1987] 
Scott et al. — Ants and burying beetles 
331 
Summary 
By sampling the diversity and abundance of burying beetles and 
ant species utilizing small vertebrate carcasses with pitfall and burial 
traps and recording the success of Nicrophorus spp. in securing 
carrion for reproduction, we found that ant interference was more 
prevalent in a population in central Florida than in southern New 
Hampshire. Carrion placed along transects in central Florida was 
occupied by the imported fire ant Solenopsis invicta, and although 
burying beetles were abundant in the area, few prey were success- 
fully utilized. It is concluded that some ground-dwelling ant species 
may have a significant local impact on burying beetle reproductive 
ecology. 
Acknowledgments 
We thank Dr. James Trager for identifying ants at the Florida site 
and Dr. Lloyd Davis for comments on the manuscript. Funds for 
this research were provided by Grant GRS 805 BI from the Gradu- 
ate School of Boston University, by a grant from the Boston Uni- 
versity chapter of Sigma Xi to I.F., and by NSF grant BNS 82 16702 
to J.F.A.T., and by a Science Scholars Fellowship from the Mary 
Ingraham Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College sponsored by the 
Office of Naval Research to M.P.S. 
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