Hypogaeic pitfall traps: methodological advances and remarks to improve the sampling of a hidden ant fauna

Abstract

nt assemblages present a great vertical stratification, with microhabitats showing strong differences in relation to species composition. Among the microhabitats, the hypogaeic has been poorly studied. Hypogaeic or subterranean ants live in the deeper soil layers, which make the sampling logistics and operability a difficult work. The fact that the hypogaeic ant fauna is diversified and abundant, with low similarity to ant assemblages in other microhabitats, has promoted the development of several collecting techniques to sample this hidden ant fauna. Here, we verify the ability of hypogaeic pitfall traps to sample subterranean ants. In addition, we propose methodological advances and remarks about the use of this ant sampling technique.