Foraging Behavior of the Argentine Ant in a California Citrus Grove1

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In a southern California citrus grove, workers of the Argentine ant, Iidomyrmex humilis (Mayr), were active at temperatures from 5° to 35°C and were seen leaving the nest to forage at temperatures ranging from 10° to 30°C. Foraging was primarily restricted to the tree near which each nest was located. Honeydew and nectar comprised more than 99% of the material carried into the nest by workers. Animal prey was quite rare and consisted of small insects, such as thrips, which the foraging workers encountered in the tree. Occasionally, large insects were either found dead or captured by the ants and collected as food. Foraging activity was strongly correlated to temperature. During a cold winter day, activity stopped entirely or decreased drastically with limited foraging restricted to the warmer daylight hours. When the daily temperature extreme was between 15° and 30°C, activity continued at a high rate both day and night. When the temperature exceeded 30°C, a drop in activity was again noted. A seasonal cycle of foraging activity was also apparent and seemed to be correlated with the average seasonal temperature. The average number of workers entering a tree to forage varied from a low of 70,000 ants in February to a high of 374,000 in July.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: