Brood Care Behavior in Ectatomma brunneum (Hymenoptera, Formicidae, Ectatomminae) Under Laboratory Conditions

Abstract

The objective of this work was to make an ethogram based on the brood care behavior of two nests of the ant Ectatomma brunneum under laboratory conditions, in order to determine the behavioral acts performed and their frequencies, comparing the results obtained with those of other species of poneromorph ants. Using the sample scanning method, activities of brood care behavior performed by workers were monitored for 150 hours, from February to August 2007. A total of 18 different behavioral acts were observed (n = 12,494). More than half of the brood care behaviors by E brunneum (52.07%) were related to care for larvae, and the same was observed by other researchers in ethograms of species of Ectatomminae and Ponerinae ants. This may be related to specific needs in this immature stage, since rills is the period when the brood receives all the food necessary to complete their development to the adult stage.