International Journal of Life Science and Agriculture Research

Soil water content monitoring during the generative phase of sweet maize is Ants are eusocial insects in terrestrial ecosystems which play a crucial role in the maintenance and functioning of the ecosystems. The diversity of ants is usually regarded as an indicator of biodiversity and the ecosystem’s health. Their diversity and distribution are influenced by environmental conditions, including elevation, temperature, humidity, vegetation structure, soil characteristics, and seasonal variation. Systematic assessment along elevation gradients can help establish species inventories and identify differences in community composition among sampling zones. Such studies also provide an opportunity to examine whether elevation-related patterns persist after accounting for vegetation, microclimate, habitat disturbance, and sampling effort. The present study aimed to assess ant diversity along different elevation gradients: base, middle, and peak. of Manjarabad Fort Hill, Sakleshpur taluk, Hassan district, Karnataka, India during August 2023 to August 2025. The sampling was carried out by employing standard collection methods, including intensive all-out-search method, bait trapping, and pitfall trapping across the selected sampling locations. The result revealed a total 42 species belonging 27 genera and five subfamilies based on external morphological characteristics and appropriate taxonomic keys. The most diverse subfamily was Myrmicinae (14 genera with 21 species), followed by Formicinae (7 genera with 13 species), Ponerinae (3 genera with 4 species) and Dolichoderidae (2 genera with 2 species).  The least number of species belonging to the Pseudomyrmicinae (1 genus with 2 species). Few ant genera are Monomorium, Aphaenogaster and Solenopsis of Myrmicinae, Camponotus, Anoplolepis and Oecophylla of Formicinae, Leptogenys and Diacamma of Ponerinae and Technomyrmex and Tapinoma of Dolichoderinae are dominant at different elevations of the study area. The study shows that ant diversity declined with increasing elevation. Plausible reasons include increasingly unfavourable environments and the reduced available resources and surface area. The study provides an initial baseline information of ant species along an elevation gradient thus contributing to future biodiversity monitoring and conservation research in the region.

Ant diversity, Crematogaster, Myrmicinae, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Myrmecologist.

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