Individual foraging in the ant pachycondyla apicalis
A model of individual foraging in social insects is presented that formalises the dynamics of foraging and concentrates on the collective rather than the individual benefit, quantifying the relationship between a colony's foraging area, number of foragers and foraging energy budget and the food sources' rate of arrival, disappearanceand capture. A series of experiments, in which a numberof prey were offered to colonies of the individually foraging ant Pachycondyla (ex-Neoponera) apicalis confirm the hypotheses implicit in the model and measured the rates of capture and competition. 60 days observation of 3 P. apicalis colonies' foraging activity are summarised and used inconjunction with the model to obtain estimations of the density and rate of arrival of available prey in the foraging area. We examine how a colony's foraging benefit may be influenced by its foraging area, the number of foragers, and the forager/non-forager ratio and show that a colony's social structure strongly limits its potential foraging benefit. Within these limits, P. apicalis does not appear to be an optimal forager. (Abstract provided by author.)
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | Pachycondyla apicalis, Hormigas, Forrajeo, Ecología animal, Artfrosur, |
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