Communities of Epigeic Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in an Area of Reforestation and in Native Forest

摘要

This work aimed to compare the richness of epigeic ant communities in two areas: A native forest and a reforestation area with eucalyptus, both in the Ivinhema municipality, MS, Brazil. Four collections were made from June 2004 and April 2005. Eighty-five species were collected which were distributed in thirty-seven genera and seven subfamilies. The genera that presented the major number of morpho-species were Pheidole, Ectatomma, Camponotus and Solenopsis. The area of native forest presented more richness of species compared to the reforestation area in the two seasons of the year (dry and rainy). Although both studied areas presented more richness during the rainy period, our data, as well as other works in the literature, suggest that the structure of the studied ant communities is greatly influenced by the heterogeneity of the environment.