Feeding preferences in African ponerine ants: A cafeteria experiment (Hymenoptera : Formicidae)

In order to know the degree of specialization of 17 ponerine ant species be longing to 10 genera, we conducted three series of experiments: a cafeteria experiment using 12 different food items (10 kinds of prey, bread and hone y); a second series of cafeteria experiments, but with colonies starved dur ing four days to determine if each ant species has alternative food prefere nces; and in certain cases complementary experiments. We distinguished poly phagic species that readily accepted both honey and prey. Other tested ant species are specific predators that accepted honey occasionally or not at a ll. Among them, we noted generalist predators, and semi-specialized species preying mostly on a single taxa, but able to capture other prey without be ing starved. Among the oligophagous species preying specifically on a parti cular taxa, starvation plus complementary experiments permitted us to note alternative prey for three species. For the remaining species, the existenc e of alternative prey was impossible to demonstrate. Finally, we noted that most of the prey accepted by these ants are animals participating in the d egradation of leaf litter and rotten wood lying on the ground. Among them, termites were the most frequently chosen, demonstrating the complexity of t heir role in rain forest ecology.