Distribution and diversity of leaf-cutting ants in northeastern Argentina: species most associated with forest plantations

ANDRÉS FERNÁNDO SÁNCHEZ RESTREPO; NADIA LIS JIMÉNEZ; VIVIANA ANDREA CONFALONIERI; LUIS ALBERTO CALCATERRA

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PEST MANAGEMENT

TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Lugar: Londres; Año: 2019

0967-0874

Leaf-cutting ants (LCA) are considered one of the main herbivores and one of themost destructive pest insects of the Neotropics. Northeastern Argentina harbors the greatest species richness of these ants and in turn comprises the highest surface with forest plantations. Our aim was to establish which species of leaf-cutting ants are most commonly associated with forest plantations by analyzing their geographic distribution using published and unpublished species occurrencedata. Also, estimate their potential areas of distribution along a latitudinalgradient that entirely encompasses northeastern Argentina using EcologicalNiche Modeling. Only seven of the 20 species recorded were strongly associatedwith productive systems along the gradient, but only 2-3 species in each regioncould be considered high-risk species for forest plantations. High-risk speciescomposition shows a turnover between regions. Our models show the potentialdistribution areas where LCA could become more abundant and dominant, andpossibly causing a detrimental effect on the forest plantations in the studiedregion. We find that ecological niche models are useful tools to assess theenvironmental suitability of important LCA.