Abstract
Antthrushes (Formicarius, Chamaeza) sometimes walk around swarms of army ants and capture ground prey, but do not follow ants regularly. Among antpittas, only fast-leaping Pittasoma michleri and P. rufopileatum regularly follow ants. Gnateaters (Conopophaga) follow ants little. All these ground-foraging genera are poorly adapted for rapid flying, and failure to follow ants is perhaps due to inability to evade predators or out fly competitors near groups of birds attracted by ants.
Antthrushes, antpittas, and gnateaters (Aves, Formicariidae) as army ant followers
Edwin O. Willis
Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, Florida 33124, U.S.A., and Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" - UNESP, Caixa Postal 178, 13500 - Rio Claro, S. Paulo
ABSTRACT
Antthrushes (Formicarius, Chamaeza) sometimes walk around swarms of army ants and capture ground prey, but do not follow ants regularly. Among antpittas, only fast-leaping Pittasoma michleri and P. rufopileatum regularly follow ants. Gnateaters (Conopophaga) follow ants little. All these ground-foraging genera are poorly adapted for rapid flying, and failure to follow ants is perhaps due to inability to evade predators or out fly competitors near groups of birds attracted by ants.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Grants from the National Science Foundation (especially GB-32921), the Chapman Fund of the American Museum of Natural History, and the National Geographic Society supported studies. The Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia helped at Manaus, as did the Instituto Agronômico and Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi at Belém and J. C. Reis de Magalhães of Fazenda Barreiro Rico at Anhembi, São Paulo. Douglas Wechsler helped with field studies at Manaus. Yoshika Oniki helped at several stages.
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Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
28 Aug 2009 -
Date of issue
1984
