Rodrigo Machado Feitosa

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• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at Federal University of Paraná

Due to their widespread distribution, range of adaptations, local abundance, and species diversity, ants are a major component of terrestrial communities worldwide. However, such high ecological prevalence is not shared among all ant lineages, with four ant genera – Camponotus, Pheidole, Strumigenys, and Crematogaster – accounting for a disproporti...

Uncovering the evolutionary history of the subfamilies Ectatomminae and Heteroponerinae, or ectaheteromorphs, is key to understanding a major branch of the ant tree of life. Despite their diversity and ecological importance, phylogenetic relationships in the group have not been well explored. One particularly suitable tool for resolving phylogeny i...

Despite the historical efforts to list and organize the taxonomic knowledge about the Brazilian ant fauna, the most diverse in the world, several gaps regarding species distribution data and sampling coverage persist. In an attempt to fill some of these gaps, we here apply a scientometric approach to provide an updated overview of the ants of Brazi...

Research findings in natural sciences need to be comparable and reproducible to effectively improve our understanding of ecological and behavioural patterns. In this sense, knowledge frontiers in biodiversity studies are directly tied to taxonomic research, especially in species-rich tropical regions. Here we analysed the taxonomic information avai...

In this guide we present taxonomic keys for the 12 subfamilies and 117 genera of ants known to occur in Brazil, along with an illustrated glossary of technical terms. The identification keys presented here are accompanied by high-resolution photographs of representative specimens for each taxon covered, including details that aid in the understandi...

White-sand ecosystems are one of the most distinctive vegetation types of the Amazon, but their arthropod diversity remains poorly studied. We compared ant assemblages of open white-sand campinas and white-sand forests in two regions in the northern Brazilian Amazon to examine the influence of habitat structure and location on taxonomic and functio...

Monomorium floricola (Jerdon, 1851) is an invasive exotic ant species due to its occurrence outside its native range, its impacts on native species, and economic harm. This study presents the first records of M. floricola in Peru, which were collected during field courses in 2012 and 2013 in disturbed areas of the Peruvian Amazon. Given the distanc...

The Parque Nacional da Serra do Divisor (PNSD), renowned for its remarkable biodiversity, is a conservation unit of the Amazon biome situated at the westernmost limit of the Brazilian territory. However, the PNSD fauna is still poorly documented for most taxa. This study aimed to list the ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the PNSD, comparing...

Here we present melanic forms of ants belonging to the light-colored Neotropical species Heteroponera dolo (Ectatomminae) and Prionopelta punctulata (Amblyoponinae). We also discuss the intraspecific variation regarding body color for both species and provide the dominant colors for the light and dark forms based on the amount of red, blue and gree...

Trait diversification is often driven by underlying performance tradeoffs in the context of different selective pressures. Evolutionary changes in task specialization may influence how species respond to tradeoffs and alter diversification. We conducted this study to investigate the functional morphology, evolutionary history, and tempo and mode of...

Main Animals not only forage for abundant and nearby resources, but their diets can also be influenced by abiotic and geographic factors. This often results in non‐random interactions among species. We investigate how seed density, distance from nest, abiotic (e.g., climate stability, temperature, precipitation) and geographic factors (e.g., latitu...

Land use changes represent one of the leading causes of terrestrial biodiversity loss, particularly in tropical ecosystems. In Brazil, a country that encompasses six distinct biomes and one of the world's highest ant diversities, the increasing land use changes are having detrimental effects on biodiversity. Our aim in this study was to summarize t...

The limited temporal completeness and taxonomic accuracy of species lists, made available in a traditional manner in scientific publications, has always represented a problem. These lists are invariably limited to a few taxonomic groups and do not represent up-to-date knowledge of all species and classifications. In this context, the Brazilian mega...

The lack of synthesized information regarding biodiversity is a major problem among researchers, leading to a pervasive cycle where ecologists make field campaigns to collect information that already exists and yet has not been made available for a broader audience. This problem leads to long-lasting effects in public policies such as spending mone...

