Species Diversity and Abundance of Ants in Lowland Tropical Rain Forest of Bala Forest, Narathiwat Province, Southern Peninsular Thailand

2005·0.36 MB·English

by  Noon-Anant, Nawee

NAT.而ST.BULL. SIAM S配.53(2): 203-213，20 05
SPECIES DIVERSITY ANDA BUNDANCE OFA NTS
，
IN LOWLANDT ROPICAL RAIN FOREST OFB ALAF OREST
，
NARATIDWATP ROVINCESOUTHERNP ENINSULAR
THAILAND
Nawee Noon-anan ，'tSuparoek Watanasit' and Decha Wiwatwitaya2
ABSTRACf
Studies on由es戸ciesdiversity and abundance of ants in BaJaf orest at HaJa-BaJaW ildlife
Sanctuary，So uthem Peninsular Thailand，we re conducted in lowland位。'picalrain forest. Ants
were collected every 2m onths by 4m e出ods:leaf litter sifting，ha nd collecting，ho ney bait回ps
and soil sampling，be tween March 2001ωMarch 2002. Eight subfamilies，63 genera and 255
species of ants were identified. Species richness，a bundance and species composition varied
wi白S伺sonand collection me出吋.百lehighest number of s戸cies(133) w俗 found泊J印刷ry
2002. It was aJso discovered血atthe combination of 4m ethods yielded higher numbers of
sμcies，ge nera and subf:釦 lilies血組出euse of佃yone me血od.Theh ighest number of genera
and species was found in Myrmicinae (26 genera 104 species)，fo llowed by Ponerinae (16 genera
74species)飢dFormic泊ae(12 genera 47 species). Theg enus Pheidole had the highest number of
sμcies (25)，fo llowed by Pachycondyla (15)，Hy poponera (13)，Ce rapachys (12) and Campono加
(11). Species diversity ar叫abundanceof組itsare rather high in血elowl組 d回'picalrain forest.
A combination of sampling methods is recommended for inventories of ant communities，a nd
comparisons between different microhabitats as well as for long-term monitoring，pr ovid加g
useful data in biodiversity and conservation studies in tropicaJ rain forests.
Key words: abundance，釦ts，8ala forest，di versity，H ala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary，l owland
甘opicalra血forest，Southem Peninsular Thailand
別τRODUCTION
Ants (Formicidae，H ymenoptera) are eusocial insects which have been evolving suc-
cessfully since the Cretaceous Period. Around 10，000 species have been described belonging
to 296 genera and 16 subfamilies (BOLTON，1 994). They紅'eabundantly found in almost
every habitat throughout the world. However，th e number of species still remaining to be
discovered and described is many times higher但OLLDOBLER& WILSON，19 90).
Ants釘'eimportant ecologically because血eyfunction at many levels泊佃ecosystem，
as predators，pr ey佃 dscavengers，a nd they have diverse associations with plants such as
protectors，s eed dispersers，p ollinators，a nd sometimes even herbivores (BRONS旭町， 1998).
ID epartment of Biology，Fa culty of Science，pr 加ceof Songkla University，Ha t Yai，So ng刷 a90112，Em ail ad批 ss:
npolyrhachiS@ho回ail.com，suparoek. [email protected].由
2Dep:紅白lentof Forest Biology，Fa culty of Fores甘y，Kasetsart University，C hatuchak，B angkok 10900，E mail
ad命ess:[email protected].由
Received 7D eωmber 2004; accepted 20 June 2005.
203
204 NAWEE N∞N-ANANT，S UPARO球 WATANAsrrAND D配臥WIWATWITAYA
Many species p紅ticipatein s戸nbioseswi白plantsand other animals，p紅 白ul紅'ly紅白ropods
(SCHUL官 &MCGLYNN，20 00). Many ant sp iesare highly sensitive to microclimate and
配
habitat s回 ctureand伽 srespond rapidly to environmental change (ALONSO ETA L.，20 00;
ANDERSON，1 990; K町GETA L.，1 998). For example，in A田町alia，ants have been used
extensively as bioindicators (AND皿 SON，1997)加relationto minesite restoration (MA.lER
ETA L.，1 984) and other disturbances such as fire gr位 ingand logging (ANDERSON，19 91;
Yo限， 1994).
