HYMENOPTERA: The ant community and their accompanying arthropods in cacao dry pods: an unexplored diverse habitat

Abstract

Dry pods of cacao are an important habitat exploit by different ant species to establish their nest, and by their conditions, diverse organisms associated to them also occupied such nests. We studied the composition of ant assemblage and their accompanying arthropods in fall and hanging cacao pods from experimental areas in Ilheus, Bahia, Brazil. A total of 34 dry cacao fruits were reviewed. The hanging fruits were occupied by six species of ants, with Neoponera villosa as the commonest, while in fallen fruits eight species nested, with Camponotus cingulatus occupying most of the 50% of them. A total of 42 taxa were founded accompanying the ants in the nest, 37 in the fallen fruits (15 exclusive) and 26 in the hanging (seven exclusive). Groups as Mollusca, Myriapoda (Diplopoda, Chilopoda and Symphyla) and Opilionida, were found only in the fallen fruits. Some groups of predators, as Reduviidae and Schizomidae, were found only in nests from hanging fruits. The community composition in both types of fruits was different, more detritivorous groups were found in the fallen fruits, while in the hanging fruits were found more predators. The complexity of interactions established between nest suggests the importance of this environment to ecosystem function and conservation diversity in the cacao plantations.