Abstract:
Ants are an essential biotic component in terrestrial ecosystems in Sri Lanka. Numerous
researches have been conducted worldwide whilst a little is known about the systematic
of Sri Lankan ants and particularly in the northern and eastern region. This study
attempts to provide more information on the species diversity of ants at the Batticaloa
District, the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. Worker ants were surveyed in four different
habitats; Iluppadichenai Bare Land (IBL), Crop Farm at Faculty of Agriculture (FOA)
in the Eastern University Sri Lanka, Kallady Beach and Cashew Forest Area (CFA) in
Eastern University in Batticaloa District from August to October 2024. Ants were
collected by employing several sampling methods simultaneously along three, 100 m
transects in each location. Honey baiting, leaf litter sifting, soil sifting and pitfall
happing were employed to collect worker ants in the selected areas. Twenty-five pitfall
traps were set up throughout each site. Ants captured by honey baits were collected
after one hour and the specimens in pitfall taps were collected after three hours.
Collected ants were preserved in 70 oh ethanol. Mean air and soil temperature at each
site were recorded. From four sampling sites total 26 ant species belonging to 15 genera
in 4 subfamilies; Dolicoderinae, Formicinae, Myrmicinae were recorded whereas, the
Pseudomyrmicinae (Tetraponera allaborans) werc recorded for the first time from the
Batticaloa District. Nineteen ant species in 09 generu of 2 subfamilies were recorded
from the first survey of ants at Kallady beach can be considered as preliminary
inventory of ants in this region. Oecophylla smaragdina, Polyrhachis punctillata,
Monomorium pharaonis, Monomorium sahlbergi, Solenopsis geminate and
Tetramorium bicarinatum; these six-ant species were commonly found from all four
sampling locations. The calculated Chi-square statistic (th was 3.2972, with an
associated p-value of 0.348. Since the p-value is greater than the significance level this
indicates that there is no statistically significant difference in species distribution across
the four selected sampling locations. Further studies should expand the sampling effort
to include a greater number of locations, covering different habitat types and increasing
the number of ant collection techniques in considerable time periods across different
seasons can improve species detection and reduce the sampling bias.