Lowland forest habitats tend to have出.emost abundant and diverse flora and fauna.
Tropical con血en凶 forestshave the greatest recorded sp田iesdiversity of ants (HOLLDOB日R
& WILSON，19 90). In Malaysia，20 m2o f litter and rot出glogs contained 104佃.tspecies
represent加g41 ant genera (AGOS百 ETAL.，19 94). In Peruvian tropicallowland forest，12 8
species (48 genera) were found泊 approximately5h ectares of forest，an d 43 species (26
genera)泊a血 gle回 eσOB肌 1994;Wn..sON，19 87). Rainforest is being lost at ar ate of
approx加ately1.2%p er ye紅 inAsia(W町TMO阻， 1997). In Thailand，f orest cover has been
reduced from 53% of the coun町 (BHUMIBAMON，1986)ωabout 22.8% or 111，010 km2
(FAO，1 997)，d ue bo白 tohabitat destruction and habitat disturbance. In血elowlan也，出e
na旬ralforest cover has almost completely var姐shedand h部 beenreplaced by rubber，fr uit
and oi1 palm plantations，wh ile the remaining fore蹴 havebeen企agmentedand degraded
(G貼 HAM&R OUND，1 994). Pe凶ns叫紅官lailandis ar egion of high national conservation
significance because it contains all of百凶land'sremaining lowland rain forests，th e most
biologically diverse and由reatenedof forest types泊 SoutheastAsia (SOD阻 ETAL.，20 04).
Less白血 20%of由e百凶 Peninsularemains under forest cover (COLL町SETA L.，19 91).
Little is known about sta加sand detailed ecology of forest ants inτ'hailand，th erefore ab asic
knowledge of local pattems of ant diversity wi1l assist in biodiversity and conservation
planning.
h血ispaper species richness，sp ecies abundance and sp配 iescomposition of ants加
lowland tropical rain forest were examined，us ing four s創npl加gmethods，w hich were
designed to collect ants合omdifferent stra旬 ofthe forest including lower vegetation，
litter and soil (HAs田MOTOETA L.，20 01)，an d provide unbiased representation of local如 t
commuruties.
STUDYAREA
TheB ala forest is p制 ofHala-Bala Wi1dlife Sanctuary in Narヨ血iwat針。，vince，on the
Thai-Malaysia border (5・37'N，10 1・08'E). TheB ala forest is 111.5 km2 in area and is
isolated企omother forests by agriculturallands on血eThai side of the bo吋.er.It ranges泊
elevation from 50ω960 m above me佃 S悶 level(msl). It is ∞classified by WHITMO胆 (1990)
酪Indo-Malayan凶nforest. During the fieldwork (M紅ch2 1to March 2002) rainfall w槌
>4 ，700 mm(r 厄，nfalldata from也eWaengDis凶ctmeteorological station approximately 10
km合 omthe Bala forest).百世sstudy w錨 conductedin lowland forest below 200 m msl and
白eants were collected every 2m onths at 3s tations.
SPECIES DIVERSITY AND ABUNDANCE OF ANTS 205
METHODS
Sampling Methods
Three stati'Ons were established and at each，' One tr:叩 sect(180 m l'Ong) was set and
subdivided int'O 36 0・msampling secti'Ons. Each secti'Onw as sampled by different meth'Ods
(m'Odified fr'Om YA MA阻 &HASHIMOTO， 1999). The meth'Ods inv'Olved the f'Oll'Owing
pr'Ocedures:
Leaf litter si血ng(LL): Leaf 出erwas gathered up，s ifted and s'Orted 'Ona p an and ants
were c'Ollected企'Omi .tSuch s創nplingwas repeated f'Or3 0 minutes per sampling s回 ti'On.
Hand c'Ollecting (HC): Ants were picked up using f'Orc泡ps企'Omthe l'Ower vegetati'Ona nd
r'Otten l'Ogs.百llSpr'Ocedure w槌 carried'Out f'Or3 0 minutes per sampling secti'On.
