Cohabitation of tree holes by ants and breeding birds in a temperate deciduous forest

ABSTRACT

A previously unknown association of ants with birds breeding in tree holes is described. Ants Lasius brunneus Latreille (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) were found in c. 15% of nests of Parus major L. and Poecile palustris L. (Paridae) breeding in tree holes in the primeval deciduous forest located in the Białowieża National Park (Poland). The ants preferably used holes located higher above the ground. As such holes are warmer than the unused holes or other nest sites, it is suggested that the ants cohabit holes utilized by the tits to gain thermal benefits.

Keywords:

• Lasius brunneus
• Parus major
• Poecile palustris
• microclimate of tree holes
• Białowieża National Park

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Marta Cholewa, Marta Maziarz, and Patryk Rowiński for their participation in the fieldwork. The kind co-operation of the Białowieża National Park administration is acknowledged as well. We are very indebted to Marek Borowiec who determined the species of ants. Anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments on previous draft of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Department of Biosystematics, Opole University (to GH and SM) [grants numbers 3/KBI/11-S and 3/KBI/13-S] and Faculty of Biological Science of Wrocław University (to TW).