A Natural History of Extrafloral Nectar-Collecting Ants in the Sonoran Desert

Extrafloral nectar-collecting ant species

Ephebomyrmex pima	Monomorium minimum	Camponotus festinatus

Probably because of poor edaphic conditions at my field site, relatively few ant species visited cactus extrafloral nectaries here compared to even nearby localities. The species that did visit included Brachymyrmex depilis, Camponotus festinatus, Camponotus ocreatus, Crematogaster opuntiae, Ephebomyrmex pima, Forelius foetidus, Forelius pruinosus, Monomomorium minimum, andSolenopsis aurea.

All these species played important and interesting roles in the community of ants that visited extrafloral nectaries. But, three species in particular were very conspicuous and played central roles in organizing this community. For information on these three species and the interactions between them click on the following links:

• Solenopsis aurea (print version) **
• Crematogaster opuntiae (print version)
• Camponotus ocreatus (print version)
• Aggressive interactions (print version)

**To shorten download times some pages are split into multiple pages. In these cases I also provide the page in its entirety for printing (print version). The print version not only takes significantly longer to download but also lacks active links within the text.

Copyright (c) 1998 Barry Sullender
Rice University
All rights reserved