H'Oney bait traps (HB): Fi負.eenbait回，pswith 50% h'Oney s'Oluti'Onw ere set 'Ont he f'Orest
fl'O'Orat 4叩 intervalsal'Ong the 仕組sect泊eachsampling secti'On.百lebait traps were set f'Or
30 minutes and the ants attracted t'O the bait回 pswere c'Ollected using f'Orceps.
S'Oil s創npling(SS): Five S'Oil samples were taken，e ach 20 x2 0 x 10 cm，a t 12・m
intervals al'Ong the釘ansect泊eachsampling secti'On. TheS 'Oil samples were sifted using a
sieve and pan，組d血e阻tswere c'Ollec旬dusing f'Orceps.
Identitication
BOLTON (1994， 1994a， 1995b)， DORROW & KOHOUT (1995)， EGUCHI (2001)，
HOLLDOB回R& WILSON (1990)血 dHUNG (1967) were referred t'O f'Ora nt identificati'On.
Species-level identificati'Ons were based 'Only 'Onm o中h'Ol'Ogicalcharacters 'Oft he w'Orkers
and c'Onfrrmed using the reference c'Ollecti'Ona t the AntM useum 'OfK asetsart U凶versity，
Bangk'Ok. AlS'O， Polyrhachis species were c'Onfumed by Dr.R ud'Olf J. K'Oh'Out企'OmQueensland
Museum，Au stralia.
Data Analysis
百lespecies c'Omp'Ositi'Onf 'Ord ifferent samp胎19meth'Ods was assessed using aq ualita-
tive index based 'Onp resence 'Ora bsence data. S凶ilarity'Ofs amples was measured using the
S'Orensen index (Cs)( MAGURRAN，19 88).
RESULTS
Species Richness and Abundance of Ants
Thet 'Ota1 number 'Ofa nt species c'Ollected per 2m 'Onths f'Ordi 妊erentsampl泊gmeth'Ods
and c'Ombinati'On' Of4 m eth'Ods is sh'Own泊Figure1.百le4s ampling meth'Ods yielded at 'Otal
'Of2 55 ant species.官官highestnumber 'Ofs pecies was f'Ound泊Janu訂Y2002 (133 species)
and the l'Owest in May 2001 (85 species). In terms 'Oft he number 'Ofs pecies c'Ollected by
each meth'Od，l eaf litter sifting was c'Onsistent1ym 'Ore efficient than the 'Other meth'Ods
出r'Ough'Out出.eyear.官lenumber 'Ofs pecies peaked泊 September2001 (61 species)，a nd
206 NAWEE NOON-ANANT，S UPAROEK WATANASIT AND DECHA WrwATWITAYA
140
133
120
114
112
100
96 9s 95
85
80
62
60 " 57 57 戸61
" F5 3
.12.. 48
45
40 39 40
37 3 加首
，
，
20 ~;，
/
。 Z，
，/ ，
，κ
， ， ，'ノ/
Mar May July Sep Nov Jan Mar
口 口
閣 図 田 図 m
L比L H配C S岱S C伽α0叩om伽伽b削minn川剖aat附ぬi0加n
Figure1 ， Totaln umb巴rof antsp ecies co!lected by eachm ethod andc ombinationo f 4m ethodsd uringM arch2 001
toM arch2 002
Table 1.P roportion of ant species and gen巴rabelonging to different subfamilies in thef our
samplingm ethods，L L，le af litter sifting; HC，h andc ollecting; HB，h oney bait traps;
SS，s oils ampling.
LL HC HB SS
Subfamilies Numbel Numb巴1 Numb巴r Number
G巴n Sp. Gen Sp Gen Sp Gen Sp.
l.A巴s1ctmae 4
2.C erapachyinae 8 3 l 2
3.D olichoderina巴 3 6 4 7 2 4 3 4
4.F onnicinae 6 17 9 28 9 18 7 15
5.L eptanillinae
6.M yrmicinae 20 69 19 47 17 57 15 43
7.P on巴nnae 13 35 11 28 13 38 B 21
8. Pseudomyrmecinae 2
Total 44 139 46 116 43 119 36 87
(Uniqu巴) (4) (48) (7) (52) (2) (30) (1) (10)
SPECIES DIVERSITY ANDA BUNDANCE OFA NTS 207
bottomed in March 2001 (49 species). Honey bait traps recorded peak: in the number of
species in November 2001 (57 species)，eq ua1ing the leaf litter sifting results.
