Preferences of the basic components of food by central European speciens of ants.

This thesis has two parts: the first brings an overview of the role of various foods and nutrients in ants, the second presents the results of an experiment focused on preference of the basic components of food by central European species of ants. In the experiment we provided ants with six different baits (water, 1% sodium chlorid, olive oil, 20% amino acid glutamine, artificial honey [10% sucrose + 10% amino acid] and 20% sucrose). Total, 187 of 690 traps were visited by ants. There were 26 recorded species of ants. Preference of four most abundant species differed. F. polyctena attended most of the offered baits, while other species preferred the sugar components. In general, ants preferred artificial honey and sucrose, regardless of the season and habitats. Additional field tests with different bait concentration of salt and sucrose showed the same preferences regardless of bait type and no additive effects of the amino acid in the sucrose baits. The results of the experiment show a surprisingly consistent and strong preference of central European species of ants for sugars