The effect of foraging army ants on leaf-litter arthropods

The effect of Eciton burchelli army ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on leaf-litter arthropods was studied at Finca La Selva, Costa Rica. Analyses of leaf-litter samples indicated that both arthropod abundance and the number of taxa were reduced following the passage of foraging army ant swarms. Many of the arthropods in the path of an ant swarm escape; the escape tactics that we observed are presented. Full evaluation of the impact of army ant swarms on the arthropod community requires quantification of the rates of capture by both the army ants and the associated swarm-following birds, and of the rate of parasitization by flies that follow the ant swarms.