Then umber of species collected by each method is shown in Table 1. Leaf litter sifting
provided the largest total number of species (139)，fo llowed by honey bait traps (119)，ha nd
collecting (116) and soil sampling (87). Hand collecting provided the largest number of
genera (46)，fo llowed by leaf litter sifting (44)，ho ney bait traps (43) and soil sampling (36).
In terms of the number of species collected in one sample by each method，ha nd collecting
recorded the 1gestnumber of species (52)，fo llowed by leaf litter sifting (48)，ho ney bait
紅
仕aps(30) and soil sampling (10).
Taxonomic Composition of Ants
A tota1 of 255 ant species belonging to 63 genera and 8s ubfamilies was obtained by
the combination of the 4s ampling methods. Theh ighest numbers of genera and subfamilies
(49 genera and 8s ubfamilies) were found in September 2001，w hile the lowest numbers
of genera and subfamilies were found in May 2001 and March 2002 (38 genera and 5
subfamilies ).
Thedis回butionof species in the different subfamilies showed ad ominance ofMyrmicinae
with 104 species (40.8%)，fo llowed by Pone巾 aewith 74 species (29;0%) and Formicinae
with 47 (18.4%) species. In the Cerapachyinae and Dolichoderinae，12 (4.7%) d8(3.1%)
叩
species were found，r espectively. Five species (2.0%) found were in the Aenictinae.
Thep roportion of species in白 Pseudomyrmecinaeand Leptanillinae subfamilies was the
sma11est (2.0% each).
Almost half of the genera，(2 6 genera or 41 %) are members of the subfar凶lyMyrmicinae.
Sixteen genera (25%) belonged to the Ponerinae and 12 (19%) to the Formicinae.
Dolichoderinae was represented by 4g enera (6%)，Le ptar首H泊aeby 2g enera (3%). Aenic出ae，
Cerapachyinae，an d Pseudomyrmecinae were represented by one genus each (2%).
Proportion of Species and Genera of Different Subfamilies Caught by the Four
Sampling Methods
Of the 8s ubfamilies，My rmicinae，Po nerinae and Formicinae were dominant in terms
of number of species. Although these subfamilies were collected by all sampling methods，
the propo凶onsvaried創nongsampling methods (Table 1). Species of Myrmicinae and
Ponerinae were cap旬redmost frequently by leaf litter sifting (38 species) and honey bait
traps (69 species)，w hile species of Formicinae were captured most frequently by hand
collecting (28 species). For the soil sampling method，M yrmicinae was the dominant
subfamily (43 species).
Proportion of Species of Different Genera Caught by the Four Sampling Methods
百lerar虫泊gof佃 tgenera by the number of species and the proportion of the tota1
number of species is shown in Table 2. Thef ive most species-rich genera were Pheidole (25
species or 9.8%)，P achycondyla (15s pecies or 5.5%)，H ypoponera (13 species or 5.1 %)，
Cerapachys (12 species or 4.7%) and Camponotus (11 species or 4.3%). Twenty-five genera
were found with only 1s pecies，9 w ith 2 d6w ith 3s pecies.
叩
208 NAWEE N∞N・釧釧T，SUPAROEK WATANASrr AND DECHA WIWATWITAYA
Table 2. Ranking of ant genera sampled by血eall four sampl泊gmethods，ac cording to血e
number of species included and the proportion of the total number of sp田ies.
