SPECIES DIVERSITY OF ANTS AT HUAY KHAYENG, THONG PHA PHUM DISTRICT, KANCHANABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

Species diversity of ants was studied at Huay Khayeng, Thong Pha Phum District, Kanchanaburi Province during January to December 2004. The objective focused on species diversity. Ants were collected by 4 methods as fallow 1) plant litter sifting 2) honey bait trap 3) hand collecting and 4) soil sifting. The line transect of 90 meters was set up in 4 forest types; 1) dry evergreen forest 2) lower mixed deciduous forest 3) dry upper mixed deciduous forest and 4) disturbed mixed deciduous forest. The results showed that a total of 202 ants species belonging to 56 genera 9 subfamilies were found. The highest and lowest number of species were occurred at the dry evergreen forest and the lower mixed deciduous forest, respectively. The ant species were higher in soil surface and litter than under soil and on lower part of trees or herbaceous. Nine ant species were highly adapted to environmental changes, thus, it showed highly distribution through the year and all forest types.