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Elevational and geographic variation in army ant swarm raid rates

  • RESEARCH ARTICLE (C.W. Rettenmeyer memorial paper)
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Abstract

Geographic and elevational variation in the local abundance of swarm-raiding army ants has implications for the population dynamics of their prey, as well as affecting the profitability of army-ant-following behavior for birds. Here, we analyze systematically collected data on E. burchellii and L. praedator raid rates from geographically and elevationally wide-ranging sites, from lowland to montane forests. We show that raids of each species, and of both species pooled, reach peak densities at intermediate (premontane) elevations. These patterns suggest that army ant swarm raids are relatively abundant in Neotropical montane forests. Therefore, a paucity of ant raids does not explain the absence of obligate ant-following bird species, particularly true antbirds (Thamnophilidae), from montane forests. As army ant raids are relatively common at middle elevations, opportunities exist for other montane bird taxa to exploit army ant raids as a food source.

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Acknowledgments

We conducted our field research under government research permits from Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela, and in accordance with the laws of the respective countries. This project was supported by a University of Washington ALCOR Fellowship and an Organization for Tropical Studies Post-Course Award to A.K., University of Washington Royalty Research Fund and NSF grants (IBN-0347315 and IOS-0923680) to S.O’D., and a National Geographic Society Grant in Aid of Research to M.K.

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Author notes

  1. S. Powell

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, BioSciences West room 310, 1041 E. Lowell St., Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Animal Behavior Program, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Box 351525, Seattle, WA, USA

    S. O’Donnell

  2. EEB Graduate Program, Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    M. Kaspari

  3. Council for International Educational Exchange, Tropical Ecology and Conservation Program, Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

    A. Kumar

  4. Museo del Instituto de Zoología Agrícola, Universidad Central Venezuela, Apartado 4579, Maracay, 2101, Venezuela

    J. Lattke

  5. School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK

    S. Powell

Authors
  1. S. O’Donnell
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  2. M. Kaspari
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  3. A. Kumar
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  4. J. Lattke
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  5. S. Powell
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Correspondence to S. O’Donnell.

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O’Donnell, S., Kaspari, M., Kumar, A. et al. Elevational and geographic variation in army ant swarm raid rates. Insect. Soc. 58, 293–298 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-010-0129-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-010-0129-7

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