Abstract
Most ant colonies live in a single nest (monodomy) or a group of nests (polydomy). However, the length of time for which nests are inhabited varies significantly between different species. Although colonies of some species frequently move nest sites, in others, colonies inhabit the same nest or group of nests for many years. Similarly, in some species foraging and resource-sharing trails are highly dynamic, while in other species trails are used for years. Wood ants are a group of keystone species that inhabit many northern hemisphere woodlands, where they are important predators of invertebrates and indirectly act as herbivores through the farming of aphids. Wood ant colonies exhibit both monodomy and polydomy, and can inhabit nests for many years. Trails in wood ant colonies are also thought to be relatively stable. However, information about colony dynamics is mostly anecdotal as, until now, no longitudinal datasets have been collected. In this study, we collected data from ten polydomous wood ant colonies annually for 8 years and a subset of four colonies 16 times over 2 years. We found that most polydomous wood ant nests are abandoned in the first 2 years after being constructed and are more likely to be abandoned in the latter part of the active season. However, the rate of nest abandonment decreases after 2 years and is lower in larger nests. We also found that wood ant trails are relatively static within an active season and become more static later in the season as trails become established.
Highlights
Colonies of most ant species inhabit nests that provide shelter from weather, defence from predators and parasites and a place to store resources (Hölldobler and Wilson 1990)
Colonies move between nesting locations frequently in response to changes in local conditions, availability of food, current nest quality, parasitic load, disease, predation, seasonality, competition and to allow colony growth (McGlynn 2012)
In contrast in other species, established colonies may remain in the same nest for decades (Breen 1979; Klimetzek 1981; Ingram et al 2013; Robinson and Robinson 2008); information on nest occupancy in natural populations is limited to a few studies that have monitored individual ant nests for long periods (Klimetzek 1981; Ingram et al 2013; Robinson and Robinson 2008) and anecdotal information
Summary
Colonies of most ant species inhabit nests that provide shelter from weather, defence from predators and parasites and a place to store resources (Hölldobler and Wilson 1990). In this study, where it is important to distinguish between the physical nest structure and the population of ants inhabiting the nest structure, we refer to the physical nest structure as the “nest” and the population of ants inhabiting the nest structure as the “sub-colony”. Across ant species, both monodomous and polydomous nesting strategies can be associated with either multiple queens (polygyny), or a single queen (monogyny) (Debout et al 2007; Robinson 2014)
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