Hormigas arbóreas del Parque Nacional Natural Gorgona (Pacífico de Colombia)

Abstract

*[Despite the strong microclimatic fluctuations, scarcity of nesting sites, & unpredictable prey availability in open environments, ants are the dominant invertebrates in the tropical forest canopy. This study focused on the arboreal ants in Gorgona National Park, Colombia, a rainforest ecosystem (27-degrees-C, 6000-mm average annual rainfall). In November 2007, 16 trees were sampled by fogging them with a biodegradable pyrethroid insecticide in 4 levels between 1 & 15 m above the understory vegetation. We found 53 species of Formicidae (24 genera, six subfamilies): 2 subfamilies had the most species: Formicinae (20 species) & Myrmicinae (17). The most abundant were arboreal species of Azteca, Dolichoderu bispinosus, D. lutosus), Camponotus atriceps, C. claviscapus, C. championi, C. excisus, & Crematogaster brasiliensis, C. carinata, & C. curvispinosa. Some species that are common at ground level (Wasmannia auropunctata, Camponotus sericeiventris) were collected up to a height of 15 m. We call attention to the capture of Nesomyrmex pittieri, Crematogaster stolli, Cephalotes basalis, Anochetus bispinosus, & Stigmatomma mystriops, species rarely found using conventional methods.]