Ants (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Formicidae) from the Floresta da Tijuca sector, Parque Nacional da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Ants (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Formicidae) are social insects and one of the most abundant groups of animals. Their colonies are established in a wide range of habitats, such as in cavities in the ground, litter on the forest floor or crevices in rocks. Currently, there are approximately 16,000 valid species of ants, of which about 6,000 are recorded from the Neotropical region. The Atlantic Forest is one of the biomes with the greatest biodiversity and a shows a high degree of endemism. However, it has suffered severe impacts and is now reduced to a fraction of the original area. One of the most important remains of the Atlantic Forest is the Parque Nacional da Tijuca (PNT), a protected area located in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Very little is known about the mirmecofauna from the PNT, with a concentration of efforts on the Serra da Carioca sector.

In the present study, we performed the first inventory of the mirmecofauna of the Floresta da Tijuca sector of the PNT, using pitfall traps and Winkler extractors in areas with three different degrees of preservation. In total, 80 species are recorded from Floresta da Tijuca, of which 18 are reported for the first time from this sector, 37 from the PNT, 10 from the state of Rio de Janeiro, and one from the Atlantic Forest biome. These results increase the known diversity of ants of the PNT from 149 to 200 species. Furthermore, the known geographic distribution of Hypoponera viri (Santschi, 1923) is extended northward, those of Holcoponera mina Brown, 1956 and Neocerapachys neotropicus Weber, 1939, southward, and Brachymyrmex bruchi Forel, 1912 and Hypoponera parva (Forel, 1909), eastward. The most abundant species in our samples was Holcoponera moelleri (Forel, 1912), followed by Pachycondyla striata F. Smith, 1858, Strumigenys denticulata Mayr, 1887, Hypoponera trigona (Mayr, 1887), Megalomyrmex goeldii Forel, 1912, and Hylomyrma reitteri (Mayr, 1887). The primary forest area was the richest, followed by the disturbed area and, closely, by the area in advanced restoration. The species richness was higher during the dry season in the primary forest and advanced restoration areas, while it was higher during the rainy season in the disturbed area.