Abstract
Observou-se, de novembro de 1994 a fevereiro de 1995, a atividade forrageadora de duas colônias de Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus Forel em área reflorestada com eucalipto, Eucalyptus camaldulensis (Myrtaceae), em Paraopeba, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Essas colônias foram monitoradas por dois ciclos consecutivos de 24 horas por mês, tendo sido observado que a atividade dessas colônias foi predominantemente noturna, com correlação negativa, entre o fluxo de operárias nas trilhas e a temperatura do ar, e positiva, com a umidade relativa do ar. A área média explorada, durante o forrageamento, foi de 9,24 m². Foram observadas trilhas mais longas quando não havia trilhas secundárias. O comprimento médio de forrageamento foi de 4,08 m, variando de 2,10 a 8,83 m
Highlights
Foraging activity is predominantly nocturnal in some leaf-cutting ants of the genus Atta (Cherrett, 1968) but it is not uncommon to observe foraging during the day (Lewis et al, 1974; Wetterer, 1990) and a few of the Acromyrmex species show this foraging pattern (Cherrett et al, 1974; Mendes et al, 1992; Maciel et al, 1995; Araújo et al 1998)
This activity usually follows a circadian rhythm that may be modified by hunger and environmental changes (Hölldobler and Wilson, 1990)
Many Acromyrmex species are considered important agricultural and forest pests in Latin America but little is known about their ecological aspects
Summary
Foraging activity is predominantly nocturnal in some leaf-cutting ants of the genus Atta (Cherrett, 1968) but it is not uncommon to observe foraging during the day (Lewis et al, 1974; Wetterer, 1990) and a few of the Acromyrmex species show this foraging pattern (Cherrett et al, 1974; Mendes et al, 1992; Maciel et al, 1995; Araújo et al 1998). This activity usually follows a circadian rhythm that may be modified by hunger and environmental changes (Hölldobler and Wilson, 1990). We conducted this research with the following objectives: to determine the foraging rhythm, to evaluate the effect of temperature and relative humidity on the workers'
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