Abstract
Ant occupancy in thorns of Vachellia (Acacia) karroo (Hayne) Banfi and Galasso was examined along the banks of the Great Fish River near Grahamstown, South Africa. Half of all thorns with visible openings contained ant nests. Colonies of Tetraponera emeryi (Forel) and a single unidentified Tapinoma species were present in over 40% of thorns with openings. Cataulacus intrudens (Smith, F.) was regularly encountered but at a much lower frequency. A single nest of Tetraponera natalensis (Smith, F.) and two Nesomyrmex stramineus (Arnold) nests were also found. The size of contiguous patches of A. karroo was not related to the percentage of thorns occupied by ants. The A. karroo ant assemblage appears to be mediated by the availability of suitable nesting thorns rather than competitive interactions.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Transactions of the American Entomological Society
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
