Abstract

First record of nest alligator with bivouacs of army ants in Brazilian Cerrado. In this work we showed for the first time, the army ant Labidus praedator (Formicidae: Ecitoninae) using a nest of dwarf caiman Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Crocodylia: Alligatoridae) for the establishment of bivouacs in Brazilian Cerrado. Over almost three months of inspection of the nest we recorded the presence of L. praedator and, although this species is extremely carnivorous, there was no sign of predation on eggs and/or neonates of P. palpebrosus. Additionally, we discuss how the presence of ants could have inhibited, or not the presence of the female alligator in the nest, exposing the offspring to greater or lesser attack by predators. In addition, we suggest future studies to monitor other alligators nests infested with army ants in order to assess the indirect impact of these ants in the reproductive success of alligators

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