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1、CollectingAntsSpecimensCollectingantscanbeassimpleaspickingupstrayonesandplacingtheminaglassjar,orascomplicatedascompletinganexhaustivesurveyofallspeciespresentinanareaandestimatingtheirrelativeabundances.Theexactmethodusedwilldependonthefinalpurposeofthecollections.Fortaxonomy,orclassification
2、,longseries,fromasinglenest,whichcontainallcastes(workers,includingmajorsandminors,and,ifpresent,queensandmales)aredesirable,toallowthedeterminationofvariationwithinspecies.Forecologicalstudies,themostimportantfactoriscollectingidentifiablesamplesofasmanyofthedifferentspeciespresentaspossible.U
3、nfortunately,thesemethodsarenotalwayscompatible.Thetaxonomistsometimesoverlookswholespeciesinfavourofthosegroupscurrentlyunderstudy,whiletheecologistoftencollectsonlyalimitednumberofspecimensofeachspecies,thusreducingtheirvaluefortaxonomicinvestigations.Tocollectaswidearangeofspeciesaspossible,
4、severalmethodsmustbeused.Theseincludehandcollecting,usingbaitstoattracttheants,groundlittersampling,andtheuseofpitfalltraps.Handcollectingconsistsofsearchingforantseverywheretheyarelikelytooccur.Thisincludesontheground,underrocks,logsorotherobjectsontheground,inrottenwoodonthegroundorontrees,in
5、vegetation,ontreetrunksandunderbark.Whenpossible,collectionsshouldbemadefromnestsorforagingcolumnsandatleast20to25individualscollected.Thiswillensurethatallindividualsareofthesamespecies,andsoincreasetheirvaluefordetailedstudies.Sincesomespeciesarelargelynocturnal,collectingshouldnotbeconfinedt
6、odaytime.Specimensarecollectedusinganaspirator(oftencalledapooter),forceps,afine,moistenedpaintbrush,orfingers,iftheantsareknownnottosting.Individualinsectsareplacedinplasticorglasstubes(1.5-3-0mlcapacityforsmallants,5-8mlforlargerants)containing75%to95%ethanol.Plastictubeswithsecuretopsarebett
7、erthanglassbecausetheyarelighter,anddonotbreakaseasilyifmishandled.Baitscanbeusedtoattractandconcentrateforagers.Thisoftenincreasesthenumberofindividualscollectedandattractsspeciesthatareotherwiseelusive.Sugarsandmeatsoroilswillat
