Abstract

CULEBRA MASON, Susana et al. Acromyrmex Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: Myrmicinae): patrones de distribución de las especies en la provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Rev. Mus. Argent. Cienc. Nat. [online]. 2017, vol.19, n.2, pp.185-199. ISSN 1853-0400.

The Attini, mainly the genera Atta Fabricius and Acromyrmex Mayr, are called leaf-cutting ants. Acromyrmex has scarce records referring to the geographical distribution of its species in Buenos Aires province. The objective of the present work was to gather existing information, to update these data with our own investigation, and to apply different criteria to establish relations with the use of the land. Of the total records for the province, 87 localities of 56 provincial districts were counted. To perform a hierarchical classification of similarities in the distribution patterns of the species, binary data matrices were constructed, analyzed by the weighted average method, calculating squared euclidean distances. The cophenetic indexes obtained were 0.883 for the geographical subregions, 0.943 for the municipal conglomerates and 0.877 for the agricultural areas. Eleven species of ants of the genus Acromyrmex are present in the province of Buenos Aires: A. ambiguus, A. fracticornis, A. heyeri, A. hispidus, A. hystrix, A. landolti, A. lobicornis, A. lundii, A. rugosus, A. silvestrii and A. striatus. The genus Acromyrmex is characterized by nesting in the soil, whereby anthropic practices for productive, industrial and urban purposes directly affect its pattern of occurrence.

Keywords : Formicids; Myrmicines; Geographical distribution; Leaf-cutter ants.