International Research Journal of Environment Sciences________________________________ ISSN 2319–1414 Vol. 4(4), 1-5, April (2015) Int. Res. J. Environment Sci. International Science Congress Association 28 A comparative assessment on biochemical components of Camponotus compressus and Crematogaster biroi in Mukurthi National Park, Western Ghats Mohana Panneer Selvam 1 , Chinnappan Gunasekaran 1 and Sharmila Banu Ammanullah 1 1 Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, 641 046, Tamil Nadu, INDIA Available online at: www.isca.in, www.isca.me Received 4 th February 2015, revised 28 th March 2015, accepted 14 th April 2015 Abstract Biochemical analysis of robust ant species Camponotus compressus and Crematogaster biroi was studied in Mukurthi National Park, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. Ants are the suitable indicators to detect the ecological conditions of the forest. The Camponotus compressus and Crematogaster biroi were collected according to the developmental stages like egg, pupa, worker, soldier and queen from the selected sites. The biochemical analysis was done by the biochemical methods described for protein, Glycogen, Lipid and amino acid by Lowry, Seifer, Folch, Moore and Stein. SDS-PAGE analysis of egg and queen of both ant species was one by method described by Laemmli. The result clearly reveals that the biochemical components of two ant species showed a significant amount of protein, glycogen, lipid and amino acids. Keywords: Ants, Biochemical, Mukurthi National Park, Camponotus compressus, Crematogaster biroi. Introduction Ants are occupied almost all parts of the terrestrial ecosystem. The importance of ants is well recognized. Ants perform ecologically important functions like maintaining the natural balance of ecosystem and they can be used as an indicator of environmental changes of the area in which they live. Ants undergo four developmental stages such as egg, larva, pupa and adult. Ants are the important ecological groups in both natural and degraded, interacted with many other taxa and mediating a range of ecosystem process 1 . The feeding behavior of ants differs as carnivorous, herbivorous and omnivorous. Some species of ants consume honey dew from plants infested by aphids and certain insects. Usually the food preference of ants is exhibiting a high degree of variability in food selection. They survive on both animal and vegetable matter and there are very few ants that are highly specific in their diet exceptions are leaf cutter ants and some harvesting ants the ants. However the food preference may vary one species to other, the biological functions of social insects depends essential protein, lipid, carbohydrate and amino acids. The main aim of the study is to analyze distinguish nutrient values among two ant species. Materials and methods Study site and sample selection: The study area Mukurthi National Park (MNP: 11 ˚ 26' to 76˚ 10' to 11˚22' N and 76˚38' E) is an UNESCO heritage site, situated in the western corner of the Nilgiri plateau. The area extended 76.48 Km 2 it comprises patches of evergreen forest surrounded by grasslands. To evaluate the nutrients of ant species were collected according to the developmental stages of ants, such as eggs, Pupae, workers, soldiers and queen. The two robust ant species Crematogaster biroi (Mayr, 1897) is 2mm size and Camponotus compressus (Fabricus, 1787) varies up to 14 to 18 mm. The selected ant species Camponotus compressus and Crematogaster biroi were belongs to subfamily Formicinae and Mymercinae. The hypothesis of that polymorphism plays a role in the organization of nutrients would be especially interesting in these two species. The ant specimens were collected during February 2011 to January 2012 from 10 randomly selected ant nests by pitfall trap, litter and soil extraction, bait techniques, transect nest mapping and hand sampling. The morphological identification species were isolated according to their morphology, developmental stages and stored in 100º C at 24 hrs to obtain the dry weight. Nutritional estimation methodology: The biochemical analysis was done by the biochemical methods illustrated for protein by Lowry 2 , Glycogen by Seifer 3 , Lipid described by Folch 4 and amino acid by the method demonstrated by Moore and Stein 5 . Protein: The isolated 1 gm ant samples were homogenized separately using 2 ml of 80% ethanol and centrifuged at 5000 rpm at 4˚C for 15 minutes. The precipitate dissolved in 1N NaOH and made up to 5 ml. From this, 0.5ml and then 5 ml of the solution C (50ml of 2 g of sodium carbonate in 100 ml of 0.1N NaOH + 1 g of sodium potassium tartarate in 100 ml of D. H 2 O) was added and incubated for 20 minutes. Finally 0.5 ml of folin ciocalteus reagent was added and the intensity of the color developed was read at 660 nm in a spectrophotometer.