Resume
La récolte des fourmis granivoresMessor galla a été suivie pendant deux ans et demi, dans un milieu sahélo-soudanien où les graines sont produites une fois par an, à l'issue d'une courte saison des pluies, en quantités limitées et variables selon les années.
La récolte des fourmis est très saisonnière. En début de saison sèche, lorsque les nouvelles graines de l'année arrivent à maturité, les fourmilières récoltent intensément et montrent une nette préférence pour certaines graines qu'elles mettent en réserve. Leur activité décroît ensuite et reste faible et irrégulière tout le reste de l'année; elles ramènent alors essentiellement les graines les plus abondantes du milieu environnant leur nid.
Les récoltes annuelles des fourmilières étudiées ont varié, selon la taille des colonies, de 3×105 à 4×106 graines, et de 1 à 19 kg. Dans un quadrat suivi plus précisément, les fourmis ont récolté successivement chaque année en 1978–80, 1979–80 et 1980–81, 4, 5, puis 4 kg/ha de graines, ce qui a représenté 0,4, 1,7, puis 0,5% de la production annuelle de graines par la végétation herbacée. En 1978–79, 3 colonies étudiées ne semblaient pas avoir stocké dans leurs nids plus d'une année de récolte.
La récolte des fourmis a varié dans le temps et dans l'espace en fonction des disponibilités du milieu entourant leur nid. Cette plasticité semble être une réponse adaptée à la variabilité saisonnière et interannuelle des disponibilités alimentaires.
Summary
Seed harvesting by the antMessor galla has been followed over a 2.5-year period in a woodland savanna of the sahelo soudanian zone, where seeds are produced only once a year, in restricted and fluctuating numbers following a short rainy season.
Ants harvesting was highly seasonal. At the onset of the dry season, when new seeds were available, the ants harvested very intensively and exhibited a clear choice of some seeds they stored in their underground granaries. Their activity decreased there-after and remained low and irregular: the ants mainly collected the most abundant seed species found in their nest vicinity.
The yearly total collected ranged between 3.105 and 4.106 seeds for each colony studied (1 to 19 kg in fresh weight). In an area studied more precisely in 1978–79, 1979–80 and 1980–81, the ants harvesting amounted to 4, 5 and 4 kg ha−1 yr−1, which represented respectively 0.4, 1.7 and 0.5% of the annual herbaceous seed production. In 1978–79, 3 studied colonies did not seem to have stored in their nest more than one annual harvest.
Ants harvesting varied in space and in time, according to the available resources around their nests. This adaptibility is considered to be an effective adjustment to a fluctuating food supply.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Bibliographie
Adam F., Gillon D., Hubert B., Ndiaye A. (en préparation). — Production et consommation de graines en milieu sahélo-soudanien au Sénégal: les oiseaux.
Bernstein R.A., 1974. — Seasonal food abundance and foraging activity in some desert ants.Am. Nat., 108, 490–498.
Bernstein R.A., 1975. — Foraging strategies of ants in response to variable food density.Ecology, 56, 213–219.
Box T.S., 1960. — Notes on the harvester ant,Pogonomyrmex barbatus var.molefaciens, in south Texas.Ecology, 41, 381–382.
Briese D.T., 1974. —Ecological studies of an ant community in a semi-arid habitat. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.
Briese D.T., Macauley B.J., 1980. — Temporal structure of an ant community in semiarid Australia.Aust. J. Ecol., 5, 121–134.
Briese D.T., Macauley B.J., 1981. — Food collection within an ant community in semiarid Australia, with special reference to seed harvesters.Aust. J. Ecol., 6, 1–19.
Brown J.H., Davidson D.W., 1977. — Competition between seed-eating rodents and ants in desert ecosystems.Science, 196, 880–882.
Brown J.H., Davidson D.W., Reichman O.J., 1979a. — An experimental study of competition between seed-eating desert rodents and ants.Am. Zool., 19, 1129–1143.
Brown J.H., Grover J.J., Davidson D.W., Lieberman G.A., 1975. — A preliminary study of seed predation in desert and montane habitats.Ecology, 56, 987–992.
Brown J.H., Reichman O.J., Davidson D.W., 1979b. — Granivory in desert ecosystems.Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 10, 201–227.
Carrol, C.R., Janzen D.M., 1973. — Ecology of foraging by ants.Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst., 4, 231–257.
Clark W.H., Comanor P.L., 1973. — A quantitative examination of spring foraging ofVeromessor pergandei in northern Death Valley, California (Hym. Form.)Am. Midland Natur., 90, 467–474.
Davidson D.W., 1977a. — Species diversity and community organization in desert seedeating antsEcology, 58, 711–724.
Davidson D.W., 1977b. — Foraging ecology and community organization in desert seedeating ants.Ecology, 58, 725–737.
Delage B., 1968. — Recherches sur les fourmis moissonneuses du Bassin Aquitain: Ethologie, Physiologie de l'alimentation.Ann. Sci. Nat., 10, 197–266.
Doumbia Y., 1977. — Impact trophique deMessor galla Em. (Hyménoptère: Formicidæ) dans un écosystème soudano-sahélien au Sénégal (Région de Thies).Thèse 3 e cycle, Toulouse, Université Paul-Sabatier, 103 p.
