| In rural areas of Mexico, the native "escamolera" ant (Liometopum apiculatum Mayr) is socioeconomically important. However, this ant is being exploited unsustainably, and studies of habitat of this species in central Mexico are nonexistent. During spring-summer 2012, fourteen habitat variables were evaluated, habitat use by the ant was identified and its nest density was estimated. Data were analyzed with stepwise logistic regression, correspondence analysis, Chi-square and simultaneous Bonferroni confidence intervals analyses, and the minimum Akaike Information Criteria. The variables that better described the presence of the ant were width of the agave pineapple, percentage of agaves infested with scale insects, woody plant-cacti-agave density, soil... |
