THE GUILD OF SAWGRASS-INHABITING ANTS 
IN THE FLORIDA KEYS* 
By Blaine J. Cole 
Department of Biology, 
University of Utah, 
Salt Lake City, UT84112 
A guild is a group of species using similar resources in a similar 
manner (Root 1967). The guild of ants on which I report here uses, 
as nest sites, the hollow stems of sawgrass (Cladium jamaicense). 
The primary objectives of this study were to examine this guild for 
the purposes of: 1. ascertaining the extent to which there is evidence 
of competition for nest sites. 2. determining the extent to which 
available nest sites are filled. 3. determining whether Solenopsis 
picta (Emery) nests in association with other species. 
Materials and Methods 
I examined 119 dead, erect culms of sawgrass, Cladium jamai- 
cense, on Sugarloaf Key in Monroe County, Florida. Data were 
collected between 7/29/81 and 8/3/81. Each stem had seven or 
more internodal regions. For the ants in sawgrass stems the 
following data were recorded: the species present, the inside diame- 
ter of the internodal segments occupied and the internodal segment 
in which the colony was housed. For Pseudomyrmex pallida (F. 
Smith) the number and location of queens were also recorded. The 
inside diameter of a culm was measured with a micrometer to the 
nearest 0.1 mm. The internodal segments were numbered with the 
lowest segment numbered one. The numbered segments indicated 
relative height on the culm. Due to individual variation in the height 
of C. jamaicense, this does not translate directly into absolute 
height. 
Results 
Out of 119 sawgrass culms examined, 34 (29%) did not have a 
colony of any species. The occurrences of various species as well as 
* Manuscript received by the editor September 10, 1982 
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