Pfeiffer Martin, Linsenmair K Eduard
Theodor-Boveri-Institut der Universität Würzburg, Lehrstuhl für Tierökologie und Tropenbiologie (Zoologie III), Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany e-mail:
Oecologia. 1998 Dec;117(4):579-590. doi: 10.1007/s004420050695.
In Kinabalu National Park, Borneo we observed four colonies of the Malaysian giant ant Camponotus gigas in a primary forest. These predominantly nocturnal ants have underground nests, but forage in huge three-dimensional territories in the rain forest canopies. The colony on which our study was mainly focused had 17 nests with about 7000 foragers and occupied a territory of 0.8 ha. To improve observation and manipulation possibilities, these nests were linked at ground level by 430 m of artificial bamboo trail. A group of specialist transport worker ants carried food from source' nests at the periphery to the central sink' nest of the queen. Transport of food between nests started immediately after the evening exodus of the foragers. Transporter ants formed a physical subcaste among the minors and behaved according to predictions of the central-place foraging theory. Their load size was about five times that of the average forager and grew proportionally with head width. Longer distances were run by ants with greater head width and larger gross weight. Transporter ants that ran more often took heavier loads. Experiments with extra-large baits revealed that C. gigas used long-range recruitment to bring foragers from different nests to "bonanzas" at far distant places. The foraging strategy of C. gigas is based on a polydomous colony structure in combination with efficient communication, ergonomic optimization, polyethism and an effective recruitment system.
在婆罗洲的基纳巴卢山国家公园，我们在一片原始森林中观察到了四个马来西亚巨型蚂蚁——长足弓背蚁的蚁群。这些主要在夜间活动的蚂蚁有地下巢穴，但会在雨林树冠层巨大的三维区域觅食。我们主要研究的那个蚁群有17个巢穴，约7000只觅食蚁，占据了0.8公顷的领地。为了增加观察和操控的可能性，这些巢穴在地面通过430米长的人工竹道相连。一群专门的运输工蚁将食物从外围的“源”巢运到蚁后的中央“汇”巢。觅食蚁傍晚外出后，巢穴间的食物运输就立即开始了。运输蚁在小型工蚁中形成了一个生理亚等级，其行为符合中心地觅食理论的预测。它们搬运的食物量约为普通觅食蚁的五倍，且与头部宽度成正比。头部宽度越大、总体重越大的蚂蚁运输的距离更远。运输更频繁的蚂蚁搬运的食物更重。用超大诱饵进行的实验表明，长足弓背蚁利用远距离招募，将来自不同巢穴的觅食蚁带到遥远地方的“富矿”处。长足弓背蚁的觅食策略基于多巢型蚁群结构，结合了高效的通讯、人体工程学优化、多态行为和有效的招募系统。
