First Cytogenetic Study Through Conventional Staining of The Ant Genus Blepharidatta Wheeler, 1915 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Attini)

Abstract

Blepharidatta is a rare Neotropical ant genus in the Attini tribe of the subfamily Myrmicinae. It has only four valid species and among them Blepharidatta delabiei was recently described and there is little knowledge on its biology. This study is the first cytogenetic characterization for the genus Blepharidatta and also presents the biology of B. delabiei. Cytogenetic analyses revealed a karyotype 2n = 28 with acrocentric and metacentric chromosomes and a karyotypic formula (m: metacentric, a: acrocentric): 2K = 16m + 12a. We observed that ants of this species have diurnal habits with higher foraging activity in the afternoon and are possibly omnivorous as they accepted the baits used. The distance between colonies varied from 5 to 7 meters.

Keywords

• chromosome number
• foraging
• karyotype
• morphology
• natural history