A list of ant species collected in caves at different localities of Minas Gerais state, Brazil is presented, based on specimens deposited in the Entomological Collection Padre Jesus Santiago Moure (DZUP). Of the 51 species/morphospecies found, two are new records for the state. We encourage an increase in ant collection efforts in Brazilian caves u...

As formigas são um grupo chave na fisiologia dos pomares cítricos, pois podem beneficiá-los atacando herbívoros, ou prejudicá-los, protegendo os sugadores de seiva. Assim, objetivou-se comparar a estrutura das assembleias de formigas de dois pomares cítricos (convencional e orgânico), através da abundância, riqueza, diversidade e composição de espé...

Ant assemblages have been used as bioindicators of biodiversity response to different types of anthropogenic disturbances. However, usual diversity metrics (e.g., ant species richness and composition) sometimes seem limited in showing an overall panorama of human impacts. Thus, we checked habitat-use guilds of ants as a complementary predictable pa...

Para entender um pouco mais sobre os insetos e compreender como esses organismos vivem na natureza, é fundamental conhecer a sua morfologia. A forma, cor e mesmo o tamanho de uma parte do corpo de um animal poderá, muitas vezes, nos dar a percepção sobre qual é a sua função, ou seja, o papel e a posição que este animal desempenha no ecossistema em...

Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant initiated a large reforestation programme after the expropriation of the areas destined for the formation of the reservoir. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of forest restoration of the Seasonal Semideciduous Forest in the Upper Paraná Atlantic Forest ecoregion, Brazil, using epigaeic ant assemblages a...

Graphical abstract Highlights d Ecological metadata were compiled for 7,694 sites across the Brazilian Amazon d Accessibility and proximity to research facilities influenced research probability d Knowledge gaps are greater in uplands than in wetlands and aquatic habitats d Undersampled areas overlap predicted hotspots of climate change and defores...

Recent studies have argued that changes in fire regimes in the 21st century are posing a major threat to global biodiversity. In this scenario, incorporating species' physiological, ecological, and evolutionary traits with their local fire exposure might facilitate accurate identification of species most at risk from fire. Here, we developed a fram...

As formigas constituem um dos grupos de insetos mais comuns e melhor estudados quanto à sua biologia e classificação. Com sua origem estimada em cerca de 120 milhões de anos, as formigas tornaram-se o mais especioso e ecologicamente diverso grupo de insetos sociais do planeta. Ao lado dos cupins, as formigas representam cerca de 2% das espécies de...

Ant assemblages have been used as bioindicators of the response of biodiversity to different types of anthropogenic disturbances. However, usual diversity metrics (e.g., ant species richness and composition) sometimes seem fair limited to show a general panorama of human impacts. Thus, we verified habitat-use ant guilds as a complementary predictab...

We revised the literature on ant records in the Pernambuco Endemism Center – the Biogeographical Sub-Region Pernambuco in the Atlantic Forest – to synthesize the information regarding the diversity and distribution of ants in this important endemism area of the biome. We gathered 3769 ant records, encompassing over 10 subfamilies, 71 genera, and 24...

Animals are integrated into the wider ecosystem via their foraging and behavior. The compensation hypothesis predicts that animals target their foraging efforts (i) toward nutrients that are scarce in the environment and (ii) toward nutrients that are not present in the usual diet of species, which varies across trophic levels. Understanding how fo...

Pteridium is a cosmopolitan genus of ferns that possess nectaries on its fronds (fern leaves), thereby attracting ants. Foliar (or extrafloral) nectaries are nectar-producing glands that are not related to pollination, but rather attract ants and other arthropods. Foliar nectaries are found in 101 fern species, belonging to 11 genera and six famili...

Here, we provide information on the diet of Stereocyclops incrassatus using high resolution microcomputed tomography images of a preserved museum specimen. The tomography of S. incrassatus (CFBH 22911), collected in the Municipality of Linhares, Espírito Santo, in southeastern Brazil, revealed the consumption of a worker ant of the genus Ectatomma...