Rank Genera EAas司ny汀可aMW -mぱ Prop(o%r)t ion Rank Genera Nm-OMW ・m0FtnS PrOp(%o託) ion
'aa内， PPahc沼hiydocloendyla 開，.，Aβ5 n1ll85nuqd a--A・・a必『『 ADpahcaeteinnoogpass ter a内，弓，B 00..7788
司，『，。'i'i'IiI'i且唱噌3a000nyny'qjurorO斗勾A'i'i'IAU'i'A唱 HACPAPALCOTPMMSC拘TeyeceaoetamrlyoeOnrprrrptenmbirlcかnilataumoroepglemhoct'ompaapproo励yenrtrmgiatmyoamhnocuoegecooogan ysopocimenhgcrra verhtohynnyyai iiirimunysrassuasnuaess etm ma xm e e r x 'AEA--a'A'唱且321009988776555555 5544333333222111111・-----------------・173995511773999999h nu'ii43aaTaaaaTqdrorororororo斗咽斗勾コ勾内内，B 44a--A--a--Ata--A--AtA-EA--A4EA--A4EA'・且咽・且・・且・・且唱且a4弓ζJζJζJJauζJζJζJζJζJεJζJζJ斗凋斗，、斗斗戸コ DPDDALCPELPPTCOCCChinerouryraeaiaaloipooleplpyrctrplaalttpnoriipoaadihydaacloebcnputdminpnooolnaohrohlooiiitlemiomconyamplclcpesolodyyωlcllooma ipmenealuarrnns iapy dr ase mmの si ryu aeslsml xa ea x L'u-'A''i'IlA'I'咽勾内，&内且'且且咽且'且咽且首且咽且咽内， 000000000000000000..................333377333377333333888899999999999999
A'l咽'Ii咽 APnloac砂htehtyurse a 55 11--99rorO eEA4A・ζJεJ MMaeyrraineolplla us ''i且 00..3399
'Ai'iti'A咽mA3333弓弓弓今 LPPPGshrnoeeiaruismdddtpooootlmlmoaoyysggrrieemmutnaesoyx ns 43333 11111------51111司，。。。。。。。。。 'A--'A--A--且且ζJζJN3ζJζJ PRRSCerohecolonuaeptrtntrvtorioapdso mrimyisyrs rm meexx A'i''A'且且胃 00000.....3333399999
i'i'I'咽且咽且343AT4斗斗勾弓品 AEMOTcceydhtraorimnnanottpothoopeomnlrmeaaaryc asrh muesx 33222 1100011777。。。。。。。。。 TEA--A'EA--AζJ4Ju弓3， DEMOiymdsseoctnrortytioohuppymoro nenaee r a 'A'i'且'且 0000....33339999

Table 3. Simil紅ityof ant species泊白.efour sampling methods.
Method Hand collecting Honey bait住aps Soil sampl泊g
b刈出uWS出-m 0.35 0.56 0.54
H抑制川o肱・AOM泊吋唱 0.38 0.42
H ヅb町四Ae町伊 0.58
L
SPECIES DIVERSITY ANDA BUNDANCE OF ANTS 209
The proportion of species belonging to genera varied among sampling methods.
Although species of Pheidole were s創npled出emost by all methods，C erapachys and
Tetramorium (8 species or 6%) were the second most abundant in leaf litter sifting while
Camponotus and Polyrhachis (9 species or 8%) were the second most abundant in hand
coll即 t泊.g.In honey bait回ps，Oligomyrmex，Hy poponera and Pachycondyla (8 species or
7%) were the second most abundant genera，wh ile Pachycondyla (7 species or 8%) were由e
second most abundant in soil sampl泊g.
Similarity of Ant Species Caught by DitTerent Sampling Methods
百les泊lilarityanalysis of species collected by the four sampling methods is shown泊
Table 3. Honey bait住'apsand soil sampl泊.gwere the closest (Cs= 0 .58)，fo llowed by honey
bait回psand leaf litter sifting (Cs= 0 .56) and soil sampling and leaf litter sift加g(Cs=0.54).
Leaf litter sifl出gand hand collecting were f:紅白estapart (Cs= 0 .35).
