Nest Recognition in the Ant, Leptothorax Ambiguus Emery (Hymenoptera: Formicidae)

Abstract

The capacity of Leptothorax ambiguus Mayr colonies to recognize their nesting material was determined in two experiments. In the first study, colonies reliably discriminated an artificial nest containing a fragment of the acorn nest in which the colony had been living in nature from nests containing an acorn fragment from another colony’s nest or a fragment of a previously uninhabited acorn. In the second experiment, colonies reliably discriminated a nest containing a fragment of acorn with which they had been living in the laboratory from a nest containing a fragment of the same acorn with which another colony had been living. These results indicate that L. ambiguus colonies recognize their acorn nests. The recognition is probably based on a chemical mark. © 1990, Hindawi Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved.