The cavity-nest ant Temnothorax crassispinus prefers larger nests.

S Mitrus

doi:10.1007/s00040-014-0372-4

Abstract

Colonies of the ant Temnothorax crassispinus inhabit mostly cavities in wood and hollow acorns. Typically in the field, nest sites that can be used by the ant are a limited resource. In a field experiment, it was investigated whether the ants prefer a specific size of nest, when different ones are available. In July 2011, a total of 160 artificial nests were placed in a beech-pine forest. Four artificial nests (pieces of wood with volume cavities, ca 415, 605, 730, and 980 mm3, respectively) were located on each square meter of the experimental plot. One year later, shortly before the emergence of new sexuals, the nests were collected. In July 2012, colonies inhabited more frequently bigger nests. Among queenright colonies, the ones which inhabited bigger nests had more workers. However, there was no relationship between volume of nest and number of workers for queenless colonies. Queenright colonies from bigger nests produced more sexual individuals, but there was no correlation between number of workers and sex allocation ratio, or between volume of nest and sex allocation ratio. In a laboratory experiment where ant colonies were kept in 470 and 860 mm3 nests, larger colonies allocated more energy to produce sexual individuals. The results of this study show the selectivity of T. crassispinus ants regarding the size of nest cavity, and that the nest volume has an impact on life history parameters.

Highlights

The majority of social insects live in nests (Pratt, 2010)
As regards the queenless nests, I did not observe a relationship between cavity size and the number of sexuals produced or with the sex allocation ratio
In July 2012, at the end of the field experiment, the T. crassispinus ant colonies were more frequently found in larger nest chambers, equal numbers of nests of each size had been laid out a year before (Fig. 2)

Summary

Introduction

The majority of social insects live in nests (Pratt, 2010). The location and other parameters of a nest can affect predation, parasitism, access to food, reproduction, and competition with other colonies (cf. Bluthgen and Feldhaar, 2010), finding a suitable nest site is essential for the survival and reproduction of ants (e.g. Foitzik et al, 2004; Bluthgen and Feldhaar, 2010). The location and other parameters of a nest can affect predation, parasitism, access to food, reproduction, and competition with other colonies (cf Bluthgen and Feldhaar, 2010), finding a suitable nest site is essential for the survival and reproduction of ants Foitzik et al, 2004; Bluthgen and Feldhaar, 2010). The availability of nest sites suitable for ants is mostly limited Foitzik and Heinze, 1998; Philpott, 2005), and those that are available display major diversity. Numerous ant species nest in the ground and may extend the nest according to their needs; many species find nest sites and use them as found or make only minor alterations (Bluthgen and Feldhaar, 2010)

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