Ground ant fauna in a Bornean Dipterocarp forest

The ant fauna of the forest floor was studied in a Bornean lowland dipterocarp forest using honey baits. A total of 51 species belonging to 23 genera was collected from 90 (45 daytime+ 45 night) baits set on the ground surface and 90 (45 daytime+ 45 night) baits set on tree trunks at 0.5-1.0 m above the ground. Collected species represented only 22% of the total ant species so far known from this area using a combination of several collection techniques. Although some species (Pheidole spp., Camponotus gigas, Lophomyrmex longicornis, etc.) are more frequently attracted than others, the frequency occurrence in these species was much lower than in the dominant species in warm temperate evergreen forests in Japan. Baits put on the ground surface attracted more ant species than those on tree trunks (35 vs. 25 spp.), and only 9 species were common to both types of habitat. Daytime and night baits attracted nearly the same number of ant species (34 vs. 31), only 14 being common to both time zones. Various aspects of ant diet and activity pattern are discussed.