Proposal 3 Ant Behavior in the Mid-West

Ant Behavior

Which path do they prefer?

Introduction

Although small, and seemingly insignificant, ants are actually quite powerfuland intelligent creatures. There are many species of ants, which live in individualcolonies. Each colony lives together in one nest. Even within each colony,there are diverse roles each ant must perform in order to maintain the colony.There are worker ants, their sizes often vary among different species. Oneswith large heads are referred to as soldiers. These workers have no wings,and are physically different from the other types of ants in the colony. Manyof the worker ants are regarded as being female; however they differ fromthe queen due to their degenerated reproductive organs, which leaves the queenas the only egg-laying ant. A female queen is the egg-laying ant, which resemblesthe workers. The physical difference between the worker and the queen is thatthe queen has wings on her thorax, and therefore has a well-developed mesonotum,which is dominant in the queen. The third type of ant in a colony is the male.They physically differ from the queen and the worker because they have a compoundeye, which is further developed. They also have segmented antenna and mandibles,which have been degenerated. They are similar in some ways to the queen andworker ant because the thorax is developed in both. As you can see, thereare different types of ants, which are responsible for different tasks withinthe colony. Thus, the ants do not simply have one simple task of food retrievalor maintaining a line for the other ants to follow. You can also see thatthey are intelligent and thoughtful in the manner they distribute work inorder to maintain a successful colony.In our study we are observing the behavior when they are presented with differentchoices of paths. When finding a path from the food source to the nest antsare capable of finding the shortest, most convenient path. Lines are oftenformed in species of ants traveling to a food source through the use of apheromone trail, which helps to keep the line. This trail also explains howants are able to contact each other if the line is broken. If ny obstacleappears in an ants' trail, the leading ant chooses a new direction to travel,and it is expected that half the ants may travel in one direction and halfin the other direction. The ants, which choose the shorter path around theobstacle, will recreate the pheromone path more quickly than the ants thatchoose the longer route. This explains why the ants take the more convenientpath.We are performing an experiment to discover the traveling behavior of antswhen attempting to acquire food. We will try to answer the question; whichpath is seemingly more convenient to the ants. We will perform this by constructinga bridge, with the food placed on a platform elevated by different paths.Each path will have a different variable, and we will use these variablesto observe the most favored path(s) of the ants. These paths will includefour contrasting characteristics. The first set will have a direct path comparedto a deviating path. The second will have a smooth surface compared to a roughsurface. The third pair will have a vertical versus a horizontal path, andthe final pair will have a narrow path versus a wider path. As we observethe ants, we will record how many ants are on each path by assigning eachperson in our group one pair of paths with opposing characteristics.We expect that the ants will favor the most convenient path regarding timeand energy. In the first pair of paths, we believe the ants will choose theshorter route compared to the longer route based upon the time factor, andthe conservation of energy. We also expect that in the second pair of paths,the ants will choose the smooth surface over the rough surface. With the thirdset of paths, we expect the ants to choose the horizontal path versus thevertical path. In the fourth pair, we expect that the ants will choose thewider path instead of the narrow path.We decided to perform this experiment because we are interested in discoveringthe paths that ants will choose to travel. The observations will be entertainingbecause our curiosity will coax us to further study the ants to explore thebehavior and patterns the ants will perform. We will look forward to discoveringhow ants, known as simple creatures, portray themselves differently as weobserve the complexity within the colony.

Relevance of the research question. The inspiration for this experiment began with an article that our group foundparticularly interesting. We chose to modify the experiment that we researchedby adding more variables to their design. The experiment, which we researched,used the idea of horizontal versus vertical paths to discover the preferenceof ants when leaving and returning from a food source to their colony. Theydiscovered that ants chose the vertical path when the horizontal and verticalwere the same length. As the vertical path reached a certain height, the antschose the horizontal path instead.We modeled our experiment from the one above and added different types of pathsto discover further ant preferences. Along with the vertical and horizontalpath we added length (short versus long), texture (rough versus smooth) and,path width (fishing line versus four cm. plank). Our experiment could relate to the real world because we are learning aboutant society and how they prefer to travel. These test results will allow usto discover any energy or time efficiencies that ants may instinctively use.These efficiencies that we may discover could be related to human characteristicsin the human workplace and society. When comparing human preferences to antpreferences we may find similarities and differences in paths that will be present.Generally human would chose the horizontal, wide, smooth, and short path becausethese are the easiest to travel and therefore the most efficient. After ourresearch we will be able to compare a smaller scaled organism to the schemeof life in which we live.

Materials and MethodsOur experimental design consists of two factors, one study in nature environmentand one study in a controlled environment. We are constructing a bridge to usein both environments, in other words the experiment will be done in the samemanor both indoor and outdoor. The bridge consists of a series of eight pathsleading to a food source. The will either be ant food, for the indoor, and asugar substance for the outdoor experiment. The reason for this lies in thefact that there will be different ant species. The eight bridges consist ofopposing pairs, as mentioned in the previous section. We observe and recordeach bridge for a period of time that begins when an ant passes a line drawnon each bridge. We will continue the observation for five-minute increments.At the end of the outdoor and indoor observation we will fill out the informationneeded to complete the Data Sheet.

The materials we will be using include, foam core, plastic sheeting, chip board,
fishing line, Sobo glue and, cardboard. The use of these materials is shown
in the Bridge Specification. The other materials we will be using include a
purchased ant farm, six inches in length by four inches in height. This farm
also includes an 18-inch flexible antway connecting tube, a tip proof stand,
tunneling sand, and an ant watchers guide. These materials will be used as the
indoor habitat, which will be placed inside a fish tank.

