Hábitos alimentares do tamanduá-mirim Tamandua tetradactyla (linnaeus, 1758) no Sul do Brasil.

Abstract

Tamandua tetradactyla (Linnaeus, 1758) also known as Southern tamandua, collared anteater or even lesser anteater is a mammal member of Myrmecophagidae family, one of the groups of the Pilosa order. This species occurs in all Brazilian biomes with the Pampa region as your southern limit of distribution. The ecology of southern tamandua is poorly known, but there is a general sense that ants and termites are the primary foods of this animals. However, there are a few information regards which are the species of Hymenoptera and Isoptera consumed by Tamanduas, what are the frequency and how important are these groups for the diet. Therefore, I analyzed and identified to small taxonomic level, the stomach contents of six southern tamaduas, found road killed in roads of Rio Grande do Sul State. I found 27,101 ants classified in 19 species, and 9,172 termites classified in two subfamilies, including Wasmannia that can be considered as an agricultural pest. Among Hymenoptera, Formicinae was the most representative making 55.0% of the diet, specially Camponotus species that alone represents 54.9% of all items consumed. Termites are not so frequent as ants; however, this group represents 23.2% of all items consumed. Among our samples, I found a stomach almost full of Nasutitermitinae, showing his importance for the diet of southern tamandua.