Novgorodova T.A. 2019. [Carbohydrate resources used by ants at ash dumps of combined heat and power plant at the initial stages of self-revegetation: preliminary data] // Euroasian Entomological Journal. Vol.18. No.5: 320–326 [in Russian, with English summary].
Institute of Systematics and Ecology of Animals, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Frunze Str. 11, Novosibirsk 630091 Russia. E-mail: tanovg@yandex.ru
doi: 10.15298/euroasentj.18.5.03
ABSTRACT. Preliminary results of the first investigation of aphid species composition and ant-aphid trophobiotic interactions formed at the ash dump of the Novosibirsk CHPP (55°002 N, 83°042 E) at the initial stages of its self-revegetation are presented. Investigations were carried out during July-September 2017 at the unreclaimed section of ash dump No 1 divided into three zones according to ground humidity and the plant associations. Material was collected in a similar way for surveys along a 1 km transect, and within five 10 x 10 m quadrats) for each of these zones. In all, 11 aphid species (including 6 myrmecophilous ones) were registered, and Pemphigus groenlandicus (Rubsamen, 1898) and Therioaphis (Rhizoberlesia) riehmi (Borner, 1949) are recorded for Western Siberia and Russia for the first time. The main suppliers of carbohydrate food for ants appeared to be myrmecophilous aphids inhabiting Artemisia spp. (Titanosiphon dracunculi Nevsky, 1928), Melilotus spp. (Aphis craccivora Koch, 1854), and roots of cereals (Pemphigus groenlandicus (Rubsamen, 1898), Anoecia corni (Fabricius, 1775)) and. In addition, ants collected honeydew of non-myrmecophilous aphids (Macrosiphoniella artemisiae (Boyer de Fonscolombe, 1841), Uroleucon sonchi (Linnaeus, 1767) and Hyperomyzus lactucae (Linnaeus, 1758)) and floral nectar of Taraxacum officinale F.H.Wigg. and Melilotus albus Medik. Sap of cereals is also considered to play an important role in the diet of ants inhabiting ash dumps, but this hypothesis requires additional research.
KEY WORDS: disturbed territories, self-restoration, ash dumps of CHPP, aphids, ants, trophobiosis, carbohydrates, Novosibirsk.