DISCUSSION
，
Species RichnessAbundance and Composition of the Ant Community
官leresults from this study show白紙speciesdiversity of ants is high in the lowland
tropical rain forest，eq uivalent to 3% of the number of ant species that have been described in
the world (BOLTON，19 95a)，or about 2ι32% ofthe to凶 numberof ant species in百 ailand
(WIWATWITAYA，20 03).百ediversity of the aboreal ants might have been underestimated泊
出isstudy because sampling was res凶ctedto hand collecting. Many studies have shown出at
ac ombination of sampl泊gmethods yields higher numbers of ant species th組曲euseofa
single method，a nd each method is adept at collecting different ant species (BRUm.. EIA L.，
1998; HASHlMOTOEIAL.，20 01; Ro阻 0&JAFFE，19 98; YAMANE& H ASHIMOτ，0'1999).官le
simility alysisof species collected by the four sampling methods showed al ow level of
釘 佃
similarity between methods.百lIssuggests that each of the four methods collected di町erent
components of出eant community. This pat飽mis similar to studies of ant communities
泊 tropicalrain forest of Sabah，B omeo (HAs田MOTOEI' AL.，20 01). In住'opicalrain forest，
S位ongpartitioning of出.eants among血.edifferent 抑制hasbeen reported (BRU乱 EIAL.，
1998).百lerefore，ac ombination of sampling methods is recommended for inventories of
血.eant community，c omparisons between different microhabitats拙 wellas for long-term
monitoring.
Analysis of species diversity is difficult for social insects，es pecially ants，be cause the
number of individuals collected does not necessarily reflect the relative abundance of
species，wh ich is need for diversity indices (BESTEL阻 YERETA L.，20 00: LoNG町0，2000).
Thisis due to the fact白紙someant species with large colony size may recruit m佃 yworkers
to ab ait or send al ot of workers out foraging while other ant species forage singly
(HOLLDOBLER & WILSON，1 990: SHAITUCK，1 999). Abundance of ants would best be
measured as the number of colonies per species in佃 area，but this is difficult to do泊practice
(BES叩 LMEYERETA L.，2 000: LONGINO，2 000). Therefore，恥 frequencyof collection，
measured as the number of baits，or traps泊whichspecies are present is often used as白e
measure of relative abundance of ants as suggested by BESTELMEYER ETA L. (2000)，
210 NAWEE N∞N・釧ANT，SUPARO政 WATANAsrr AND 肱C臥 WIWATWπ'AYA
HASHIMOTO ETA L. (2001) and LONGINO (2000). This measure w'Ould be suitable f'Or
es由natingh'Owa bundant ant species釘e，since血epr'Obability 'Ofc 'Ollecting f'Oraging w'Orkers
is n'Otb ased up'Onc 'Ol'Ony size 'Off' Orager density but base up'On血e'Occuπ'ence'Ofa nt species
'Over出，earea.
M'Ost species 'OfM yrmicinae and P'Onerinae were f'Ound面白，eleaf litter layer，as
expected fr'Om previ'Ous studies (ANDERSON & MAJER，1 991; BELSHAW & BOLTON，
1994; BRUHLETAL.，19 98; LEV町GS，1983). F'Ormicinae are dis凶butedmainly加 thel'Ower
vegetati'Ona nd in r'Otten l'Ogs，bu t由eyd'O als'Oωcur in the leaf litter layer and s'Oil. Ah igher
prop'Orti'On'O fF'Ormicinae were f'Ound in Sabah，B' Ome'O (BRUHLETA L.，19 98; ITINO &Y A MANE，
1994) where白eywere f'Ound mainly泊血ec佃'Opyand l'Ower vegetati'On.百lepr'Op'Orti'On' Of
F'Ormicinae w錨 l'Owerin血isstudy because sampl泊gf'Ocused 'Only 'Ont he l'Ower vegetati'On
and the hand c'Ollec伽gmeth'Odw錨 appliedt'O 'Only af ew trees.
h血isstudy，D 'Olich'Oderinae佃dPseud'Omyrmecinae species were mainly f'Ound初出e
l'Ower vegetati'Ona nd血位rangedis凶buti'Onis m'Ostly泊血ecan'Opy (BR白江町AL.，1998;
孔O阻 N&L町SE削 AIR，1997). As ingle species 'OfP seud'Omyrmecinae was f'Ound加出es'Oil
because s'Ome species will 'Occasi'Onal1yf 'Orage 'Ont he gr'Ound ar'Ound the base 'Oft rees 'Or
shrubs (SHATIUCK，19 99).
