宁夏荒漠草原针毛收获蚁对植物种子的觅食作用

针毛收获蚁Messor aciculatus (F．Smith)是西北荒漠地区典型的食种子蚂蚁种类之一。以宁夏中卫县沙坡头自然保护区红卫固定沙丘地段为主要研究基地。由田间系统调查和室内饲养得出：针毛收获蚁可取食的植物种子达30余种以上。在红卫固定沙丘草地针毛收获蚁的自然种群收获的植物种子主要有6种：狗尾草Setaria viridis、猪毛菜Salsola collina、雾冰藜Bassia dasyphylla、地锦Euphobia humifuse、刺沙蓬Salsola ruthenica、叉枝鸦葱Scorzonera divaricata。被收获的种子大小主要在1．20～2．50mm之间．或有棱角、扁平、易于衔夹的种子。在蚁巢中种子以种类和形态的不同被分类、分层保存于不同深处的巢室．总贮量随工蚁和蚁后数量的增加而增加。在自然条件下，收获的种子种类及数量与穴巢附近环境中的植物种类及分布有关。蚂蚁对种子的收集贮藏在一定程度上可影响种子的萌发力．特别是对一些1年生质量较轻的种子影响力较大。蚂蚁觅食对土壤中种子库种子密度的影响因植物种类的不同而异．其中对1年生草本植物影响较大．间接的影响到植物群落的组成和空间分布的变化。

Studies on the foraging function of Messor aciculants (F. Smith) on plant seeds in desert steppe ecosystem of Ningxia, China

Messor aciculatus (F. Smith) is a seed harvester dominant ant in the desert steppe ecosystem of northwest China. The investigation and experiment site lay in the fixed sand hill grassland of Hongwei at the Sha Po tou Protected Region in Zhongwei County in Ningxia. We dug 6 colonies of ants among which there were 600 ant workers fed on 30 kinds of plant seeds, among which 22 kinds were harvested and fed by the ant workers in the artificial raising experiment. Six dominant seeds were found in natural nest ...