Altitudinal gradients of ant species diversity (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Mount Talang, West Sumatra, Indonesia

The present study adds a novel perspective on Sumatran ant fauna by providing the information on its diversity across an altitudinal gradient in Mount Talang, a mountain in West Sumatra Province. A standardized sampling method of Quadra Protocol was applied at three altitudes (1,500, 2,000 and 2,500 m elevation). A total of 408 ant individuals collected in the study were identified to belong to 27 species in 19 genera of nine tribes and five subfamilies. Myrmicinae was the subfamily with the largest number of species collected (14 species), followed by Formicinae (six species), Dolichoderinae, and Ponerinae (three species in each), and a single species of an army ant from subfamily Dorylinae. The number of ant species decreases with altitude inclination; 19 species were recorded at 1,500 m elevation, ten at 2,000 m, and only three at 2,500 m.