Ant Diversity and Seasonal Incidence in Agroecosystems at Karaikal

The diversity of ants in the agroecosystem was studied in the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture and Research Institute, Union Territory of Puducherry. Their population dynamics from June 2019 to February 2020 was also evaluated. The ant fauna was collected at weekly intervals with pitfall traps, in situ counts and net sweeping method. The biodiversity analysis with Shannon-Wiener index and Margalef richness index revealed that the diversity was more for Formicinae and Pseudomyrmicinae (1.8668 and 0.9510); Simpson’s index was maximum for Formicinae (5.5140), and Equitability index maximum with Myrmicinae (0.8977). Among the 43 species observed, Meranoplus bicolor (Wheeler) (Myrmicinae) was the maximum in numbers during August 2019 and the least during June 2019. The incidence of Pheidole sp. (Myrmicinae) revealed a positive correlation with maximum temperature (Tmax), evening and morning relative humidity, rainfall and a negative one with minimum temperature (Tmin) and bright sunshine hour. The ants’ population had significant positive correlation with Tmax and Tmin (r= 0.43, 0.13).