FORAGING BEHAVIOR OF THE CARPENTER ANT, CAMPONOTUS MODOC (HYMENOPTERA: FORMICIDAE), IN A GIANT SEQUOIA FOREST,

Abstract

The proportion of large Camponotus modoc workers returning to the nest with solid food was significantly less than that of smaller workers. The average weight of ants collected at colonies of the aphid Cinara occidentalis was significantly less than the average weight of ants collected in the vicinity of the ant nest. These data and additional observations suggest that small ants are more likely to attend aphids and transport solid food than are large ants. Some large ants may specialize in honeydew transport. Markand-recapture studies showed that workers of Camponotus modoc returned to the same trunk trails and aphid colonies from which they had previously been removed. When relocated to either the base of the tree or to the nest entrance, some workers demonstrated a capacity to recognize the original aphid colony from among as many as eight other colonies in the same tree. Some ants were observed on the same aphid colony for long periods.

Spatial specialization of the foragers and foraging strategy inLasius fuliginosus (Latreille) (Hymenoptera, Formicidae)

“…These foraging patterns are very similar to those observed in the wood ants of the E rufa group, and a high degree of trail constancy associated to a long-term spatial specialization of the foragers has also been reported in the North-American species E obscuripes (Herbers, 1977) and Carnponotus modoc (David and Wood, 1980;Tilles and Wood, 1986). The main common point between all those ant species is that they have a diet mainly composed of honeydew collected regularly and in large quantities from homopterans, mainly aphids.…”

Resource redistribution in polydomous ant nest networks: local or global?

“…Route fidelity is a feature of foraging in many ant species, particularly species that rely heavily on honeydew for nutrition ( Rosengren 1977 ; Tilles and Wood 1986 ; McIver 1991 ; Quinet and Pasteels 1996 ; Gordon 2012 ). The wide phylogenetic distribution of this mechanism may suggest that trail fidelity is an efficient way to forage for spatially and temporally stable food sources.…”

Internest food sharing within wood ant colonies: resource redistribution behavior in a complex system

“…Wood ants foraging for honeydew show a very high degree of route and site fidelity; marked ants have been observed following the same foraging trail to the same foraging site for entire foraging seasons, even after the reward at the end of the trail was no longer present ( Rosengren and Sundström 1987 ; Gordon et al 1992 ) or after an artificially extended winter ( Rosengren and Fortelius 1986 ). Indeed, route and site fidelity is a common resource acquisition behavior in a variety of ant species ( Tilles and Wood 1986 ; McIver 1991 ; Quinet and Pasteels 1996 ; Gordon 2012 ). This method of foraging is possible because honeydew is a spatially and temporally stable food source for a red wood ant colony: The aphid colonies providing the honeydew appear to persist within and between years ( Rosengren 1977 ; Ellis S, personal observation).…”