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Hypogaeic pitfall traps: methodological advances and remarks to improve the sampling of a hidden ant fauna

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Abstract

Ant assemblages present a great vertical stratification, with microhabitats showing strong differences in relation to species composition. Among the microhabitats, the hypogaeic has been poorly studied. Hypogaeic or subterranean ants live in the deeper soil layers, which make the sampling logistics and operability a difficult work. The fact that the hypogaeic ant fauna is diversified and abundant, with low similarity to ant assemblages in other microhabitats, has promoted the development of several collecting techniques to sample this hidden ant fauna. Here, we verify the ability of hypogaeic pitfall traps to sample subterranean ants. In addition, we propose methodological advances and remarks about the use of this ant sampling technique.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks to the farmers of Viçosa city and Universidade Federal de Viçosa for allowing access the forests and pasture in their properties. We are indebted to Carla R. Ribas for helping at fieldwork and Rodrigo Feitosa for his helping to confirm the ant identification. We are thankful to Renata Campos, Rodrigo Feitosa, Carla R. Ribas, José H. Schoereder, and two anonymous referees for critical reading of previous versions of the manuscript and to Heraldo L. Vasconcelos and Tatianne Marques who provided replying about further using of this pitfall. We also thank CAPES, CNPq and FAPEMIG for financial support and grants.

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  1. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Entomologia. Laboratório de Ecologia de Comunidades, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, MG, 36570-000, Brazil

    F. A. Schmidt & R. R. C. Solar

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  1. F. A. Schmidt
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  2. R. R. C. Solar
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Correspondence to F. A. Schmidt.

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Schmidt, F.A., Solar, R.R.C. Hypogaeic pitfall traps: methodological advances and remarks to improve the sampling of a hidden ant fauna. Insect. Soc. 57, 261–266 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00040-010-0078-1

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