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Diversity of Ant Species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) In the Campus of Maharani?s Science College for Women: A Mini Model of Habitat Persistence

Mahalakshmi BR and Channaveerappa H

The study examined the diversity of ants in the Campus of Maharani’s Science College, Mysuru city, Karnataka, as there is no adequate information pertaining on ant diversity of this region. The present study was carried out during January to June months of the year. We have sampled ants by employing intensive all out search method. This result showed that a total of 978 individuals were captured in the study area. The sampled specimens representing 20 species belonged to 12 genera and four subfamilies. The most diverse subfamily was Myrmicinae (5 genera with 7 species), followed by Formicinae (3 genera with 7 species) and Ponerinae (3 genera with 4 species). The smallest number of species belonged to the Pseudomyrmicinae (1 genus with 2 species). Among the sampled genera, one which showed the highest number of species representation was Camponotus with 4 species. Few ant genera as Crematogaster and Pheidole of Myrmicinae, Camponotus and Polyrhachis of Formicinae and Leptogenys of Ponerinae are mostly found everywhere. Some genera viz; Oecophylla, Meranoplus, Myrmicaria, Solenopsis, Anochetus and Diacamma are represented by lone species each. The present study has yielded valuable information of ant availability in this region and also revealed that the campus of Maharani’s science college, Mysuru has a rich diversity of ants in spite of regular alteration in habitat of these ants. This study has shown the ants could survive against the odds and this study area served as a mini model to examine the persistence of ant species in a locality.