Ants 2008

Army Ants as Research and Collection Tools

Ants that fall prey to the raids of army ants commonly respond by evacuating their nests. This documented behavior has been underexploited by researchers as an efficient research tool. This study focuses on the evacuation response of the southwestern desert ant Aphaenogaster cockerelli André (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) to the army ant Newamyrmex nigrescens Cresson. It is shown that army ants can ...

Interspecific Communication: Treehopper Alarms Make Ants Come Running

Stable mutualisms are ubiquitous in nature and this presents a puzzle for evolutionary biology. A new study of interactions between treehoppers and ants shows that honest communication coordinates anti-predator behaviour to improve the efficiency of the service ants provide.

Detrimental effects of highly efficient interference competition: invasive Argentine ants outcompete native ants at toxic baits.

The Argentine ant (Linepithema humile) is an invasive species that disrupts the balance of natural ecosystems by displacing indigenous ant species throughout its introduced range. Previous studies that examined the mechanisms by which Argentine ants attain ecological dominance showed that superior interference and exploitation competition are key to the successful displacement of native ant spe...

A Modified Clustering Method with Fuzzy Ants

Ant-based clustering due to its flexibility, stigmergic and selforganization has been applied in variety areas from problems arising in commerce, to circuit design, and to text-mining, etc. A modified clustering method with fuzzy ants has been presented in this paper. Firstly, fuzzy ants and its behavior are defined; secondly, the new clustering algorithm has been constructed based on fuzzy ant...

Extended Phenotype: Nematodes Turn Ants into Bird-Dispersed Fruits

A recent study has discovered a novel extended phenotype of a nematode which alters its ant host to resemble ripe fruit. The infected ants are in turn eaten by frugivorous birds that disperse the nematode's eggs.

Diversity of Forest Litter-Inhabiting Ants Along Elevations in the Wayanad Region of the Western Ghats