Worker morphology of the ant Gnamptogenys striatula Mayr (Formicidae, Ectatomminae) in different landscapes from the Atlantic Forest domain

Autor(es)

Oliveira, Roseli F. ^[1] ; Silva, Rogerio R. ^[2] ; Souza-Campana, Debora R. ^[1] ; Nakano, Marcia A. ^[1] ; Morini, Maria Santina C. ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Mogi Das Cruzes, Nucleo Ciencias Ambientais, Mogi Das Cruzes, SP - Brazil

^[2] Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi, Coordenacao Ciencias Terra & Ecol, Belem, PA - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Revista Brasileira de Entomologia; v. 59, n. 1, p. 21-27, JAN-MAR 2015.
• Citações Web of Science: 1

Resumo

Morphological traits, such as size and shape, may reflect a combination of ecological and evolutionary responses by organisms. Ants have been used to evaluate the relationship between the environment and species coexistence and morphology. In the present study, we analyzed the morphology of workers of Gnamptogenys striatula Mayr in different landscapes from the Atlantic Domain in southeastern Brazil, focusing on the variation in the morphological attributes of these populations compared to those from a dense ombrophilous forest. Eighteen morphological traits of functional importance for interactions between workers and the environment were measured to characterize the size and shape of the workers. In general, the results show that ants of urban areas possess some morphological attributes of smaller size, with highly overlapped morphological space between the populations in forested ecosystems. Further, some of the traits related to predation were relatively smaller in modified land areas than in the populations from preserved areas of dense ombrophilous forest. These results help broaden the knowledge regarding morphological diversity in G. striatula, suggesting that the characterization of the morphology may be important to quantify the effects of land use on morphological diversity, and presumably, to facilitate the use of ants as biological indicators. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/50294-2 - Estrutura das comunidades de formigas de serapilheira em cultivo extensivo de Eucalyptus grandis dunnii Maiden, em áreas de Mata Atlântica
• Beneficiário: Maria Santina de Castro Morini
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular