Size Variability in the Worker Caste of a Social Insect (Veromessor pergandei Mayr) as a Function of the Competitive Environment
- 1 May 1978
- journal article
- research article
- Published by University of Chicago Press in The American Naturalist
- Vol. 112 (985) , 523-532
- https://doi.org/10.1086/283294
Abstract
Worker size polymorphism in colonies of V. pergandei, a granivorous desert ant, is inversely related to the intensity of interspecific competition in the habitat for 7 ant communities in the deserts of southern California and southern Arizona [USA]. Seed size preferences are positively correlated with worker body sizes and diet breadth relative to seed size is probably enhanced by colony polymorphism. Niche shifts within colonies of these social insects may permit unusually fine adaptation to the resource environment. In contrast to solitary organisms, for which generalization of the diet may imply significant trade-offs, these ants may expand their utilization of resources where competitors are absent while retaining an efficient size match to the distribution of available resources.This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
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