The Effects of Resource Availability and Temperature on Ants

Body size has been strongly linked to foraging habits in ants. Running speeds, fighting ability, and thermoregulation are morphological features that influence foraging. Body mass provides a basis for the energy transfer and spatial feeding patterns throughout an ecosystem. Vapor Pressure Deficits (VPD) show larger ants typically forage at higher temperatures. However, conflicting evidence shows larger ants tend to forage at higher latitudes. Aggression among ants leads certain species to forage at less desirable times and locations. Varying resource availability allows ants to choose the most desirable resource. Additionally, foraging behavior can differ between day and night. A cafeteria-style baiting recruitment was performed in Duke Forest, North Carolina. Twelve open top chambers of 5 meters in diameter and 1.5 meters high were actively warmed to varying degrees above ambient. Additionally, 9 chamber-less controls were sampled. Each chamber was baited with five resources, including: carbohydrate, oil, protein, salt, or water. Six measurements on each collected ant were taken for: head length, head width, pronotum width, Weber length, tibia length, and femur length