Ants represent one of the most diverse and ecologically important group of insects in tropical ecosystems, including in highly threatened ones such as the Brazilian Cerrado. Yet, a detailed understanding of the species diversity and composition of local Cerrado ant assemblages is lacking in many cases. Here we present the results of a comprehensive...

Ahh, as formigas... Muitas pessoas me perguntam o porquê me apaixonei por estes pequenos seres que muitas vezes passam desapercebidos por nós no dia a dia. Pode até parecer clichê, mas eu sempre respondo a mesma coisa: -Elas são lindas, fantásticas, eficientes e de uma organização invejável. E é bem isso mesmo, as formigas me encantam por sua belez...

Tropical studies traditionally describe insect diversity variation throughout the year. The temporally structured responses of insect assemblages to climate seasonality vary across ecosystems due to gradients of resource availability and limiting ecological factors. These idiosyncratic responses might be particularly true across the vast geographic...

Supplementary file Movie 2: Record of a nest migration event of Neoponera marginata (Formicidae: Ponerinae) in one of the trails of Parque Estadual São Camilo. Authors: N Ladino, RM Feitosa. Data type: Species data.

Supplementary file Movie 1: Evolution of the surrounding area of Parque Estadual São Camilo along time, with details of vegetation covering and urban expansion. Authors: N Ladino, RM Feitosa. Data type: Geographical data.

Here, we provide information on an endoparasite of Myersiella microps using high resolution micro- computed tomography images of a preserved museum specimen. The specimen is deposited in the amphibian collection “Célio F. B. Haddad” (CFBH), housed at the Departamento de Biodiversidade, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazi...

Monitoring restoration practices is an expensive process, but essential to verifying their success. One way to reduce sampling costs is using biodiversity indicators, a term used for a functional or taxonomic group that is in agreement with another group. The objective of this work was to evaluate the agreement between the richness and composition...

Acrostichum danaeifolium, a Neotropical fern, occurs preferentially in marshy areas or at the margins of lakes and mangroves. Microlepidoptera larvae burrow through the petioles of the fern, preferentially on the non-expanded leaves. The galleries in the petiole create a new microhabitat, harboring a rich fauna of arthropods. The aim of the present...

We provide a list for the ants collected in the leaf litter, soil and vegetation of the Parque Estadual São Camilo, an important conservation unit of Atlantic Forest in Paraná, Brazil, and one of the oldest in the state. We report 108 species, of which eight species and two genera represent new records for Southern Brazil. Seven species are reporte...

The division of labor into sterile and reproductive castes in social insects is often reflected in marked morphological differences, which might have played an important role in the remarkable adaptive success of these organisms. Some ant lineages have undergone further morphological differentiation, with the evolution of differences within the wor...

In 1887, Mayr described four species of the ant genus Strumigenys collected in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina: Strumigenys unidentata, Strumigenys subedentata, Strumigenys denticulata, and Strumigenys crassicornis. All of them were described based on a series of one to several specimens, without designation of a holotype, as usual at that ti...

Scientometric investigation and scientific production analysis are essential for science progress. Although a vast number of studies on Brazilian ant diversity have been carried out, a critical analysis of the advances in its scientific production is still missing. We compiled a comprehensive database on ant diversity papers carried out in the Braz...

A note on the diet of Brachycephalus hermogenesi using high resolution microcomputed tomography images of a preserved museum specimen.

Ants, an ecologically successful and numerically dominant group of animals, play key ecological roles as soil engineers, predators, nutrient recyclers, and regulators of plant growth and reproduction in most terrestrial ecosystems. Further, ants are widely used as bioindicators of the ecological impact of land use. We gathered information of ant sp...

This study provides a list of the ground-dwelling ant species in Nhecolândia, Pantanal, Mato Grosso Sul, Brazil. The Pantanal is the largest tropical wetland in the world and is currently under strong anthropic pressure. Ground-dwelling ants were collected in three sites: (1) a forest regeneration area; (2) a pasture area; and (3) an area of second...

We revise the taxonomy of species of the ant genus Cephalotes occurring in Brazil. Sixty-four species are recognized, distributed in 14 species groups. Five species are described as new: Cephalotes gabicamacho new species, Cephalotes marycorn new species, and Cephalotes monicaulyssea new species (angustus group); Cephalotes liviaprado new species (...

The diversity of endotherms and ectotherms may be differently affected by ambient temperature and net primary productivity (NPP). Additionally, little is known about how these drivers affect the diversity of guilds of different trophic levels. We assessed the relative role of temperature and NPP in multitrophic guilds of ectothermic (arthropods: an...

The state of Pará in northern Brazil is located entirely within the Amazon Basin and harbors a great diversity of landscape and vegetation types that support high levels of biodiversity. Here, we provide a comprehensive inventory of ant species and their distribution in Pará. This regional list is based on an extensive review of species records fro...

In the south of Brazil, grasslands are naturally widespread over two different biomes, the Pampa in the southernmost region and within the Atlantic Forest in the northern portions. The natural grasslands of the state of Paraná comprise a very particular physiognomy composed of two distinct formations: the Campos Gerais and the grasslands of the sou...

Amazonian rainforests, once thought to be pristine wilderness, are increasingly known to have been widely inhabited, modified, and managed prior to European arrival, by human populations with diverse cultural backgrounds. Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) are fertile soils found throughout the Amazon Basin, created by pre‐Columbian societies with sedent...

Ants use their mandibles for a wide variety of tasks related to substrate manipulation, brood transport, food processing, and colony defense. Due to constraints involved in colony upkeep, ants evolved a remarkable diversity of mandibular forms, often related to specific roles such as specialized hunting and seed milling. Considering these varied fu...

Tropical ants experience intense intra- and interspecific competition for food sources, which influences their activity pattern and foraging strategies. Even though different ant species can coexist through spatial and temporal niche partitioning, direct competition for food cannot be avoided. Recruitment communication is assumed to help colonies t...

The year 2020 marked the centenary of the birth of the German-Brazilian myrmecologist, Dr. Frei Walter Wolfgang Franz Kempf, O.F.M., (1920-1976), whose remarkable research contributed greatly to the advancement of the taxonomy of Neotropical ants, especially in Brazil. This post is a tribute to mark his centenary and to recognize the relevance of h...

A challenge for studies on the organization of ant assemblages in forest ecosystems is to disentangle the causal effects of species occurrences. The structural and functional attributes of trees can act as environmental filters for ground-dwelling ant species influencing resource availability and the microclimate. The biotic interactions, especiall...

The Brazilian savanna (Cerrado biome), now reduced to about 173,500 km2 of its original two million km2 range, is one of the most threatened biomes in the world. In the meridional limit of this biome is the Cerrado State Park (CSP), state of Paraná, Brazil, the only savanna conservation unit in Southern Brazil. This survey of the arboreal and groun...

Despite the outstanding diversity and ecological relevance of social insects in most terrestrial ecosystems, current knowledge of these insects in the Atlantic Forest is still somewhat dispersed in literature. In this chapter, we offer an overview covering the origin, evolution, diversity, functional composition, and distribution of all the eusocia...

Almost three centuries since Linnaeus introduced the system of binomial classification[1], thousands of species new to science are still described every year[2]. Any research dealing with living organisms is intrinsically dependent on taxonomy for reproducibility, since misidentifications may affect conclusions[3]. As such, published taxonomic resu...

Habitat loss is a leading cause of extinctions, which may occur even before species are recorded or formally described. On the other hand, limitations in species distribution data and sampling biases can hamper inferences about patterns of species richness that form the basis of conservation strategies. Insects, despite their crucial roles in terre...

The ant genus Pheidole is the most species-rich lineage of ants in the world and one of the dominant organisms in tropical regions. However, the knowledge of Pheidole diversity in the southern half of the Neotropical Region is fragmentary. Here, we offer contributions to the Pheidole taxonomy considering the species that occur in the grassland form...