Army佃 ts(Aenic由aeand D'Orylinae)紅eap redat'Ory gr'Oup and have highly aggregated
dis肘buti'Ons.Their c'Ol'Onies are n'Omadic and very large，wi th between 60，000 and 20，000，000
w'Orkers in many species但OLLDOBLER&W ILSON，19 90).百ley紅erepresented泊白isstudy
by as ingle genus and 5s pecies 'OfA enictinae.
Cerapachyinae sp民ies'Of'O nly 'One genus were f'Ound泊 theleaf litter，l'O wer vegetati'On
釦dr'Otten l'Ogs，bu t也eyals'O 'Occurred泊也es'Oil samples. Species are kn'Own白r'Ough'O脱出e
w'Orld泊住'Opicaland subtr'Opical areas. Nests 'Occ町泊awide range 'Ofsi 旬s，m'Ostc'Omm'Only
directly in the s'Oil with single，si mple en位anceh'Oles 'Ori n r'Otten w'O'Odi n the gr'Ound
(SHAT叩CK，1999).百leirw'Orkers ar芭sp即ialistpredaωIrs 'Of'O ther ants，s加 ul紅 t'O佃nyants
(BROWN，20 00; SHATIUCK，19 99).
Lep凶lillinaebel'On前19t'O 2g enera and 2s pecies，Le pωnilla叩・andProtanillasp.，we re
f'Ound in h'Oney bait trョpsand s'Oil sampling泊出iss加dy.百leyare dis凶buted泊血，eOld
W'Orld tr'Opics佃 dtemperate z'One，in cluding Aus釘alia(BROWN，20 00; HOLLDOBLER &
WILSON，19 90). S'Omes peci国間kn'Ownt 'O f'Ormc 'Ol'Onies 'Ofs everal hundred w'Orkers in白e
s'Oil，t'O be predaci'Ous 'Ons mall 紅白r'Op'Odsand t'O f'Orage largely 'Ore xclusively恒也，es'Oil，組d
s'Omes pecies釘ekn'Ownt 'O be n'Omadic叩 df'Orage using gr'Oup-raiding，s加 lilart'O army ants
(SHATIUCK，19 99). They have remained ap uzzle，be cause白ey紅every rare l'Ocally and little
is kn'Owna b'Out their tax'On'Omy，bi 'Ol'Ogy and ec'OI'Ogy.
Pheidole w錨血em'Ost species-rich genus wi血 25species.百世sis the sec'Ond largest
genus 'Of叩 ts泊 thew'Orld and is p紅白叫紅'lydiverse in佐'Opicalrain f'Orest (BROWN，20 00;
Eouα孔2001). M'Ost species were f'Ound in the s'Oil and h'Oney bait回 psbut they als'O 'Occured
泊 theleaf litter layer，l'O wer vegetati'Ona nd r'Otten l'Ogs. Thisis s泊lil釘 t'O'Other studies泊
which Pheidole species were f'Ound，m 'Ostly nes血19恒也es'Oil.百leycan als'O make nes岱
underrocks叩 daf ew species are kn'Ownt 'O 'Occasi'Onally nest ab'Oreally 'Orn est in rotten w'O'Od
'Ont he gr'Ound (BROWN，20 00; Eou口弘 2001;SHATIUCK，19 99). A wide range 'Off 'O'Odi s
taken as these ants are general predat'Ors and scavengers. They als'O feed 'Ons eeds and many
species釘'e'Omniv'Orous (BROWN，20 00; SHAITUCK，19 99).
Pachycondyla with 15 species and Hypoponera with 13 species were f'Ound in出e
leaf litter layer，l'O wer vegetati'On，r'O tten l'Ogs，s'O il sampling and h'Oney bait回 ps.They are
SPECIES DIVERSITY ANDA BUNDANCE OF ANTS 211
dis位ibutedw'Orldwide泊the住opicsand sub住opics(BROWN，20 00). Pachycondyla is al arge
and diverse gr'Oup 'Ofa nts. They nest in s'Oil，un der r'Ocks，'Oc casi'Onally加l'Owervegetati'On，
f'Oraging 'On白egr'Ound and m'Ost釘egeneral predat'Ors 'Ors cavengers. S'Ome釘e甲町ialist
predat'Ors 'Ont ermites and harvest seeds (BROWN，20 00; HOLLDOBLER & WILSON，1 990;
SHATI'UCK，19 99). Hypoponera c佃 bef'Ound under rocks，'Ot her 'Objeω 'On白egr'Ound，泊
r'Otten w'Ood and in leaf litter (BROWN，20 00; HOLLDOBLER & WILSON，19 90; SHATI'UCK，
1999).百leirr'Ole is cryptic predat'Ors，f'O raging泊leaflitter and s'Ome species紅ekn'Ownt 'O
specialise 'OnC 'Ollemb'Ola (SHATI'UCK，19 99).