Our study will be open for observation in the science lab. Students will be
able to post their time and date of observation, as well as any comments they
may have on our study. They will be able to record all this information on the
Student Chart.

Foster, 2001. William, and Shingleton Alexander. Behavior, Morphology and
the division of labour in two soldier-producing aphids. Animal Behavior, 62:
671-679.

This article states that ants are a social species. Each and has roles in it's
community. These roles are important to the "ecological success of the
social insects. Worker ants have specific jobs to do; these ants become specialized
and efficient at their work.

Blanchard, G. B. 2000. Division of labour and seasonality in the ant
Leptothorax albipennis: worker corpulence and its influence on behaviour.
Animal Behaviour, 59: 723-738.

This article relates the ecological success of social insects to the division
of labor. It states that these roles can change when there is a disruption in
their nest. For example, in short term disruption "such as a colony emigration,
all individuals revert to their previous roles. In removal experiments there
is a delay of days before individuals move into vacated roles. This could relate
to our ants as they are being shipped from California to Ohio and put into a
different environment.

Cahan, Sara. 1998. An abrupt transition in colony founding behaviour
in the ant Messor pergandei. Animal Behaviour, 55: 1583-1594.

This article suggests that although species are evolutionary units they can
vary across populations. There are some neutral characters among them, but a
variable may be in their behaviors depending upon their geographical locations.
This is relevant to our project because the two ant species may choose different
paths.

Detrain, Claire. 1997. Scavenging by Pheidole pallidula: a key for understanding
decision-making systems in ants. Animal Behaviour, 53: 537-547.

Discusses how different size insects, how they make trails from food to the
nest, and how these patterns differ from each other. The smaller the insect,
the less they will go near food when there are other, larger insects near the
food. This happens with the insects that want the food.

Burd, Martin. 2000. Foraging behaviour of Atta cephalotes (leaf-cutting
ants): an examination of two predictions for load selection. Animal Behaviour,
60: 781-788.

This article talks about two different ideas about how mechanisms explain foraging
in leaf-cutting ant colonies. The author used five colonies to observe shifts
within the colony. Most used shifts for workers at the beginning and the end
of the line. The recruitment requirements were also observed within the colony.

Denny, Adrian. 2001. Foraging efficiency in the wood ant, Formica rufa:
is time of the essence in trail following? Animal Behaviour, 61: 139-146.

This is the journal that we are basing our experiment on. It discusses how
ants chose the shortest and easiest path to food, from the colony. This was
tested with a series of bridges that were made up of short, long, horizontal,
and vertical paths. The bridges were used in observation of the choices that
ants made.

Mailleux, Anne-Catherine. 2000. How do ants assess food volume? Animal
Behaviour, 59: 1061-1069.

This article was helpful in planning our experiment, because it tests how ants
recruit for food, and this will play a large part in out study. When ants find
a large amount of food, they will return to the nest to form a recruitment trail.
If there is only a small amount of food, several ants will remain to find more
food. This will be interesting to examine along with the paths the ants choose
to follow. If the food source provided is plentiful, we expect to see a few
ants at one point, and later return with a larger amount of ants.

Nonacs, Peter. 1998. Patch sampling behaviour and future expectations
in Argentine ants, Linepithema humile. Animal Behaviour, 55:519-527.

This article will be important in our study, because it has many of the same
questions as we will have. The article focuses on the paths ant choose, as they
are newly presented. The goal of traveling the path is to acquire food, similar
to our experiment. Even if a new path is present to the ants, it is possible
that they would choose that path, even if there is never food on the new path.
This type of "learning" observation is closely related to the experiment
we will be performing.

Robson, Simon. 1997. Division of labour and 'foraging for work': simulating
reality versus the reality simulations. Animal Behaviour, 53:214-218.

This article was useful to our experiment because it discusses the work division
according to age of a worker ant. This could have a great correspondence to
our experiment, because if the work is considered gathering food, we should
expect to see ants of certain ages. It also argues that ants will find work
and continue to perform until the work is done. In this case, we should expect
to see ants working to take the food back to their nest until the entire food
sample has disappeared.

Heinze, J. 1999. Worker age, size and social status in queenless colonies
of the ant Leptothorax gredleri. Animal Behaviour, 58: 751-759.

This article will be helpful in our studies because it describes how social
status does not depend on age of the ant. This will be an asset in our observations,
because with this knowledge, we do not have to worry about a number of ants
having a social discrimination.

Anderson, Carl. 2001. The complexities and hierarchical structure of
tasks in insect societies . Animal Behaviour, 62: 643-651.

In this journal article, it is discussed that tasks within a colony of insects
(including ants) are divided by the complexity of each task, and those within
the colony work together to complete the whole task. This can be beneficial
to our experiment, because the task needing to be performed will give us better
results if all the ants within the colony are completing a task, and becoming
part of our experiment.

Tarniello, James. 1997. Ecology, evolution and division of labour in
social insects. Animal Behaviour, 53: 209-213.

This article argues that division of labor may not be based on age. The division
is thought to differ for all species, and evolve individually. If this is the
case, we will soon learn how our ant colony's labor is divided.

This website was helpful because it gave ample information about ant types
within a colony, and the roles that they perform.

This site is another example of ants living in a controlled environment. The
scientist studies their behavior of food foraging and their social roles.

This site is a general example of many characteristics of ants and the roles
they play, their history, and body make-up.

Worker ants have several tasks; searching tasks, carrying tasks, and recruiting
tasks. In our experiment we may be able to observe the same type of system.

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