INVESTIGADORES
POL Rodrigo Gabriel
artículos
Título:
Tamaño y composición de la colonia de tres especies de hormigas del género Pogonomyrmex (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) en la porción central del desierto del Monte, Argentina
Autor/es:
BEATRIZ NOBÚA BEHRMANN; FERNANDO MILESI; JAVIER LOPEZ DE CASENAVE; RODRIGO POL; BÁRBARA PAVÁN
Revista:
REVISTA DE LA SOCIEDAD ENTOMOLóGICA ARGENTINA
Editorial:
SOCIEDAD ENTOMOLÓGICA ARGENTINA
Referencias:
Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2010 vol. 69 p. 117 - 122
ISSN:
0373-5680
Resumen:
Colony size is one of the main traits of ants? biology, shaping significant ecological characteristics such as foraging strategy. Though colony size has been studied with some detail for several North American species of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants, it remains unknown for South American species. We studied colony size, composition, and nest structure of three species of Pogonomyrmex harvester ants inhabiting the Central Monte desert in Argentina: P. mendozanus Cuezzo & Claver, P. inermis Forel and P. rastratus Mayr. We excavated two nests of each species, and collected all individuals in each nest. All three species have small colonies of 300-1100 individuals, with approximately 70% adult workers. The structure of their nests is relatively simple, resembling that of the most studied species in North America, though less developed in depth and total number of chambers, probably due to the smaller number of workers per colony. These characteristics (small colony size and relatively simple nests) are considered typical of the South American Pogonomyrmex ants, which distinguish them from most of the studied North American species in the genus.