百lefIfth largest species-rich genus泊白isstudy is Camponotus with 11 species. M'Ost
sp回ieswere f'Ound in the l'Ower vegetati'Ona nd r'O恥nl'Ogs，bu t血eya1s'O 'Occurred泊theleaf
litter layer，s' Oil sampl泊gand h'Oney bait甘aps.Thisis the largest genus泊 thew'Orld with
1，518 described species and subspecies (SHAT町CK，1999).百eyare f'Ound 'On血egr'Ound'Or
'Onl 'Ower vegetati'Ona nd nests加deadw'O'Od，s'O il，be tween r'Ocks，a m'Ong the r'O'Ots 'Ofp lants
and泊 twigs'Ons tanding shrubs 'Ort rees (BROWN，20 00; HOLLDOB日R& WILSON，1 990;
SHATI'UCK，19 99).百ley釘egeneral scavengers and predat'Ors，in cluding feeding 'Onn ectar
and plant secreti'Ons (SHATI'UCK，19 99).
τ
'hed ifferences between the m'Ost species-rich genera might be related t'O different
sampl均 eff'Orts.In studies where the can'Opy was investigated (BRUHL EfA L.，19 98; FLo阻 N
&L町SENMAIR，1997; YAMANE，19 97; YAMANE&N ONA，19 94)，Ca mponotus was them'Ost
sp配 ies-richgenus. In曲iss加dy，Pheidole was the d'Ominant genus; this is s加ulart'O血eant
c'Ommunities恒也.eKimberly regi'On' OfA us町alia(ANo回SON& MAJER，19 91)組 dants泊
New Guinea rain f'Orest (WILSON，19 59). It might be related t'O白eprevi'Ous studies白紙血e
leaf litter and s'Oil 'Oftr 'Opical rain f'Orest were sampled m'Ore extensively than the 'Other s回.ta
(l'Ower vegetati'Ona nd can'Opy).
T'O summarize the results，sp ecies diversity and abundance 'Ofa nts are very high in
l'Owland tr'Opical rain f'Orest and ac 'Ombinati'On' Ofs 創npl也gmeth'Ods is rec'Ommended f'Or
invent'Ories 'Oft he組 tc'Ommunity，c' Omparls'Ons between different micr'Ohabitats，as well as
f'Orl' Ong-term m'Onit'Oring，pr 'Ovid泊guseful data in bi'Odiversity and c'Onservati'Ons tudies in
tr'Opica1 rain f'Orest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
e
This w'Ork was supp'Orted by出 TRF/BIOTEC Specia1 Pr'Ogram f'OrB i'Odiversity
Research and Training grant BRT T_344012 and the Graduate Sch'O'Ol，Pr ince 'OfS 'Ongkla
University. Wet hank Sirip'Om Th'Ongaree and出estaff 'OfH ala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary
f'Ora cc'Omm'Odati'Ona nd c'O'Operati'Ond uring specimen c'Ollecti'On. Special thanks釘'edue t'O
Pi'Ofess'OrDr . Seiki Yamane，Dr . Rud'Olf J. K'Oh'Out，Dr . Katsuyuki Eguchi，wi 関 yawutJai佐ong
加 dSasith'Om Hasin f'Ort heir assistance and helping with the identifIcati'On' Ofa nts.百四lks
紅'eals'O due t'O the m組 ype'Ople wh'O have facilitated fIeld and lab'Orat'Ory w'Ork.
212 NAW理 NOON-釧刷T，SUPAROEK WATANASIT AND D配臥WIWATWITAYA
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