Eddy T.A., 1970. — Foraging behavior of the western harvester antPogonomyrmex occidentalis (Hymenoptera: Formicidæ) in Kansas.Ph. D. Thesis, Kansas State University, Manhattan, 151 p.
Gillon D., Adam F., Hubert B., Kahlem G., 1983. — Production et consommation de graines en milieu sahélo-soudanien au Sénégal: bilan général.Rev. Ecol. (Terre et Vie).38, 3–35.
Gordon S.A., 1980. — Analysis of twelve Sonoran desert seed species preferred by the desert harvester ant.Madrono, 27, 68–78.
Graetz R.D., 1981. — Plant-animal interactions. In Goodall and Perry (ed.), I.B.P. no 17.Arid Land Ecosystems, 2, 85–103.
Hansen S.R., 1978. — Resource utilization and coexistence of three species ofPogonomyrmex ants in an Upper Sonoran grassland community.Œcologia, 35, 109–117.
Holldobler B., 1976. — Recruitment, home range orientation and territoriality in harvester ants,Pogonomyrmex.Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol., 1, 3–44.
Hunt G.L., 1977. — Low preferred foraging temperatures and nocturnal foraging in a desert harvester ant.Am. Nat., 111, 589–591.
Inouye R.S., Byers G.S., Brown J.H., 1980. — Effects of predation and competition on survivorship, fecundity and community structure of desert annuals.Ecology, 61, 1344–1351.
Kahlem G., 1983. — La végétation de la forêt de Bandia. Evolution des populations végétales et de la population de graines pendant les années 1978, 1979, 1980.Bull. I.F.A.N. (sous presse).
Levieux J., Diomande T., 1978. — La nutrition des fourmis granivores. I: Cycle d'activité et régime alimentaire deMessor galla et deMessor (Cratomyrmex) regalis (Hymenoptera, Formicidæ).Ins. Soc., 25, 127–140.
Ludwig J.A., Whitford W.G., 1981. — Short-term water and energy flow in arid ecosystems. In Goodall and Perry (ed.), I.B.P. no 17.Arid Land Ecosystems, 2, 271–299.
Mares M.A., Rosenzweig M.L., 1978. — Granivory in North and South American deserts: rodents, birds and ants.Ecology, 59, 235–241.
Moro D., Hubert B., 1983. — Production et consommation de graines en milieu sahélosoudanien au Sénégal: les rongeurs.Mammalia, 47, 37–57.
Nickle D.A., Neal T.M., 1972. — Observations on the foraging behavior of the southern harvester ant,Pogonomyrmex badius.Florida Entomol., 55, 65–66.
Pulliam H.R., Brand M.R., 1975. — The production and utilization of seeds in plain grassland of southeastern Arizona.Ecology, 56, 1158–1166.
Reichman O.J., Prakash I., Roig V., 1979. — Food selection and consumption. In Goodall and Perry (ed.), I.B.P. no 16.Arid Land Ecosystems, 1, 681–716.
Rogers L.E., 1974. — Foraging activity of the western harvester antPogonomyrmex occidentalis (Hym. Form.) in the short grass plain ecosystem.Environm. Entomol., 3, 420–424.
Stradling D.J., 1978. — Food and feeding habits of ants. In Brian M.V. (ed.), I.B.P. no 13.Production ecology of ants and termites, 81–106.
Tevis L.J., 1958. — Interrelations between the harvester antVeromessor pergandei (Mayr) and some desert ephemerals.Ecology, 39, 695–704.
Wagner F.H., Graetz R.D., 1981. — Animal-animal interactions. In Goodall and Perry (ed.), I.B.P. no 17.Arid Land Ecosystems, 2, 51–83.
Went F.W., Wheeler J., Wheeler G.C., 1972. — Feeding and digestion in some ants (Veromessor andManica).Bioscience, 22, 82–88.
Whitford W.G., 1976. — Foraging behavior of Chihuahuan desert harvester ants.Am. Midland Nat., 95, 455–458.
Whitford W.G., 1978 a. — Foraging by seed-harvesting ants. In M.V. Brian (ed.), I.B.P. no 13.Production ecology of ants and termites, 107–110.
Whitford W.G., 1978 b. — Foraging in seed-harvester antsPogonomyrmex spp.Ecology, 59, 185–189.
Whitford W.G., 1978 c. — Structure and seasonal activity of Chihuahuan desert ant communities.Ins. Soc., 25, 79–88.
Whitford W.G., Depree D.J., Hamilton P., Ettershank G., 1981. — Foraging ecology of seed-harvesting antsPheidole spp. in a Chihuahuan desert ecosystem.Am. Midl. Nat., 105, 159–167.
Whitford W.G., Ettershank G., 1975. — Factors affecting foraging activity in Chihuahuan desert harvester ants.Environm. Entomol., 4, 689–696.
Willard J.R., Crowell H.H., 1965. — Biological activities of the harvester antPogonomyrmex owyheei in central Oregon.J. Econ. Entomol., 58, 484–489.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gillon, D., Adam, F. & Hubert, B. Production et consommation de graines en milieu sahélo-soudanien au Sénégal les fourmis,Messor galla . Ins. Soc 31, 51–73 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02223692
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02223692