MAMMALIAN MYRMECOPHAGY: FEEDING, FORAGING AND FOOD PREFERENCE

Ants and termites serve as food for many species of mammals. Yet there have been virtually no studies of the predator-prey relationship between mammals and these social insects. The present study was designed to determine which species of ants and termites are eaten by mammals and attempt to explain why these species are eaten instead of others.;The second portion of the study contains four parts on the feeding biology of ant and termite eating mammals. First, the food habits of armadillos (Dasypodidae: Edentata) are reviewed with emphasis on the myrmecophagous species. The next chapter examines the preferences of captive burrowing mice (Oxymycterus roberti, Cricetidae: Rodentia) for eight different species of termites (studied in chapters one and two). Soldier-based defense is shown to be the most important factor correlated with the preference of these predators.;The sixth chapter compares the food preferences of captive giant anteaters (Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Myrmecophagidae: Edentata) with those in Emas National Park. The termites offered to the captive anteaters were the same as those offered to the burrowing mice while the ones fed on by wild anteaters were covered in chapter three. The final chapter is a review of the feeding biology of ant and termite eating mammals. Data from 216 species of mammals are analyzed for correlations between the biology of myrmecophagous predators (size, taxonomy, degree of myrmecophagy and foraging location) and the biology of the prey (size, taxonomy, type of defense).;In order to answer these questions I studied the feeding biology of myrmecophagous mammals in central Brazil and the biology of their termite prey. The first portion of the research examines the biology of nine species of central Brazilian termites and quantifies nest construction, proportion of soldiers, size of soldiers, response to predation and nutritional values (water, ash, total nitrogen and fat). It also examines the biology of the dominant mound-building species in the area, Cornitermes cumulans.