منابع مشابه
Methods for Casting Subterranean Ant Nests
The study of subterranean ant nests has been impeded by the difficulty of rendering their structures in visible form. Here, several different casting materials are shown to make perfect casts of the underground nests of ants. Each material (dental plaster, paraffin wax, aluminum, zinc) has advantages and limitations, which are discussed. Some of the materials allow the recovery of the ants ento...
متن کاملDoes cooperation mean kinship between spatially discrete ant nests?
Eusociality is one of the most complex forms of social organization, characterized by cooperative and reproductive units termed colonies. Altruistic behavior of workers within colonies is explained by inclusive fitness, with indirect fitness benefits accrued by helping kin. Members of a social insect colony are expected to be more closely related to one another than they are to other conspecifi...
متن کاملThe architecture of subterranean ant nests: beauty and mystery underfoot
Over the 100 million years of their evolution, ants have constructed or occupied nests in a wide range of materials and situations. A large number of ant species excavate nests in the soil, and these subterranean nests have evolved into a wide range of sizes and architectures. On the basis of casts made of such nests, this variation and the patterns that govern it are described. The possible fu...
متن کاملSubterranean ant nests: trace fossils past and future?
Many species of ants excavate complex, species-typical nests in soil. The basic structural units of many nests are descending tunnels connecting flattened, generally horizontal chambers of oval to lobed outline. The species-typical structure of many nests results from variation in the size, shape, number and arrangement of these basic elements. Nest architecture can be rendered by filling subte...
متن کاملPlants use macronutrients accumulated in leaf-cutting ant nests.
Leaf-cutting ants (Atta spp.) are known for their extensive defoliation in neo-tropical forests and savannahs. Debate about the costs and benefits of their activities has been largely dominated by their detrimental effects on agriculture and agroforestry. However, the large accumulation of nutrients and changes in soil properties near their nests might benefit plants growing near them. Here, we...
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ژورنال
عنوان ژورنال: The Biological Bulletin
سال: 1900
ISSN: 0006-3185,1939-8697
DOI: 10.2307/1535735