Abstract
The present study deals with the biodiversity of ants in Indian Sunderbans. Study locations were selected from reclaimed area of eastern, central and western sector of Indian Sunderbans. Ants were collected randomly during pre-monsoon and post-monsoon period from different habitats of selected locations likely homestead orchard, paddy field, sandy beach, mangrove patch and waste land by using honey bait and hand picking method. Altogether 62 species of ants under 30 genera and 5 subfamilies were identified from the inhabited areas of Sunderbans. The present study revealed that the predominant subfamily was the Myrmicinae with 12 genera and 28 species followed by Formicinae, Ponerinae and Dolichoderinae. The genus Camponotus was found to be the most speciose genus in all the studied locations. Total 4 genera namely Camponotus, Pheidole, Lepisiota and Crematogaster were common in all the six habitats. The species richness of ant communities in the mangrove habitat was found relatively poor than agricultural land and homestead orchard. The ant genera Monomorium, Camponotus, Pheidole, Crematogaster, Paratrechina, Lepisiota, Tapinoma, Diacamma, Nylanderia, Tetramorium, Pseudoneoponera, Trichomyrmex, Iridomyrmex, Solenopsis, Carebara, Dolichoderus, Dilobocondyla, Leptogenys, Oecophylla, Cataulacus and Tetraponera were found in both pre- and post-monsoon seasons. Shannon diversity index and Simpson diversity index values indicated that the ant community is mature and stable in studied locations of Sunderbans.
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