Meudec M, Dubuc C
Dept. d'Ethologie, Faculté des Sciences. Parc de Grandmont. 37200 Tours. France.
Behav Processes. 1989 Dec;20(1-3):199-208. doi: 10.1016/0376-6357(89)90023-5.
Visits to feeding sites and potential nesting sites by several colonies of Tapinoma erraticum was studied in the laboratory. During the feeding phase ant use of space was significantly asymmetrical (different visit frequencies to identical sites) and reflects environmental structuring. Such asymmetrical patterns of space use may have influenced subsequent orientation of nest search and nest site selection after experimental disturbance. When the colony was disturbed, i.e when the water source and the opaque nest cover were removed activity remained mainly diurnal. There was relative increase in frequency of visits to the subsequently chosen nesting site as compared with visits to feeding sites. Selected nests could be in a zone visited frequently before disturbance, for example close to a feeding source, but other parameters must be considered to account for colony choice. The question of a collective decision making is discussed.
在实验室中研究了多群游荡法老蚁对觅食地点和潜在筑巢地点的访问情况。在觅食阶段，蚂蚁对空间的利用明显不对称（对相同地点的访问频率不同），这反映了环境结构。这种不对称的空间利用模式可能影响了实验干扰后巢穴搜索和巢穴选址的后续定向。当蚁群受到干扰时，即当水源和不透明的巢穴覆盖物被移除时，活动仍主要在白天进行。与觅食地点相比，对随后选定的筑巢地点的访问频率相对增加。选定的巢穴可能位于干扰前频繁访问的区域，例如靠近食物源，但必须考虑其他参数来解释蚁群的选择。文中讨论了集体决策的问题。
