Abstract
The potential role of ants as biological control agents has been investigated in Mexican tropical agro-ecosystems. Ant predation is compared among plots planted in corn, bean, squash polycultures; bean and corn monocultures; and fallow fields. A second treatment, length of time of field cultivation, was also tested for each planting regime. All plot treatments reflect present agricultural practices in Mexico. Effectiveness of ant predation in each plot is measured experimentally as the rate of bait removal by ants. Bait removal by ants is significantly different among polycultures cultivated for various lengths of time. Bait removal is significantly different in old polycultures compared with the second-growth area suggesting that a select subset of the ant community may colonize polycultures. Since there are differences in ant foraging activity, it should be possible to enhance the effectiveness of ant predation in these agro-ecosystems.
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