CUTTING PREFERENCE OF Eucalyptus spp. BY THE LEAF-CUTTING ANT Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus FOREL, 1908 (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE) UNDER LABORATORY CONDITIONS

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a prefer\ueancia de corte das oper\ue1rias de Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus Forel, 1908, em tr\ueas esp\ue9cies e um clone de eucalipto. Plantas de Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake, 1977, Eucalyptus cloeziana F. Muell., 1878, Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh., 1832, e o Clone 129 foram oferecidas, simultaneamente, para tr\ueas col\uf4nias de Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus Forel, 1908. O bioensaio finalizou 6 horas ap\uf3s o seu in\uedcio ou at\ue9 que uma das col\uf4nias cortasse todas as folhas de um dos eucaliptos oferecidos. As col\uf4nias cortaram e carregaram, em m\ue9dia, 0,453g \ub1 0,064 de Eucalyptus camaldulensis; 0,384g \ub1 0,052 do Clone 129; 0,341g \ub1 0,054 de Eucalyptus urophylla e 0,102 \ub1 0,027 de Eucalyptus cloeziana, sendo essa \ufaltima a esp\ue9cie menos preferida para o corte. Por outro lado, n\ue3o houve diferen\ue7a significativa entre a quantidade de folhas cortadas nos outros eucaliptos.The objective of this research was to evaluate the cutting preference of Acromyrmex laticeps nigrosetosus workers among three species and a Clone of eucalypt. The seedlings of Eucalyptus spp. were offered simultaneously to three colonies of this leaf-cutting ant under laboratory conditions. The assay ended six hours after initial offering or until the workers of a colony cut all leaves of a certain eucalyptus species. On the average, colonies cut and carried 0.453g \ub1 0.064 of Eucalyptus camaldulensis; 0.384g \ub1 0.052 of Clone 129; 0.341g \ub1 0.054 of Eucalyptus urophylla and 0.102g \ub1 0.027 of Eucalyptus cloeziana. This last species was the least preferred for cutting and carrying. On the other hand, there was no significant difference among the amount of leaves cut from the other eucalypts