THE EFFECTS OF PITFALL TRAP DIAMETER ON ANT SPECIES RICHNESS (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE) AND SPECIES COMPOSITION OF THE CATCH IN A SEMIARID EUCALYPT WOODLAND

Ants play an important role in Australian biodiversity and environmental impact assessments, with pitfall-trapping being the principal sampling method. However, the relationship between trap diameter and ant species catch has not been investigated in the context of survey design. Using four different trap diameters, each at a density of one trap per 100 m(2), the present study asks three questions: (i) given an equal number of traps, do traps with larger diameters catch more species than smaller-diameter traps?; (ii) do traps with small diameters bias against large or rare species?; (iii) for equal area of the trap mouth, do small but more numerous traps catch more species than fewer but large traps? A total of 84 species were sampled within the 1600 m(2) study site, with numbers of species for trap diameters of: 18 mm (46 species), 42 mm (56 species), 86 mm (62 species) and 135 mm (64 species). At equal trap density, 18 mm traps caught significantly fewer species than larger traps. Traps of 86 mm and 135 mm were no more efficient than 42 mm traps. Only 86 mm and 135 mm traps caught all species > 10 mm in length (6 species). For equal area of the trap mouth, small traps were more efficient than large traps. Differences in the catch of the different-sized traps were due primarily to different capture rates of the rare species (40 species): 18 mm traps caught 25% of rare species, 42 mm caught 41%, 86 mm caught 44% and 135 mm caught 52%. The role of rare ant species in environmental impact studies is discussed.