クロナガアリの採食行動 : 特に個体の採食場所と日周活動について

概要

論文の詳細を見る
The foraging behavior of a colony of Messor aciculatus was studied with individual marking under a small production of seeds and experimental food conditions. Many ants showed site tenacity, but some ants changed their foraging sites. Individual searching areas were heavily overlapped. The diel foraging activity of individuals varied greatly. The ants that found food tended to immediately start their next trips and to forage late in the afternoon. When grass ears were placed in a grid of 0.5 m intervals, the number of aboveground ants increased after 3 days. When there was little food, a few ants walked meanderingly and wide on the ground. The "partition of foraging ground" is a result of the site tenacity of individuals. The tendencies found in the diel activity of individuals and the information transmission about the presence of food can be the mechanisms of the colony's response to the amount of food by changing the number of foragers. Tenacity to and change of foraging sites of individuals, changing the number of foragers, and wide-area searching by a few ants (when there is little food), are efficient and economical methods to the change in the amount and distribution of food.
日本生態学会の論文
1982-12-30