Natural history of Camponotus renggeri and Camponotus rufipes (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in an Atlantic Forest reserve, Brazil

• Published in: Insectes sociaux Vol. 69; no. 4; pp. 369 - 374
• Main Authors: Pereira-Romeiro, M. P., Vanin, G. T., Azevedo-Silva, M., Mori, G. M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-11-2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Camponotus renggeri; Entomology; Life Sciences; Natural history; Nesting; Nests; Short Communication; Brazil; Atlantic Forest; Daily activity; Foraging area; Hymenoptera; Neotropics; Sympatric species; Nesting architecture
• ISSN: 0020-1812; 1420-9098
• DOI: 10.1007/s00040-022-00880-6

Widespread species face a wide variety of environmental challenges and their morphology, behavior, and natural history may change across their range. However, not rarely, natural history research is restricted to one or few locations. That is the case for
Camponotus renggeri
and
C. rufipes
. Both species occur across South America in different ecosystems, but most research on these species is restricted to the Brazilian savanna, known as Cerrado. Here, we describe the foraging area, nesting habits, and activity schedule of
C. renggeri
and
C. rufipes
in an Atlantic Forest reserve in SE Brazil. Inferred intraspecific foraging areas of nearby nests overlapped, especially for
C. renggeri
foraged exclusively during nighttime and
C. rufipes
remained active throughout the day, but with little intensity during daylight hours. Most nests of both species were composed of dry straw, and average foraging areas were 0.91 m
2
for
C. renggeri
and 1.79 m
2
for
C. rufipes
.
C. renggeri.
Our findings reinforce the importance of natural history and add to our knowledge on the ecology and behavior of
C. renggeri
and
C. rufipes
in Atlantic Forest.