Subterranean foraging army ants (Labidus coecus) preyed on eggs and hatchlings of three species of Amazon River turtles (genus Podocnemis) in northeastern Peru. The raided nests were in a hatchery constructed atop the soil surface of a beach on the Tapiche River. The ant raid persisted across at least 9 days, and ant foraging impacted nests over an area of approximately 14 m². Observations suggest the ant workers chewed through turtle egg shells and entered nestling turtle body cavities via their eyes and yolk sacks (when present). Our observations, combined with previous reports, show that ant predation on river turtle nests, and particularly predation by Labidus coecus, is geographically widespread in Amazonia. Ant predation may represent an under-recorded source of turtle egg and nestling mortality. We discuss how army ant behavior affects strategies for mitigating ant predation in turtle hatcheries.

在秘鲁东北部，地下觅食的陆军蚂蚁（Labidus coecus）捕食了三种亚马逊河龟（Podocnemis属）的卵和孵化物。被突袭的巢穴位于塔比切河（Tapiche River）上海滩土壤表面上建造的孵化场中。蚂蚁袭击持续了至少9天，蚂蚁觅食影响了约14 m ^2的巢穴。观察结果表明，蚂蚁工人们咀嚼了乌龟卵壳，并通过眼睛和卵黄袋（如果存在）进入了刚孵出的乌龟体腔。我们的观察结果与先前的报道相结合，表明蚂蚁在河龟巢上的捕食，特别是在唇形目夜蛾的捕食中，在亚马逊地区地理分布广泛。蚂蚁的捕食可能代表了龟蛋和雏鸟死亡率的未充分记录的来源。我们讨论了陆军蚂蚁的行为如何影响减轻龟孵化场中蚂蚁捕食的策略。