Fuminori Ito

Abstract: Nests of the Oriental endemic genus Acanthomyrmex often contain fig seeds (Moffet 1985). This genus is well known for having remarkably dimorphic worker castes (Moffet 1986), and the soldiers have huge heads that appear to be important for crushing fig seeds (Moffett 1985; Bushinger & Maschwitz 1998). However, no direct observations of seed crushing behavior by soldiers have been reported and, so far, seed-harvesting behavior has not been observed in nature. Acanthomyrmex ferox Emery, 1893 is one of the most common and widespread species in Southeast Asia and has been recorded from Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia and southern Thailand (Moffett 1986). We have been investigating several aspects of the biology of this species in Ulu Gombak, Peninsular Malaysia, since 1992 (Gobin & Ito, 2000, 2003). In this short paper, the seed-foraging behavior of A. ferox workers is reported, based on field observations carried out in the Ulu Gombak field station from 1998 to 2002.All of the foraging workers found by us on the forest floor (N = 100) were minor workers; no foraging soldiers were found. Foraging minor workers were frequently observed in small gapsin the forest, and along the forest edge, where sunshine filtering through the foliage reached the forest floor. In such microhabitats, minor workers walked on accumulated dead leaves, small dead twigs, ground, and leaves of lower vegetation. Nests of this species, which are usually found in small dead twigs and in the accumulation of dead leaves, were also abundant in such microhabitats.In order to reveal the sources of fig seeds, we carefully searched for workers of A. ferox on the trunks of 20 fig trees, and on and around several decayed fig fruits fallen on the forest floor. However, no workers harvesting fig seeds were observed. On the other hand, minor workers harvesting fig seeds were observed on 20 bird feces on the leaves of lower vegetation. These observations suggest that A. ferox workers harvest fig seeds exclusively from bird feces dropped on the ground level (forest floor and lower vegetation). Even though we do not have quantitative data of the distribution of bird feces on the forest floor and lower vegetation, anecdotal observations suggest that feces are more abundant along the forest edge and in the gaps of the forest, perhaps because feces dropped by birds can easily reach the ground level without being intercepted by

TL;DR: A new species of oribatid mite, Protoribates myrmecophilus, is described from nests of myrmicine ants Myrmecina spp.

TL;DR: The colony composition of the ponerine ant Pachycondyla (=Bothroponera) tesseronoda was studied in Mudigere, southern India, and the presence of gamergates affects oocyte maturation in virgin workers, although the mechanisms remain unknown.

TL;DR: The daily and seasonal foraging activities of a non-army doryline ant of Cerapachys sulcinodis species complex in the seasonal tropical area of northern Thailand is investigated.

TL;DR: It is shown that the cricket could not survive in artifical nests of the Argentine ant under laboratory conditions, and in the field, the cricket was never found in nests ofThe Argentine ant.