Community Structure of Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in a Series of Habitats Associated with Citrus

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Abstract
A transect of 44 pitfall traps passing through 11 point habitats associated with citrus in South Africa captured 10,488 individuals comprising 23 genera and 49 spp. Rank-abundance plots showed increasing equitability within habitats ranging from young orchard through old orchard and rank grassland to sparse grassland. The dominant species accounted for as much as 95.7% of individuals in the young orchard and as little as 17.6% in sparse grassland. Overall, Pheidole was the dominant genus. In all but 1 habitat, one or other Pheidole species dominated. In grassland, but not so much in the orchards, there was a 2-dimensional mosaic distribution of ants. At the nominal level, most habitats shared the majority of species. At the ordinal level the rank sequence of ants varied considerably from 1 habitat to another. On the basis of ant abundance at the interval level, habitats grouped according to overall physiognomy, and could be arranged in the following general sequence: old orchard, young orchard, rank grassland, sparse grassland. All but the most abundant species were habitat-sensitive. There was a positive correlation between the number of habitats in which an ant occurred and its overall abundance. This suggested that habitat modification would be unsuitable as a primary method of ant management. Instead, trunk banding which cuts off the ants'' nests from the honeydew source in the tree, is an ecologically more appropriate method of management.