Exploring the vegetation: Seed harvester ants climb and remove seeds from a giant cactus in a semiarid environment. (September 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Luna, Pedro; Anjos, Diego; García-Chávez, Juan H.; Dáttilo, Wesley
• Is Part Of: Journal of arid environments. Volume 156(2018)
• Page Start: 106
• Page End: 109
• Publication Date: 2018-09
• Subjects: Behavioral flexibility -- Fructification -- Cactaceae -- Granivory -- Pogonomyrmex -- Tehuacán-cuicatlán; Arid regions ecology -- Periodicals; Arid regions -- Periodicals; Écologie des régions arides -- Périodiques; Régions arides -- Périodiques; 577.54
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2018.05.002
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0140-1963

Abstract

Abstract: The red harvester ant ( Pogonomyrmex barbatus ) was observed in situ for the first time climbing and directly removing seeds from different individuals of the giant cactus Neobuxbaumia tetetzo in a Neotropical semiarid environment in central Mexico. Here, we explain how this harvester ant species, by overcoming a vertical barrier (reaching up 3.46 m), has amplified the two-dimensional spatial dimensions in which its worker ants may forage. We discuss the ecological traits that could drive this unusual behavior and its possible implications for the cactus.