Supplementary Information from "The dilemma of self-citation in taxonomy" Supplementary note 1 - Editorial roles of the authors Supplementary note 2 - Table 1 - List of signatories Supplementary note 3 - Table 2 - List of Scientific Journals

The ant genus Prionopelta Mayr, 1866 is revised for the Neotropics. Morphological traits combined with geographical data led to the recognition of eight species, four of them described here as new: Prionopelta dubia sp. n., Prionopelta menininha sp. n., Prionopelta minuta sp. n., and Prionopelta tapatia sp. n. Prionopelta marthae Forel, 1909 is pro...

Apresentamos aqui um breve histórico da Coleção Entomológica Padre Jesus Santiago Moure da Universidade Federal do Paraná (DZUP), Curitiba, Brasil, com ênfase na origem e na representatividade de seu recém-expandido acervo mirmecológico. Listamos os principais eventos de expansão, as instalações, os grupos de pesquisa associados e as instituições c...

Piauí, a Brazilian Northeast state, has been considered one of the most important regions for the presence of new taxa in ants globally, especially considering the ecosystems' diversity formed by the transition of the three biomes in the state, the Cerrado, Caatinga and the Atlantic Forest. Despite the recent increase in studies of ant diversity in...

Several studies have characterized and delimited subterranean ant assemblages. Soil extraction, one of the methods employed to access this fauna, employs the removal of monoliths. One of the most widely used methods for the extraction of soil sampling is called TSBF (developed by the Tropical Soil Biology and Fertility Programme). This method provi...

This study aimed to raise and address nomenclatural issues surrounding Neotropical species in the genus Gnamptogenys, in addition to describing new species accumulated in myrmecological collections. New and reinstated names recognized here include G. pernambucana (Santschi) sp. rev., stat.n., G. lenis sp. n., G. latistriata sp. n., and G. avus sp....

When aiming to assess the effects of elevation on animal diversity, many studies have been carried out in different vegetation types occurring across elevational gradients. Thus, it remains unclear if any changes observed in species richness are caused by factors directly associated with elevation or are caused by vegetation change across the gradi...

We provide here a checklist of the ants of French Guiana, an overseas department of France situated in northern South America, with a very low human population density and predominantly covered by old-growth tropical rainforests. Based on 165 scientific papers, specimens deposited in collections, and unpublished surveys, a total of 659 valid specie...

The state of Maranhão, located in northeastern Brazil, comprises three biomes: Amazonian, Caatinga, and the Cerrado. To date, 99 ant species have been recorded in the literature from the state. In the present work, we provide for the first time a profile of the ant fauna in the state based on data from the historical literature and Brazilian instit...

Pheidole comprises approximately 1,000 extant species distributed worldwide, being particularly diverse in the New World. In addition to its high diversity and ecological prevalence, the genus is also characterized by the predominantly intraspecific dimorphism, with major and minor workers. Currently, five fossil species are known, all of which are...

Short note, commenting on previous article, alerting the international scientific community about the consequences of cutting funds to Brazilian universities. Focus on biological collections

We revise the taxonomy of the ant genus Probolomyrmex for the Neotropical region. Eight species are recognized, four of them already known: P. boliviensis, P. brujitae, P. guanacastensis, and P. petiolatus. Four new species are described: P. cegua sp. n., P. dentinodis sp. n., P. kelleri sp. n. and P. lamellatus sp. n. We present complete descripti...

The main effects of habitat loss and fragmentation have been addressed through changes in diversity patterns at different spatial levels. Species richness and diversity are the most used descriptors to assess the effect of changes in land use on tropical communities. However, other biological responses such as richness and diversity of trophic guil...

Subfamily Ectatomminae comprising the tribes Ectatommini (Ectatomma, Gnamptogenys and Rhytidoponera), Heteroponerini (Acanthoponera y Heteroponera), Typhlomyrmecini (Typhlomyrmex) and Aulacopone distributed in the Neotropics, Nearctic, Indo-Malaysian and Australian regions, being absent only in the African continent. Ectatomminae is part of the mos...

