Species distribution can be influenced by several biotic and abiotic factors. Physical soil properties, such as granulometry and permeability, can, therefore, be key determinant factors of the occurrence of ground-dwelling species. Here, we evaluate whether the physical properties of soil, such as granulometry and the resulting soil permeability, could drive nesting occurrence of the endemic psammophilous ants from the genus Mycetophylax and, in turn, their distribution. To accomplish this goal, we tested the hypothesis that variations in the granulometry and the resulting permeability (high or low D₁₀ values) of beach soils contribute to explain the distribution pattern of dune endemic species from the genus Mycetophylax. We sampled sand soils from 26 beaches across the known distribution of the species along the Brazilian Atlantic coast. Sorting through seven mesh sieves, we determined the proportion of sand grain size of each sample and then calculated the effective diameter (D₁₀). Therefore, we investigated the occurrence of the three ant species in relation to the soil permeability determined by D₁₀. The spatial variation in sand grain size and its permeability across the beaches of the Atlantic coast is likely one of the contributors that influence the pattern of distribution of psammophilous ants such as Mycetophylax simplex, M. conformis, and M. morschi.

物种分布可能受到几种生物和非生物因素的影响。因此，土壤的物理性质（例如粒度和渗透性）可能是决定地面居住物种发生的关键因素。在这里，我们评估土壤的物理特性（例如粒度分析和由此产生的土壤渗透性）是否能够驱使来自食丝菌属的特有嗜粉蚁蚁筑巢，并进而驱使它们分布。为了实现这一目标，我们测试了以下假设：海滩土壤的粒度变化以及由此产生的渗透性（D ₁₀值的高或低）有助于解释Mycetophylax属的沙丘特有物种的分布模式。。我们从沿巴西大西洋沿岸已知物种分布的26个海滩取样了沙土。通过七个筛孔筛分，我们确定了每个样品的沙粒尺寸比例，然后计算了有效直径（D ₁₀）。因此，我们调查了与D ₁₀决定的土壤渗透性有关的三种蚂蚁物种的发生。在粒度砂和其横跨大西洋海岸的海滩渗透性的空间变化是影响psammophilous蚂蚁诸如分布的图案的贡献者可能一个Mycetophylax单纯形，M. conformis，和M. morschi。