Foraging activity and diet of the ant, Anoplolepis tenella Santschi (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in southern Cameroon

Abstract

Anoplolepis tenella is a ground-nesting ant of the tropical forest zone of Central Africa,commonly associated with African root and tuber scale, Stictococcus vayssierei Richard, anemerging cassava pest. Understanding the antﾒs foraging activity and diet breadth is animportant step towards developing control measures against S. vayssierei. The present studywas carried out in cassava fields in Awae II and Mengomo, southern Cameroon, during theshort wet and dry seasons of 2006. Foraging activity of A. tenella was continuous during thecircadian cycle and showed four peaks of activity; two during the day and two at night atboth localities and in both seasons. Activity was greater at night than during the day, andgreater in the wet than in the dry season. During the day, activity was significantly positivelycorrelated with relative humidity, and negatively correlated with air temperature. Duringthe night, it was positively correlated with relative humidity but not with air temperature atboth localities. The diet of A. tenella consisted of solid items, mainly live prey (63.3 %) but alsodead prey (36.7 %) and sugary secretions collected from various hemipterans. Stictococcusvayssierei was the most commonly tended hemipteran (98.5 %). Continuous foraging activity,omnivory and especially association with hemipterans are factors that favour the numericaldominance of A. tenella in cassava fields