Ants in the subtribe Attina belong to a monophyletic group, exclusive to the New World, that contains approximately 250 described species. All attine ants have a mutualistic relationship with the fungus they cultivate as food source. The present study provides a natural history and ecological account of five species of fungus-farming ants in the Br...

Galls are neoformed plant structures created by cell hyperplasia and hypertrophy induced by a number of organisms, especially insects. After adult insects hatch, senescent galls may remain on the host plant and be occupied by a succession of fauna, the most important and dominant being ants. This study aimed at characterizing the ant fauna successo...

Amazonian Dark Earths (ADEs) are fertile anthropic soils found throughout Amazonia, resulting from long-term occupation by pre-Columbian societies. Although the chemistry of these soils is well known, their biodiversity, particularly soil invertebrate communities have been neglected. To address this, we characterised soil macroinvertebrate communit...

Esta cartilha foi produzida a partir de uma demanda indicada pela parceria com a Vale S.A., com o intuito de facilitar a troca de informações entre os funcionários da empresa que trabalham direta e indiretamente com a reabilitação de áreas degradadas e os esquisadores que desenvolveram o projeto. Nós, pesquisadores, selecionamos criteriosamente qu...

The fact that different phylogenomic data sets can lead to highly supported but inconsistent results suggest that conflict among gene trees in real data sets could be severe. We provide here a detailed exploration of gene tree space to investigate the relationships in Hymenoptera based on data obtained by Johnson et al. (Current Biology, 2013, 23,...

Our knowledge of the processes related to the expression of distinct phenotypes in ants has significantly increased in the past few years. However, myrmecologists still face significant difficulties while addressing distinct patterns related to reproductive biology in ants. In the present work, we provide a theoretical discussion on the current lim...

The ponerine ant genus Centromyrmex is recorded for the first time in French Guiana. The specimens reported here were collected by the SEAG (Société Entomologique Antilles-Guyane) team in the commune of Saül, French Guiana. The ants were collected in a region of Amazon Forest with flight interception traps. Two out of the three species currently re...

Leaf-cutting ants are considered dominant herbivores in the Neotropical region and, therefore, the studies about their multiple effects on other organisms and ecosystem process are relevant. The present study aims to determine if Atta sexdens (Linnaeus, 1758) nests can affect the soil arthropods assemblage structure in an Atlantic forest fragment....

Aim Thousands of kilometres of rainforest edges are created every year through forest fragmentation, but we have little knowledge of the impacts of edges on spatial patterns of species turnover and nestedness components of β‐diversity. Location A quasi‐experimental landscape in the north‐east Brazilian Amazon. Methods We sampled dung beetles and...

Despite the large number of studies investigating ant diversity in Brazilian biomes, no ant-related studies have been carried out in Campos Gerais, a grassland physiognomy in Paraná state. The present study is the first inventory of the ant fauna in one of the few conservation units protecting the Campos Gerais landscape, the Guartelá State Park (P...

Non-forest ecosystems, as natural grasslands from Southern Brazil, are still neglected in conservation policies. Measuring their biodiversity is one of the main steps to generate management strategies for these habitats. This study aims to (i) describe grassland ant richness and composition in Rio Grande do Sul state, and (ii) compare ant communiti...

Coleções biológicas desempenham um papel fundamental no estudo dos seres vivos. Quando bem organizados, os dados disponíveis em coleções fornecem informações essenciais para estudos em diversas áreas do conhecimento. Entre estas, incluem-se aquelas diretamente relacionadas ao bem-estar humano. Formigas urbanas são organismos de interesse prioritári...

The Group Atta is monophyletic, exclusive to the New World, and contains approximately 230 species described. Ants of this group are characterized by having a mutualistic relationship with the fungus that they cultivate inside the nest as food source. Here we provide a field account of the daily activity rhythm, the home ranges used during foraging...

Local factors affecting ant community structure.

Temporal dynamics of foraging activity, diet and habitat are key to understanding the bioecology of ants. These patterns are poorly studied in many Neotropical species, such as those belonging to genus Myrmelachista. In the present work, we investigate the foraging behavior and diet of M. arthuri and describe aspects of their food-searching behavio...