GROUND ANT FAUNA IN A BORNEAN DIPTEROCARP FOREST

The ant fauna of the forest floor was studied in a Bornean lowland dip terocarp forest using honey baits. A total of 51 species belonging to 23 genera was collected from 90 (45 daytime + 45 night) baits set on t he ground surface and 90 (45 daytime + 45 night) baits set on tree tru nks at 0.5-1.0 m above the ground. Collected species represented only 22% of the total ant species so far known from this area using a combi nation of several collection techniques. Although some species (Pheido le spp., Camponotus gigas, Lophomyrmex longicornis, etc.) are more fre quently attracted than others, the frequency occurrence in these speci es was much lower than in the dominant species in warm temperate everg reen forests in Japan. Baits put on the ground surface attracted more ant species than those on tree trunks (35 vs. 25 spp.), and only 9 spe cies were common to both types of habitat. Daytime and night baits att racted nearly the same number of ant species (34 vs. 31), only 14 bein g common to both time zones. Various aspects of ant diet and activity pattern are discussed.