A preliminary study on the diurnal foraging activity and nutrient preferences of Tetraponera rufonigra (hymenoptera: formicidae) in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

Tetraponera rufonigra (locally known as “semut Selangor”) is a large bi-colored ant species with a broad dark head and gaster and light orange-brown body. It is a monotypic species-group and is widely distributed around the Indian subcontinent as well as Southeast Asia as far south as Sumatra and Java (Davidson et al., 2003). This ant is a potential health risk to the people around them. There was a case of anaphylaxis induced by T. rufonigra reported in Thailand (Wanotayan et al., 2005). In Malaysia, a case was reported in Bukit Mertajam where a student was sent to Hospital and admitted to Intensive Care Unit (ICU) after being stung by T. rufonigra. The bite of T. rufonigra is very painful and sometimes causes considerable inflammation (Hirashima et al., 1979). Study on the behavior of this ant is sparse in Malaysia considering its importance lately. In this paper, we report the foraging behavior and nutrient preferences of T. rufonigra.