FUGITIVE SPECIES IN A HARLEQUIN ENVIRONMENT - ANTS (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) AND BANANA BAITS IN THE AMAZON

A total of 9 ant species were sampled from four sites covering 2000 km in the Amazon Basin using banana fruit baits: two sites on the Jurua River, one site on the Xingu River and in a dry forest of eastern Amaz on, Paragominas. Camponotus abdominalis was present in all sites, and Camponotus sericeiventris, Camponotus sp. and Crematogaster sp. were p resent in two sites. All other species were present in only one site. Paragominas had the highest species richness because of a higher numbe r of site restricted species. However, Jaccard faunas similarities amo ng sites were not significantly related with distance between sites. M osaic diversity showed a relatively simple taxonomic composition. The strong differences of the fauna sampled at banana fruit baits from oth er reported Neotropical ant faunas suggests that the fauna represents widespread fugitive species in an apparently complex environment.