Rainfall as Correlate of Species Richness of Indian Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

The rainfall as a key predictor for the spatial distribution of any terrestrial species and this study aimed to understand the effect of rainfall on the subfamilies of ants of India. The simple and multiple linear regression models was used to understand the effect of annual and seasonal rainfall independently and collectively on species richness of ant subfamilies. The pre-monsoon and winter rainfall independently had significant effect while monsoon and post-monsoon rainfall independently had no significant predictor effect on species richness of subfamilies of ants. However, the combining seasonal rainfall for multiple linear regressions indicated that monsoon, post-monsoon, winter and pre-monsoon rainfall have significant predictor effect on five ant subfamilies.