Nest Entrances, Spatial Fidelity, and Foraging Patterns in the Red Ant Myrmica rubra: A Field and Theoretical Study.

ABSTRACT: The nest architecture of social insects deeply impacts the spatial distribution of nestmates their interactions, information exchanges and collective responses. In particular, the number of nest entrances can influence the interactions taking place beyond the nest boundaries and the emergence of collective structures like foraging trails. Here, we investigated in the field how the number of nest entrances impacted the foraging dynamics of Myrmica rubra ant colonies. We located the nest entrances where recruitment occurred towards sugar feeders placed in their surroundings. The nests showed one or multiple entrance(s) aggregated in clusters spaced by at least 15 cm. Foragers from colonies with two clusters of entrances were distributed more homogeneously among the feeders than those

SUBMITTER: Lehue M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7290572 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature