Urban ants of Xanxerê town, Santa Catarina, Brazil

The Myrmecofauna of Santa Catarina State has been studied for more than sixty years; however, studies on urban ant species only began last decade in the state. This study was carried out due to the need of new research in this field for the purpose of elucidating the urban myrmecofauna of Xanxerê, in the west of Santa Catarina. Samples were taken from January to December of 2006, using sardine baits and direct sampling. The sampled urban communities were characterized by high species diversity (Shannon & Wiener – H’) and species richness (Jackknife 1 and Bootstrap) values. These communities yielded a total of 67 ant species, distributed in 21 genera, 13 tribes and six subfamilies: Myrmicinae (33), Formicinae (17), Dolichoderinae (10), Ponerinae (4), Pseudomyrmecinae (2) and Ectatomminae (1). The species diversity was 3.17. The observed ant species richness in houses, commercial establishments and samples showed that the sampling protocol was satisfactory, due to the stability of approximation to the species accumulation curves of estimated species richness. Typical species which are common in areas of stress and also species that cause harm to man were found, as well as habitat specialists and those associated with the vegetation