Species of the Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) In the Campus of Nakshatra Garden of Baramati India

Abstract

Ants have been around since the Cretaceous Period, thriving for 100 million years before ruining a single picnic. They not only survived the asteroid that killed the dinosaurs; they spread out of tropical forests to pretty much conquer the world. The attempt was to study the diversity of ants in the Campus of Nakshatra Garden Baramati Dist. Pune Maharashtra state. The present study was carried out during November, 2017 to March, 2018. The suitable and well established ―All – Out – Search – Method‖ was employed for sampling the ants. Total of 978 individuals of the ants from study area were collected. The sampled specimens of the ant from the Campus of Nakshatra Garden Baramati Dist. Pune Maharashtra state are representing 20 species belonged to 12 genera and four subfamilies. The most diverse subfamily among the collected ants was Myrmicinae (5 genera with 7 species), followed by Formicinae (3 genera with 7 species) and Ponerinae (3 genera with 4 species). The smallest number of species belonged to the Pseudomyrmicinae (1 genus with 2 species). Among the sampled genera, one which showed the highest number of species representation was Camponotus with 4 species. Few ant genera as Crematogaster and Pheidole of Myrmicinae, Camponotus and Polyrhachis of Formicinae and Leptogenys of Ponerinae are mostly found everywhere. Some genera viz; Oecophylla, Meranoplus, Myrmicaria, Solenopsis, Anochetus and Diacamma are represented by lone species each. The attempt is trying it‘s best to document the ant species diversity in the Campus of Nakshatra Garden Baramati Dist. Pune Maharashtra state. The ants could survive against the odds. The ―Campus of Nakshatra Garden Baramati Dist. Pune Maharashtra state‖, study area in the present attempt served as a mini model to examine the persistence of ant species in a locality