Feeding preferences in african ponerine ants: a cafeteria experiment (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

摘要

In order to know the degree of specialization of 17 ponerine ant species belonging to 10 genera, we conducted three series of experiments: a cafeteria experiment using 12 different food items (10 kinds of prey, bread and honey); a second series of cafeteria experiments, but with colonies starved during four days to determine if each ant species has alternative food preferences; and in certain cases complementary experiments. We distinguished polyphagic species that readily accepted both honey and prey. Other tested ant species are specific predators that accepted honey occasionally or not at all. Among them, we noted generalist predators, and semi-specialized species preying mostly on a single taxa, but able to capture other prey without being starved. Among the oligophagous species preying specifically on a particular taxa, starvation plus complementary experiments permitted us to note alternative prey for three species. For the remaining species, the existence of alternative prey was impossible to demonstrate. Finally, we noted that most of the prey accepted by these ants are animals participating in the degradation of leaf litter and rotten wood lying on the ground. Among them, termite were the most frequently chosen, demonstrating the complexity of their role in rain forest ecology.