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Collection
and Maintenance of Ants to Use for Teaching
by
Roger D. Akre, Laurel D. Hansen, and Elizabeth A. Myhre
and
Studying Ants: A Beginning
by
Mark B. DuBois
QUESTIONS,
ACTIVITIES AND INVESTIGATIONS WITH ANTS
Note:
There are a number of species of ants which can inflect
a painful sting. Before attempting any of the following
investigations, select species that do not have large and
conspicuous nests. Most ants with conspicuous nests are
advertising to potential predators that they can be formidable
defenders.
Nuptial
Flights:
Select the common species in your yard and observe them
when they conduct their nuptial flights. Document which
factors seem to come before the flights (temperature, rain,
barometric pressure changes). Carefully observe and record
the flight itself. How would you describe the mating swarm?
Is it near some prominent object? How far above the ground
is the swarm? How many males and females present in the
swarm? What do the females do after mating? How far do they
fly before landing? What are their behaviors upon landing?
What do the males do after landing?
Colony
Founding:
Select newly mated queens and isolate them in test tubes
partly filled with water and separated form the ants with
a cotton plug. How long before the queen begins laying eggs?
How may days until the first larvae appear? How long until
the larvae appear? How long until the larvae become pupae?
How long before the first workers emerge? Be certain to
record daily temperatures where you keep the ants.
Nest
Disturbances:
When an ant colony is disturbed, do the ants first carry
off the pupae or the larvae? Why would this make a difference
to the survival of the colony? Do different species behave
similarly?
Food
Preferences:
Many ants prefer different types of food. Select different
foods to use as bait and learn which ants are attracted.
To begin, try the following items: honey mixed with equal
amounts of water, cookie crumbs, peanut butter, cooking
oil, cereal flakes. Do the same species always prefer the
same foods, even at different times of the day or different
times of the year?
Ant
Trails:
Can you determine which direction leads to a newfound food
source and which direction leads back to the nest without
tracing the ends of the trail? Place a sheet of paper across
an ant trail. After the ants have reestablish a path across
it, turn the paper slightly sideways. What happens to the
path the ants take on the paper? Does this suggest any ideas
about how the ants follow a trail? Pick up an ant that is
running along an ant trail or brush her off to the side.
Can she find her way back?
Parasitic
Ants:
Can isolated queens of parasitic species establish colonies
on their own? What longterm effects do the parasitic species
cause to the host species? Are the parasite ants limited
to on species of host or will they take another if the preferred
species is unavailable? What happens when raiding workers
of Formica subintegra or Polyergus breviceps
encounter another nest of the same species. Is there a pattern
to the raids of parasitic ants across a field, or over time?
Figure
9. Neivamyrmex nigrescens, head full face view.
Figure
10. Prenolepsis imparis, head, full face view. Scanning
electron microscope photography by author.
Next:
Further Reading
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