A study on ants, regarding species diversity, nest selection and grooming pattern

Bhattacharyya, Kushankur (2015) A study on ants, regarding species diversity, nest selection and grooming pattern. Masters thesis, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata.

PDF (MS dissertation of Kushankur Bhattacharyya) 13IP020.pdf - Submitted Version Restricted to Repository staff only Download (1MB)

Abstract

Ants, a member of the Phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta and order Hymenoptera contribute to various aspects of an ecosystem and in general are considered as a very successful organism. In the current study we focused on three aspects of these creatures. We initiated by documenting the diversity of the ant fauna on our campus, especially the ecology field station in the main campus. So far our collection suggests that of the 102 genera found in India, our campus has species belonging to 12 of them. Next we investigated the nesting habits of a commonly found ant Diacamma indicum. We characterised the nest entrance and tunnel, in the pre-monsoon duration and aim to understand how these change across seasons. Having sampled about 30 nests we find that the average nest depth is 16.33 cm and tunnel angle is 37 degrees. The third aspect of this study dealt with the behavioural response of individual ants with the aim to quantify grooming behaviour. Using chalk dust we manipulated the body surface of ants to initiate grooming and noted the tools and the pattern in which they clean themselves and others.

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