Foraging site fidelity of Atta sexdens (Hymenoptera-Formicidae) in a laboratory colony

摘要

We tested fungus chamber fidelity and consequently foraging site fidelity of the leaf-cutter ant Atta sexdens in a colony that was developed in the laboratory from an imago collected on the Campus of the University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Brazil. The experiments were performed with ants from two fungus chambers connected to each other. Each chamber had an individual foraging tray, and experiments were performed by painting and then exchanging the ants between foraging trays. We observed that, at least, the laboratory colony ants showed a tendency toward fidelity to the fungus chamber, and therefore to their foraging tray. [References: 14]