https://www.antweb.org. Accessed 10 October 2022.
Bestelmeyer, B. T., Agosti, D., Alonso, L. E., Silvestre, R., Brown Jr, W. L., & Delabie, J. H. (2000). Field techniques for the study of ground-dwelling ants: an overview, description and evaluation. Ants: standard methods for measuring and monitoring biodiversity.
Bolnick, D. I., Barrett, R. D. H., Oke, K. B., Rennison, D. J., & Stuart, Y. E. (2018). (Non)Parallel evolution. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 49, 303–330.
Christiansen, K. (1962). Proposition pour la classification des animaux cavernicoles. Spelunca, 2, 76–78.
Christiansen, K. (2012). Morphological adaptations. In W. B. White & D. C. Culver (Eds.), Encyclopedia of caves (2nd ed., pp. 517–528). Academic Press.
Davidson, D. W., Cook, S. C., & Snelling, R. R. (2004). Liquid-feeding performances of ants (Formicidae): ecological and evolutionary implications. Oecologia, 139, 255-266.
Endler, J. A. (1986). Natural selection in the wild. Princeton University Press.
Fowler, H.G., Forti, L.C., Brandão, C.R.F., Delabie, J.H.C. & Vasconcelos, H.L. (1991). Ecologia Nutricional de formigas, In A.R. Panizzi & J.R.P. Parra (Eds.), Ecologia nutricional de insetos e suas implicações no manejo de pragas (pp. 131-223), Editora Manole e CNPq, São Paulo.
General, D. M., & Alpert, G. D. (2012). A synoptic review of the ant genera (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the Philippines. ZooKeys, (200), 1.
Gibb, H., & Parr, C. L. (2010). How does habitat complexity affect ant foraging success? A test using functional measures on three continents. Oecologia, 164(4), 1061-1073.
Gibb, H., & Parr, C. L. (2013). Does structural complexity determine the morphology of assemblages? An experimental test on three continents. PLoS One, 8(5), e64005.
Gibb, H., Stoklosa, J., Warton, D. I., Brown, A. M., Andrew, N. R., & Cunningham, S. A. (2015). Does morphology predict trophic position and habitat use of ant species and assemblages?. Oecologia, 177(2), 519-531.
Goulet, H., & Huber, J. T. (1993). Hymenoptera of the world: an identification guide to families.
Howarth, F. G. (1983). Ecology of cave arthropods. Annual review of entomology, 28(1), 365-389.
Kaspari, M., & Weiser, M. D. (1999). The size–grain hypothesis and interspecific scaling in ants. Functional ecology, 13(4), 530-538.
Mammola, S. (2019). Finding answers in the dark: caves as models in ecology fifty years after Poulson and White. Ecography, 42(7), 1331-1351.
McGill, B. J., Enquist, B. J., Weiher, E., & Westoby, M. (2006). Rebuilding community ecology from functional traits. Trends in ecology & evolution, 21(4), 178-185.
Narendra, A., Alkaladi, A., Raderschall, C. A., Robson, S. K., & Ribi, W. A. (2013). Compound eye adaptations for diurnal and nocturnal lifestyle in the intertidal ant, Polyrhachis sokolova. PLoS One, 8(10), e76015.
Pag-ong, A. I. G., Nisperos, D. M. P., & Flores, R. G. (2022). Diversity and relative abundance of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the National Capital Region, Philippines.
Pape, R. B. (2016). The importance of ants in cave ecology, with new records and behavioral observations of ants in Arizona caves. International Journal of Speleology, 45(3), 1.
Parui, A. K., Chatterjee, S., & Basu, P. (2015). Habitat characteristics shaping ant species assemblages in a mixed deciduous forest in Eastern India. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 31(3), 267-280.
Pipan, T., & Culver, D. C. (2012). Convergence and divergence in the subterranean realm: A reassessment. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 107(1), 1–14. https://doi. org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.2012.01964.x
Sarty, M., Abbott, K. L., & Lester, P. J. (2006). Habitat complexity facilitates coexistence in a tropical ant community. Oecologia, 149(3), 465-473.
Schluter, D., Clifford, E. A., Nemethy, M., & McKinnon, J. S. (2004). Parallel evolution and inheritance of quantitative traits. The American Naturalist, 163(6), 809-822.
Schofield, S. F., Bishop, T. R., & Parr, C. L. (2016). Morphological characteristics of ant assemblages (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) differ among contrasting biomes.
Silva R.R. & Silvestre R. (2004) – Riqueza da fauna de formigas (hymenoptera: formicidae) que habita as camadas superficiais do solo em Seara, Santa Catarina. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia, 44: 1-11.
Tinaut, A., & Lopez, F. (2001). Ants and caves: sociability and ecological constraints (Hymenoptera, Formicidae). Sociobiology, 37(3), 651-660.
Weiher, E., Freund, D., Bunton, T., Stefanski, A., Lee, T., & Bentivenga, S. (2011). Advances, challenges and a developing synthesis of ecological community assembly theory. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 366(1576), 2403-2413.
Weiser, M. D., & Kaspari, M. (2006). Ecological morphospace of New World ants. Ecological Entomology, 31(2), 131-142.
Wilson, E. O. (1962). The Trinidad cave ant Erebomyrma (1⁄4 Spelaeomyrmex) urichi (Wheeler), with a comment on cavernicolous ants in general. Psyche 69: 62–72.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Michael Jay Mesa
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
.png)
