Ants act in different trophic levels and are important due to their abundance, distribution and diversity in a variety of habitats, exercising influence on many different organisms and ecosystems. Thus, this study compared temporal variation on the structure and composition of the Formicidae community in canopies of Callisthene fasciculata (Spr.) Mart. (Vochysiaceae) during high water and dry periods, in the Pantanal of Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brazil. Ant sampling was performed on 12 specimens of C. fasciculata, in 2010 and 2011, using canopy fogging with insecticide, in a total of 120m² of sampled canopy. Altogether, 2,958 ants were collected. The 2,943 adults were distributed in four subfamilies, 12 genus and 26 species. Myrmicinae (18.7 ind./m2) was the most representative taxon, followed by Formicinae (3.2 ind./m2), Dolichoderinae (2.2 ind./m2) and Pseudomyrmecinae (0.3 ind./m2). The community is made up of six trophic groups, in which omnivorous (23.5 ind./m2) were the most prevalent, followed by minimum hypogeical generalists (0.5 ind./m2) and arboreal generalist predators (0.3 ind./m2). Although the results showed that Formicidae community richness, associated to C. fasciculata canopies, does not represent a significant difference among the seasonal periods, there are differences as to species distribution and grouping in trophic guilds on the host plant over the seasonal periods, indicating the influence of temporal variation, and therefore, habitat conditions on this community.
Ant community (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) associated with Callisthene fasciculata (Spr.) Mart. (Vochysiaceae) canopies in the Pantanal of Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brazil
