The phenology of a Neotropical ant assemblage: evidence for continuous andoverlapping reproduction

Reproductive phenologies reflect the interaction between the mating system of a taxon and the local environment. Ant colonies reproduce and disperse v ia the flights of winged alates. Few data exist on the reproductive phenolo gies of ant assemblages. Here we analyze the reproductive phenologies of 81 common ant species from 23,182 individuals collected over 3 years on Barro Colorado Island, Panama (BCI). Species ranged from highly synchronous to c ontinuous fliers, but showed a median flight duration of at least 8 of 13 l unar months. In two statistical analyses (variance ratio test and Spearman rank correlations), 84% (16 of 19) of ant genera had species trending towar d positively associated phenologies, more than expected by chance (P <0.000 36 by a binomial test). Thus, there was little evidence for the hypothesis that competition for limiting resources staggers congeneric flights and ult imately promotes reproductive isolation. On the contrary, the timing of rep roduction, and its synchrony, tended to be conserved within genera and subf amilies. These results closely match phenological studies of plant assembla ges. The continuous reproduction and small colony size of many species in t his study suggest that the female calling syndrome, a poorly documented mat ing system in ants, may be common on BCl.